Literacy is a lost cause

[mexi cali]

I think that communicating by technology is a major cause of people losing the desire to use proper English ... especially phone "thumb" messaging.

You mean "goodly English", right?

[Donald G]

Will help people exorcise themselves ... for a fee. Cross and religious scripture of your choice provided.

[kgcayenne]

I wonder how many thousand times every person in North America misspells words throughout their lifetime. It used to be linked to a persons educational status and thus their caste or status in life ... according to English thinking.

Is it still considered important ?? Given the number of languages spoken in Canada these days I don't think so.

Typos and autocorrect mistakes are frustrating, but to many it is still quite important to do things well. Why have people decided against striving to do well something so important as communication?

[mexi cali]

Cuz were getting dumberer.

[A_Britishcolumbian]

Ref. the original post, use of "statuary" for "statutory" and a million other similar is not a misspelling issue, it is a case of not knowing the language.

I only bring this up because no one else has, I think it is highly possible/likely this is not a case of poor spelling or poor grammar, but rather evidence of a cultural heritage, that not being 'euro, or 'canadian'.

the 'statutory' concept and term is something many people in 'canadian' society do not grasp or are aware of, and I would guess that someone growing up in wfn or other first nation may be even less inclined to be familiar with the idea/word.

spelling, grammar and communicating in general is dying in traditional forms. I think the sign maker was a conscientious person that chose the wrong word. I also think that we as a society do not speak of statuaries often enough :)

[Nomaster]

Graffiti on a Vernon building.

A UFO spray painted with the words "THEIR HERE."

[LANDM]

Typos and autocorrect mistakes are frustrating, but to many it is still quite important to do things well. Why have people decided against striving to do well something so important as communication?

Exactly!
If a person is doing *anything* why not make every attempt to do it correctly.

It was fascinating to look at the various attempts over the last couple of years to get the title corrected of the "you know your from Kelowna" group that I have seen on my wife's Facebook. The resistance was amazing, along with the vehement attacks on those that suggested a simple correction to an obvious error. Why would someone not want to correct an error? Instead there is pride in obvious stupidity and justification of the error because people could still understand the intent. Very weird.

Now, if someone simply has not learned the correct spelling or grammar and is trying to learn, that is different. If autocorrect screws you, that's fine. But to not even try......that is pathetic.

There is a recent thread where the comment was so bad in grammar, punctuation, and spelling that it was virtually impossible to parse it. A very valid response from the next poster was "English please?" or something to that effect.

Celebration or justification of laziness and/or stupidity is silly and should not happen. It drives me crazy when autocorrect slips something in when I communicate with someone. At least in something like a discussion forum, one can go in and correct or edit. But, when you hit "send" on an email or text that contains an error, that is justifiably embarrassing.

[Queen K]

I'm on that site as are several teachers, and it drives them bonkers.

You know your from Kelowna if

You know you're from Kelowna if

Come on, it should not be an issue to change it.

[Lady tehMa]

Well, I am doing my part. I have raised two literate children who delight me to no end when they argue with friends over correct verb tenses.

[SmokeOnTheWater]

I'm sure we've all read this one before. I couldn't resist.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

[occasional thoughts]

Smoke, that's painful.

Lady, that's wonderful. Two down, a few hundred million to go. Most of the posters on this topic also get a pass!

My three have a master's and two bachelor's between them so far, but they're not 100% on the spelling, et al, or have the right (says dad) attitude towards doing it correctly, alas.

[Lady tehMa]

Smoke, that's painful.

Lady, that's wonderful. Two down, a few hundred million to go. Most of the posters on this topic also get a pass!

My three have a master's and two bachelor's between them so far, but they're not 100% on the spelling, et al, or have the right (says dad) attitude towards doing it correctly, alas.

Congratulations on the achievements!

We're blue collar, and the kids are heading into trades. They understand they will be surrounded by people who may not care about language, but they also understand it doesn't mean they should give up. My daughter is currently planning on being a pastry chef, my son a plumber. I have stressed good communication, and their father delights in debate. When they get going, not many can stand against them!

[Barney Google]

[occasional thoughts]

Lady T, blue collar is great, and "literate" is fantastic. my No. 2 son is a sous chef at that place that outraged everyone a couple of months ago by switching to U.S. beef and getting his professional cook apprenticeship through OC. And he's the most literate of the three!

Literacy is good, something to be proud of; "bad English" is one more bit of our heritage and culture that we're losing these days. Remember, our Quebecois partners had "language police" not too long ago to monitor the potential debasement of French in Quebec. That may have been a bit heavy-handed, but I doubt if any other major language on earth is going in a downhill direction like ours, which is supposedly the No. 1 language on earth.

[Nomaster]

http://www.prolificliving.com/19-errors ... -language/

Please Cher with you're frendz.