Thread: Your spelling it wrong

Originally Posted by Mzzkc

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that semicolon doesn't separate two complete clauses?

As far as I am aware, it is used when two sentences aren't really separate. "where you would break it up while talking" was a further explanation of what I previously wrote.

Semicolon tips.

"Where you would break it up while talking" isn't an independent clause due to the use of the word "where." This phrase implies a subject with no acting verb, which makes it incomplete and an improper candidate for separation via semicolon.

Don't get me wrong.

I understand your point and completely agree with you, but proper use of semicolons is a pet-peeve of mine; people can mess up other punctuation and grammar rules all they want, but semicolons are a sacred, powerful tool that left unchecked, or overused (improperly), could spell doom for the English language.



Edit: If it makes my point clearer, recall your assertion that lack of punctuation forces the reader to decipher what the writer is trying to communicate. For those of us who do know all, or most, punctuation rules, improper use of punctuation can often leave us scratching our head at the writer's intended meaning, since certain punctuation can sometimes be more powerful, more meaningful, than a word or phrase.

And so, when that punctuation, due to incorrect syntax, confuses more than it helps, it may be better form to use something more tame. For instance, a comma would have worked wonderfully in place of that semicolon, and I'd not have bothered to bring anything up, as we'd be in full agreement right now.

Originally Posted by Mzzkc

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that semicolon doesn't separate two complete clauses?

I hate semi-colons. I never managed to learn when or how they're supposed to be used, so now I just avoid them entirely and prefer others do the same.

Originally Posted by khh

I hate semi-colons. I never managed to learn when or how they're supposed to be used, so now I just avoid them entirely and prefer others do the same.

Just think of them as fancy periods that imply a relationship between two complete ideas/whole sentences.

lol.. I went on a semicolon craze when I first learned to use them. I wrote a short story in a Creative Writing course, and another student, who had to proof-read it, said she found I used to many it was annoying. So now I rarely use them.

Just wanted to ask, is anymore, everytime and afterall correct? Or they are supposed to be split up? Apparently my spell checker is telling me that's wrong but it looks correct.

I don't really have major gripes with these things.

Honestly internet 'short-hand' bugs me a whole lot more.

I've been known to occasionally slip up and place a "your" where a "you're" should have been, and I'll generally go back and edit it if I notice it when I'm reading the post back over. It's not that I don't know the difference, it's just that sometimes when you're typing as fast as you can to keep up with your thoughts, you don't really pay attention to what you're doing. It's not really something that I see as any kind of major crime, but it would be nice if everyone could keep from doing it. It's not like that's really going to happen, of course.

Mostly my concern is less with the fact that people on the internet can't use good grammar and more with the fact that with every coming day a lot of them seem to be getting more and more mentally deficient. YouTube comment pages are filled with more half-wits than I've ever seen in my life. I don't know why it is that society's level of thought is degrading so rapidly lately, and maybe I'm just exaggerating, but it is striking and very disturbing on many levels.

(Said the pony-guy who's supposed to be nice to everyone. Oopsy.
I guess it is a gripe and complain thread, so maybe I'm just doing it right.)

Suddenly everyone is using impeccable grammar. Nice work Dianeva.

PROTIP FOR EVERYBODY WHO IS STILL A BIT IRKED BY THE THREAD TITLE:

Dianeva is addressing an abstraction representing people who spell things incorrectly. 'Spelling it wrong' is a noun, and she is drawing attention to the abstraction's instances of this object. In other words, 'your spelling of things incorrectly'.

Xei saves the day yet again.

Originally Posted by Dianeva

lol.. I went on a semicolon craze when I first learned to use them. I wrote a short story in a Creative Writing course, and another student, who had to proof-read it, said she found I used to many it was annoying. So now I rarely use them.

I use them all the time. In fact I really can't do without them, especially in long discussions or in artful prose.

Using semicolons properly would also basically get you an instant top grade at school, because you really have to have mastered the nuance of written language to be able to.

I've been uncertain over whether to use internet short-hand while instant messaging anymore, like 'u'. I was doing it for years and got used to it, but now I feel illiterate when I do, so I've been more likely to type with proper grammar and without shorthand. But then I feel like it's less casual, somehow, too formal.
But I will never, ever stop saying lol.

Originally Posted by Xei

Dianeva is addressing an abstraction representing people who spell things incorrectly. 'Spelling it wrong' is a noun, and she is drawing attention to the abstraction's instances of this object. In other words, 'your spelling of things incorrectly'.

Um... yeah.

At this point "lol" has pretty much become a word. Or I guess more like a... textual vocalization... Something like "eh" or "um."

LOL is in the Oxford Dictionary. Definition for LOL - Oxford Dictionaries Online (World English)

Originally Posted by Mzzkc

Semicolon tips.

PROTIP:

When people ask about semicolons, always, always send them The Oatmeal.

Here we go.

Originally Posted by Carrot

Just wanted to ask, is anymore, everytime and afterall correct? Or they are supposed to be split up? Apparently my spell checker is telling me that's wrong but it looks correct.

Anymore is a word. Actually, I just found this that might help. Everytime is often used, even in song titles and stuff, and people probably wouldn't care, but it should really be 'every time'. Afterall should be split up as well.

Being older than most people on this site I can say this - what the hell has happened to professional proof-readers over the last few decades??!!!!

I'm not sure if they're becoming semi-literate, or maybe nobody uses a proof reader anymore, but more and more you see really obvious problems with grammar and spelling and punctuation showing up in supposedly professional work - I mean ads (print, radio and video, billboards), TV shows and movies, broadcasters and news anchors etc. It's one thing for the general literacy level of the public to be low, but broadcasting professionals are supposed to be literate - isn't that one of the most important parts of their job descriptions?

I'm sure a huge part of the problem is that many companies figure they don't need to pay for proof readers when computers can supposedly check spelling and grammar. But there are a lot of errors a computer can't detect - for instance when a word is spelled correctly but it's the wrong word (example - you typed Flew when you meant Flue, or Load when you meant Lead).

It's more than just that though - I hear radio broadcasters say things like Equiptment or Drownded - often they'll rush through a URL address and say "Dubby dubby dubby dot" instead of pronouncing the W's the right way. You never heard such basic mistakes in professionals a couple decades ago - well occasionally, but now it seems to be getting very common.

Originally Posted by Dianeva

I doubt this exact thread with a similar OP has been done.

Actually it has, a few times at least.