Spelling

Alan Bolte · Post by **Alan Bolte** » 2004-12-03 08:20am

Alright, I hate to be a fucking nazi about this, but why does anyone ever post something where they attempt to spell a word they don't really know and then follow it with (sp?)? I mean, for something fairly obscure, like a name from a novel you don't feel like digging through just now, I understand. But when you can just open a browser window, type the word into Google (which I specify because many people use it as their home page) or an online dictionary, and have one of several possible correctly spelled words suggested to them, why not take the 10 seconds? Hell, if you're on a really slow connection for some reason, most people have a word processor that comes with a spellcheck. If you don't care whether you've spelt the word correctly in the first place, why the (sp?)?

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-03 08:24am

Yeah, that pisses me off too. Of course, I try not to call people out on that sort of thing, because I'd seem like a hycoprite.

wood · Post by **wood** » 2004-12-03 09:43am

I think that falls under the "I'll freely admit that I'm lazy, but I don't want to look stupid" category.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2004-12-03 10:03am

Because if I'm in the middle of composing a decent sounding sentence in my head, then I go to the another window or tab to find out how to spell whatever word I'm unsure about, I could and probably would lose the flow of the sentence. That's severely frustrating. If you write a sentence as you wish it to be read and have a suspected spelling mistake in there, you can presume people will know what you're talking about and not bother going fixing it.

Lindar · Post by **Lindar** » 2004-12-03 10:49am

(sp?) generally holds that I have to remember to look it up later...cause it might be right...but at that moment in time it looks wrong.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-12-03 10:51am

I use Google as a spell-checker probably at least 5-10+ times a day. It's such a Godsend.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-12-03 11:00am

If they're is a reeson for this tread, Im not gettinng it.

Alan Bolte · Post by **Alan Bolte** » 2004-12-03 12:29pm

Sorry, no reason. This should have been in the venting thread in HoS, but it was posted in the morning, which is not a good time for me to be trying to think. I=Luser.

Lindar, I know that, that was my point. I was asking why 'later' is not before you hit the submit button, especially in forums with no edit button?

And if you're worried about the flow, isn't typing (sp?) going to interrupt that worse than just having a spelling error? Are you just trying to avoid having to read a post by some spelling nazi who feels the need to correct you? It frankly looks dumber than a spelling mistake.

EDIT: Come to think of it, was that a joke, Hipper?

Captain Cyran · Post by **Captain Cyran** » 2004-12-03 01:56pm

Yeah, I'm just a lazy ass. And I usually don't do the (sp?) thing.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-12-03 02:00pm

If I am typing up something long and complex I use Word to format and spell check. If I am typing up something fairly small, just a few sentences, I don't bother checking the spelling but I do put (sp) in as a courtesy. It shouldn't bloody bother anyone. I find intentional misspellings far more agrivating.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-12-03 02:14pm

For the life of me, I can never spell " thorough" correctly. I always write things like "through" and "through".

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-12-03 02:16pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:For the life of me, I can never spell " thorough" correctly. I always write things like "through" and "through".

i always tend to have problems with the word bureaucrat or bureaucracy myself. despite seeing it frequently i can never remember what the proper way to spell it is.

Captain Cyran · Post by **Captain Cyran** » 2004-12-03 02:28pm

Darth_Zod wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:For the life of me, I can never spell " thorough" correctly. I always write things like "through" and "through".
i always tend to have problems with the word bureaucrat or bureaucracy myself. despite seeing it frequently i can never remember what the proper way to spell it is.

It's easy to spell. A-s-s-h-o-l-e. See?

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2004-12-03 02:31pm

If I'm about to type a word I can't spell, I'll just find another word (or words) to say that will get the same message across.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-12-03 05:27pm

For future reference everyone ...

It's rIdiculous, not rediculous.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-12-03 05:33pm

Durandal wrote:For future reference everyone ...

It's rIdiculous, not rediculous.

I have the opposite problem with despise.

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2004-12-03 08:08pm

I generally do it only when the network's being a stone cold bitch and all the bandwidth is tied up like her chastity belt.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-12-03 08:19pm

Alan Bolte wrote:EDIT: Come to think of it, was that a joke, Hipper?

You're a quick one, I'll give you that.

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2004-12-03 08:35pm

As long as we're airing spelling peeves, the proper spelling for "possible" is p-o-s-s-i-b-l-e, NOT p-o-s-s-i-b-u-l. See also "probable".

I can't tell you how many times I've seen "possibul" written on this board.

bohemianfey · Post by **bohemianfey** » 2004-12-03 09:57pm

d-I-v-i-n-e NOT d-e-v-i-n-e. Furthermore, it's m-a-s-t-U-r-b-a-t-e NOT m-a-s-t-E-r-b-a-t-e. The latter is MUCH more common on this bored and I've been noticing it quite frequently in any thread that involves the topic.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-12-03 10:22pm

Durandal wrote:For future reference everyone ...

It's rIdiculous, not rediculous.

You have no idea how much it annoys me when I see "rediculous." There's also that moronic "virii" pluralization of "virus."

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-12-03 11:18pm

Robert Treder wrote:As long as we're airing spelling peeves, the proper spelling for "possible" is p-o-s-s-i-b-l-e, NOT p-o-s-s-i-b-u-l. See also "probable".

I can't tell you how many times I've seen "possibul" written on this board.

But, it's completely diferent when it's a purposeful misspelling. Which is what "possibul" started as. If other people are doing it out of ignorance, I laugh at them.

What I hate, is when I type in "there" instead of "their", I've also caught myself with "no" when it should be "know".
How I do this, I don't no; their must be a reeson.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2004-12-03 11:31pm

Darth_Zod wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:For the life of me, I can never spell " thorough" correctly. I always write things like "through" and "through". :P
i always tend to have problems with the word bureaucrat or bureaucracy myself. despite seeing it frequently i can never remember what the proper way to spell it is.

Probably because of the silent "r". Was never really a problem for me because the "r" is pronounced in "bureau". Knowing French really helps in spelling, since so many English words have French roots, and are still spelled in the French way (unlike the words derived from the Germanic languages on which early English was based, which predate standardized spellings.)

I've got a little text area up on my Gnome-bar where I can look up words to check their spelling and definitions, so I don't have much of an excuse for using "(sp?)", unless it's not a dictionary word.