Is spelling and grammar getting worse in the UK?

Question

Recently I've noticed that peoples spelling is getting worse. For example, a colleague of mine at work spelt the word 'though' as 'thoughe'. I recent question on here used 'comeing' instead of 'coming'.

Spelling and grammar of the English language is what makes it so special. What is wrong with these people!?

If in doubt, you can always use a spell checker! :)

P.S. See if you can spot my mistake!

Answer 1

So many people carnt spell!

That particular abuse of the language drives me up the wall. Everyone knows that can't is an abbreviation of "can not".

Or aren't (sorry, arnt ;-) ) they taught proper like anymore?

Arrrrrgh

I think that bad spelling and grammar are just another manifestation of the cult of individualism and selfishness. They indicate a certain arrogance.

P.S. The word is spelt, not spelled. Yankee English seems to have diverged from the British. It's learnt, not learned; colour, not color; theatre, not theater; gaol, not jail, etc.

Ooh, a thumbs down because I've criticised the institutionalised bad spelling of Americans? See my comments about arrogance... LOL

Answer 2

Well I will admit that I cant spell, I was to lazy some times to click Check Spelling or so forth...

The reason I don't learn the English language all the way is that I am a programmer, and I get word confused all the time when I was learning English and then I would do something in a different language, so I care not to finish the English.

Also the spell checker is the down fall for most people, like in word, words are automatically fixed, like the ones you described.

Answer 3

Since I am in the USA, I can't really answer your question about the spelling and grammar in the UK, but I can comment on the atrocious spelling and grammatical mistakes I see in the USA. I actually didn't realize how bad it was until I began reading the questions posted here on Yahoo.

Many schools systems in the US endorse a program called "creative spelling". I was shocked when my daughter's first grade teacher, whom incidentally had a master's degree in education, informed me that there were to be no spelling test or rules any more. So not to hurt any child's self esteem, spelling errors would not be addressed! If I child misspelled a word, it was perfectly alright. The theory, children would be more creative if their work was not judged on their spelling and on their creativity.

That "creative spelling" theory was hog wash to me. I began giving my own child a list of spelling words each Monday and a spelling test on Friday. My theory is, if you learn to spell a word incorrectly, you will always spell that word incorrectly.

I can't say if that is the problem with individuals here. I can agree with you though....when in doubt, use the spell check! Then you will not have any words "spelt" wrong!

Answer 4

The error could be in the opening question: "ARE spelling and grammar getting worse in the UK?".

There's also a missing apostrophe which should come before the "s" in "people's".

HOWEVER, I didn't come here to carp on at you. Your question raises a valid point. The English language is changing, and there are some who fear that it is changing for the worse.

With textspeak replacing handwriting and governmental Newspeak dominating the airwaves, and standards of general knowledge falling (despite the soaring rates of passes in the increasingly meaningless exam grades), it's hardly surprising that people perceive standards as dropping.

And then again, it could be that the editors of the newspapers and TV programmes are looking at their future, a world dominated by the illiterate, and quaking in their boots. If, in twenty years, nobody can spell properly, who's going to be putting the words into the newspapers and onto the autocues? Worse, who's going to be able to /read/ the newspapers and autocues?

I can't offer solutions here. I don't know of any. All I can do is agree with you, and look to the future, and silently tremble.

Answer 5

A spell checker can help, but it's more important to have a gut sense of what the correct spelling is- otherwise, when the spell checker turns something up, how are you going to distinguish the correct one out of several different options?

If spelling is getting worse, I think it must be attributable to the increasing computerisation of communication. The emphasis is on speed of communication rather than quality. If people don't spend enough time, they're bound to make spelling errors- and I predict a negative spiral effect as well, because if people see enough errors they may begin to think it's okay to make mispellings, or simply learn to the wrong spelling.

Answer 6

This question has been asked by others in the past two weeks and yes I have agreed that the standard of spelling and grammar has declined markedly in the past two decades.

It is not only the spelling and grammar which are at fault, today it seems the younger generation have an inability to construct a sentence properly.

It could be, although I have no statistics to prove it - the inception of the mobile telephone and the opportunity to use text messaging which encourages the use of shortened words.

Finally - yes I did spot your mistake. at the beginning of the final sentence in paragraph 1 it should read 'A' instead if 'I'

Answer 7

No apostrophe in "people's", and for the person who said "I recent" I think you typed the digit one in preference to the word, so it should have read "One recent..." - so no mistake on your part there.
Of course, if you want to see the state of the nations' spelling and grammar, you need look no further than Q&A. I shall say no more - oh, and by the way, I DON'T normally have to use the spellchecker because I take the trouble to read through what I've written before clicking the 'submit' button. I wish a lot of other people would try it more often!

Answer 8

I think that the spelling and grammar of a huge chunk of the population is not as good as it could be, but that it is actually going to get better.

I worked in a primary school for a little while and they now place a greater emphasis on spelling and grammar, with things like literacy hour, than when I was there, so hopefully it'll get better.

Answer 9

Never mind spelling and grammar, you'd be amazed how many people can't even speak English! And no, I'm not being racist before the great unwashed start. I'm talking about white, English kids that literally can not string a sentence together when in (for lack of a better word) conversation. Just watch Trisha and the sad, declining state of our country is on show for all to watch.

Answer 10

The ability to convey meaning and feeling highly efficiently and effectively are what make English special. Spelling and grammar are what make it difficult for some people. Look at Old English to Shakespeare and tell me what the priorities should be. Many new words have been (invented) by bad spelling.