hey answer me this

[jaklumen]

Especially for online writing, it's quite realistic to assume your readers can quickly look up the word.

 

This is why I take scholarly arguments against Wikipedia with a giant grain of salt. If I'm writing online content, I accept that linking to Wikipedia provides a quick and easy reference. Those that want a more in-depth analysis, I trust, will research things themselves, or I will be writing to them in a medium more formal, than say, blogging, or forums, and I'll cite sources according to that formality (think MLA, APA, or similar standards).

[KingOrthos]

I try to write properly, but slack in text messages a lot. I just think it's a bad habit if you do it too much.

[Blutters]

It's second nature for me to adhere to a certain standard of grammatical correctness and the like, just like I use my turn signal when changing lanes or turning even if there's no one around to benefit from it. I know there are certain, more complex rules that I'm unaware of (and therefore do not follow) but I simply haven't bothered to figure them out. Honestly, I type so fast to begin with that the time saved in cutting corners isn't worth the possible negatives to doing so. For me, it would take more thought not to type "correctly". (<- One of the things I should probably figure out - where to place periods with quotations :P)

[Alg]

Relevant.

[jaklumen]

^ One of many reasons why I respect Randall Munroe a lot more than Scott Adams.

 

I have friends that can't spell and make a lot of grammatical mistakes. About the only time I'll tease anyone is if a mistake might lead to some legitimate confusion. Otherwise, if they get their point across-- grammarian fits be damned.

 

I'm also reminded of Zonorhc's old Times article about a similar topic. Some people here fell all over themselves debating about it. The gist of the argument, really, is that chatspeak and grammar/spelling mistakes can be difficult for readers that don't natively speak/write/read the language. I said I understood that one, with Spanish as my second language; native speakers have chatspeak like "ola ke ace" (hola, que hace- hi, whatcha doing) and many Hispanics, especially Latin Americans, will skip punctuation so sentences run for an entire paragraph, if that. Tripped me up for the longest time and of course few of them were understanding when I said so. (They really don't consider punctuation a big deal for informal communication.)

[iBe]

yh i agree its all pretty stoopid..

 

But in all seriousness, I've always tried to use correct grammar and punctuation to avoid laziness or confusion in real-life situations. Imagine if you're writing an essay in class and you couldn't remember if it was spelled rly or really, that would be bad.