Duz speling kount?

Question

I went to a management seminar a while back and the facilitator said that in most situations, spelling doesn't count and that we shouldn't stress over it. I was incredulous.

But, what do you think? Does it bother you that people can't spell and that their grammar is sloppy? Does it affect your impression of them? Does it matter in the work place? Do you think we are moving toward an abbreviated society where "btw" (by the way) and other such short cuts are going to be the norm in the future?

(BTW, feel free to correct anything that I have done incorrectly in this question - just because you can.)

Answer 1

English is a beautiful language- but the way it is often seen on this site (you've done a great job in posting your question!) makes it ugly. The others here have covered it well already. Spelling counts; grammar counts. Period. I cannot imagine that any employee in a management position would be much of an asset to the company if he/she couldn't spell and didn't know grammar (you can't rely on spell check, as we all know). To me, poor spelling and grammar is ignorant and a sign of low intelligence and laziness (you have to be a very masterful writer to pull it off otherwise and, as Lynne Truss says in 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves', you have to be famous already). And, as has been mentioned, you must know spelling and grammar in order to properly convey your meaning.

As to your question about abbreviations: I think that in some instances (inter-office memos, for instance) 'btw', 'fyi' and other common abbreviations will (if they aren't already) become the norm. I cannot imagine that this will ever happen in scientific writing, legalese, etc... (Doctors, nurses and pharmacists have long used their own abbreviations without looking 'dumb' at all; interesting!)

Have you read 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves'? It's excellent and perfectly illustrates the point! (And feel free to find my mistakes! Typos happen... and I don't mind having them pointed out because I like to sound older than 8. Yours looks good except that the " should be reserved for direct quotes; btw should be 'btw'...fyi) :-)

Answer 2

Plenty of people still care about correct spelling. The trouble is, the word "correct" is a tricky thing these days to pin down (and this answer is only for the English language; I can't say much about other languages). :) Every living language on the planet changes, some more slowly than others. France has a governmental body that tries to keep the language completely static and unchanging. They use legislation and money. They aren't succeeding so well. America has some people who also want to keep the English language of America the same, but most Americans usually reject the idea. Regardless of the politics of it, we can't really stop the language from changing. If a word's spelling, or a person's concern for spelling it "correctly" happen to change, no one can stop it. As long as a person uses a word with a particular spelling, and another person happens to know what the first person meant, then the spelling has done its job. It is legitimate and "correct." Practically speaking, it doesn't matter if anyone else thinks the spelling is right or not. The language has worked; the act of communication has taken place. And if enough people repeat the same (new) spelling of the word, or abbreviation of the word (r u 2?), then it catches on and becomes official simply because enough people use it. Or, put another way, the ones who bother looking it up in the dictionary are in the minority and always have been. :)

Answer 3

I definitely believe spelling and grammar count when you are trying to make a good first impression, which I think is important when your work deals with clients. When I'm chatting with friends, I usually abbreviate and slack off on the grammar, but that's because they already know me well. I hate, however, when people RitE LikE dIS wHicH tAyKeS mE 4eVa 2 ReEd. When there's obvious spelling errors throughout an email or post, it does affect my impression of them. I usually think it's a kid writing, even if it's not true. Abbreviations are inevitable, especially when we are living in a world of text messaging and a fast-paced world. As long as teachers aren't teaching elementary school students internet abbreviations and their meanings in English, I'm not too worried about English's future.

Answer 4

Spelling absolutely counts! Of course, there are some words that are always going to be a pain to spell in English, but otherwise... spelling is very important because we have too many words in English that can mean something very different if the spelling is off, for example, "red" and "read" (in past tense) - they sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Spelling is important, grammar is important & pronunciation is important. That's what makes a language!