I don't know is it is the texting habits or what, but it seems like we are seeing more and more posts with no capital letters at the start of sentences and even worse no punctuation at the end of sentences.

I understand we have people from all over the world posting on this forum so poor grammar and spelling are to be expected but I would think a number of languages have capital letters and at least some kind of punctuation in common.

Lack of capital letters makes a sentence difficult to read. Add no punctuation and it makes reading several sentences brutal. If you then add long run on paragraphs it makes the task near impossible.

Can we please add something about using capitalization and punctuation to the guidelines? Maybe have something on how to break up a large post into several smaller paragraphs too.

 

Long time ago I decided to stop reading posts consisting of a long sequence of sentences, all in one paragraph.

Texting? No, thanks, either.

Have better things to do with my time.

 

I quickly read the notification email from your response and saw no punctuation or capitalization. At first I thought you were teasing me. Then I noticed it is the standard message that comes with each notification. It does not use capitalization or punctuation! I just noticed that.

 

Hello,

I also find it hard to read the texts of people who can not find the ENTER key.
With those ALL is written in one long line.

Bertus

 

arE yoU tryinG tO boY coT looswirE ?

aM I AnNoyInG You ?

 

arE yoU tryinG tO boY coT looswirE ?

aM I AnNoyInG You ?

Wow, I suppose it could be worse.

Thanks for proving that.

 

learn to let go.

tht's what i do, most of the time.

 

English is not my first language, but...

There are rules on how to write properly, let's make an effort to follow them.

Capital letters and correct punctuation should be minimum.

When a post is too much sms-language, I don't read it. That's sad because I could provide some knowledge or I could learn something...

 

My English is pretty poor, I need good examples; spelling, grammar and punctuation on the net are appalling. It amazes me that we have to rely on people like Jens and Agustin from non-English speaking countries to get it right, although I will concede that there is at least one guy from the US whose English is impeccable.

 

Franky I really don't care much about non English speakers using poor grammar or spelling. Actually I am amazed how good it is from some of our forum members where English is not their first language. Like nerdguru and a few others, their English is amazing.


A subject like electronics is already complicated enough. I can't imagine trying to function in it with a language that is not my first language. Heck I can barely function in it now.

What is annoying is first language English speakers that make no attempt to use proper spelling like the use of prolly instead of probably.

And then they are those people who use words like lorry for truck and torch instead of flashlight. They should really learn to speak English.

 

And then they are those people who use words like lorry for truck and torch instead of flashlight. They should really learn to speak English.

Wot! You have a problem with the Queen's English? She is going to be quite cross with you you know.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments expressed in the original post.

But I would add "spelling" as well.

However, when I have brought up (complained about) this issue many times on other tech forums, I have generally been shot down amidst howls of BS like:-

"It doesn’t matter just as long as the message is being communicated!"

I disagree. What it indicates to me is that folk (who are, by and large, purporting to be engineering types) just can’t be arsed. How many times am I supposed to re-read a post trying to figure out what the lazy [censored] is trying to get across?

Those of you tuning in from outside the UK may not be aware that everything here has now been "dumbed down" to the extent that "anything goes", and old guys (such as myself) who were brought up to appreciate real standards are ridiculed as "yesterday’s men", dinosaurs ... and all the rest.

Yeah, the Young Ones are in charge of the world now ... and what a Pig’s Ear there are making (have made) of it!

 

What annoys me is people who sign up, and then post something full of spelling errors, often it is trivial, and often it is difficult to give a good answer, if any.

Sometimes I wonder if these individuals write any program code, or if they read any technical documention. Or if they ever have used a search engine.

 

I was also wondering if I should mention program code. But, having seen quite a lot of poorly constructed code myself, I guess I already knew the answer.

The thing about code, of course, is that it's rarely seen "by others" ... but I'll bet I'm not the only one who often sighs when calling up old code (yes, even my own, sometimes) in order to maintain, edit, debug, correct, "de-code" it, or otherwise dig into it. It usually takes at least two cups of tea before I summon the strength to wade through it!

Again, other folk I have mentioned this to come back with stuff like:- "It doesn't matter"!

They're wrong, of course.

Technical documentation:- another element these days is the fact that so much of it is translated (often poorly) from a foreign language. Still, it often gives us something to laugh about, does it not? Although I for one would prefer that it was useful (accurate, believable even), rather than amusing.

 

Sometimes I wonder if these individuals write any program code, or if they read any technical documention. Or if they ever have used a search engine.

Well, Google is not only forgiving with your "mistakes" but helpful. Even if you type anything wrong on purpose, Google is giving you chances to get your search right at the first try.

And do not forget, spelling checkers / correctors as in Word; people knows they are there so they can type "more or less" and then get it right again.

I am good in Spanish but in English, honestly, that is a real help to me (I write, 99,99% of my reports in English).

 

Actually I use Google a lot for spell checking. Not only do you get the spelling, but a proper definition most cases.

 

Actually I use Google a lot for spell checking. Not only do you get the spelling, but a proper definition most cases.

Hotmail and Word will underline wrong spellings in red.

 

Their lists are far from complete, especially for technical terms. So far, assuming you are online, Google wins hands down.

 

English is not my first language, but...
...

What was my first language ?

 

Hello,

Being Dutch, english is also not my first language.
I use the forum to keep up my english.

Bertus