For all you nit-pickers out there

[Boris Yeltsin]

Not sure what you'll make of this...

Bad spelling 'should be accepted'

Common spelling mistakes should be accepted into everyday use, not corrected, a lecturer has said.

Ken Smith of Bucks New University says the most common mistakes should be accepted as "variant spellings".

He lists the 10 most commonly misspelt words, which include "arguement" for "argument" and "twelth" for "twelfth".

Mr Smith says his proposal, outlined in an article in the Times Higher Education Supplement, follows years of correcting the same mistakes.

Mr Smith, a criminology lecturer, said: "Instead of complaining about the state of the education system as we correct the same mistakes year after year, I've got a better idea.

"University teachers should simply accept as variant spellings those words our students most commonly misspell.

"The spelling of the word 'judgement', for example, is now widely accepted as a variant of 'judgment', so why can't 'truely' be accepted as a variant spelling of 'truly'?"

Mr Smith also suggested adding the word "misspelt" to the list and all those that break the "i before e" rule - weird, seize, neighbour and foreign. He said he was not asking people to learn to spell words differently.

"All I am suggesting is that we might well put 20 or so of the most commonly misspelt words in the English language on the same footing as those other words that have a widely accepted variant spelling," he added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7546975.stm

 

[Juan Albion]

I was reading that earlier and felt it was quite a reasonable idea. Languages have always been evolving and it is only fairly recently that we have tried to standardise everything.

I would add 'alot' to his list since 75% of the people on here don't seem to realise it is meant to be two separate words (although I haven't seen anyone write 'alittle').

Having said that, he is not suggesting accepting bad spelling or grammar in general. It is utterly shocking how few people know how to use apostrophes, even though only two or three simple rules are required to get it right 95% of the time.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Lode of boloks if u arsk mi.

 

[The Large One]

New Bucks University should stick to what it's best at...

furniture making.

 

[Mr C]

This is a ridiculous idea. Those of us who actually bother to spell things correctly are left wondering why we're bothering.

It's not a case of language evolving; it's a case of laziness and poor spelling!

 

[Juan Albion]

This is a ridiculous idea. Those of us who actually bother to spell things correctly are left wondering why we're bothering.

It's not a case of language evolving; it's a case of laziness and poor spelling!

I disagree - and I'm an avid nit-picker. There is a lot of bad spelling and laziness, but there comes a time when an incorrect spelling becomes the norm. Otherwise we would be following Brighthelmston and Hove Albion, wouldn't we?

 

[nwgull]

I only got a C in GCSE English back in 1992 but I despair at the poor level of spelling and grammar of some graduates these days. This may sound a bit harsh as I know I misspell the occasional word but I don't think it's unreasonable to be able to differentiate between there, their and they're, or your and you're.

Advice/advise is another word that I've seen misspelt loads recently, and the random use of apostrophes to pluralise makes my sh1t itch.

 

[Nemesis]

Poor speeling makes reeding what wood otherwize be a intresting post blody impossable to follow.

 

[Gully]

So does capitalisation....err, on second thoughts!

 

[Nemesis]

This may sound a bit harsh as I know I misspell the occasional word but I don't think it's unreasonable to be able to differentiate between there, their and they're, or your and you're.

And 'have' and 'of'. As in "he should of shot instead of passing". 'Should have' is not too hard to remember.

Annoys the bejeebers out have me...'

 

[Icy Gull]

How about bad grammar? The following is used almost as frequently as the correct usage. Seems acceptable these days and has become part of everyday language, especially by southerners

We was.....

I done it...

 

[John Bumlick]

I disagree - and I'm an avid nit-picker. There is a lot of bad spelling and laziness, but there comes a time when an incorrect spelling becomes the norm. Otherwise we would be following Brighthelmston and Hove Albion, wouldn't we?

and i disagree with you. there's a big difference between the evolution of a word or name (such as Brighthelmstone to Brighton) and the laziness of accepting incorrect spelling. evolution implies growth and the passage of time. let's face it, the proliferation of poor spelling is only apparent because of the internet - if it weren't for the internet how else would we have been exposed to the absolute rubbish that someone like 1066gull types? just because the barely literate masses now have the ability to 'publish' their drivel, that's no reason to lower the bar. since when has lowering standards been a good idea?

 

[mattb]

retards should not be rewarded

 

[jonny.rainbow]

Shakespeare couldn't spell his own name. FACT.

 

[Peteinblack]

Moor dumming doun, eye fear.

Might as well say that aggressive anti-social behaviour is becoming the norm, so we should treat is as acceptable. Oh hang on, we already do.....

Thiz Cuntree is totallee fukked, innit.

:

 

[Nibble]

Well Ken Smith of Bucks New University can go f*** himself.

 

[Billy the Fish]

RACIST

 

[drew]

This is about accommodating laziness. Bear in mind that the issue arose because a university lecturer got fed up with correcting bad spelling and is suggesting allowing incorrect spelling of the 20 most common errors. Tough, if you are supposedly intelligent to get to university then perhaps you should have enough intelligence to learn the 20 most common errors.

It was suggested on the radio yesterday that his solution should be to return the papers to the relevant student with just a comment that there are spelling mistakes. The onus would be on the student to check the work again and then re-submit for marking. Also, how much work is actually hand written. I suggest very little which would also infer that the lazy gits can't even do a spell or grammar check.

If this 'dumbing down' is accepted at university level can you imagine how much worse it will be at the other end of the spectrum.

Not everybody can spell and some have disabilities that make it difficult but when you are talking about our educational institutions then surely they should be seeking to set and maintain the highest standard.

E & O E

 

[Peteinblack]

Unfortunately, we are not allowed to penalise students for bad spelling, poor grammar, etc, in case they suffer from dyslexia, in which case we get done for discrimination against someone who is classified as having a disability.

Dyslexia has become the catch-all factor to account for any bad spelling, etc.

Not helped, either, by the culture of text-messaging.

Besides, university managers don't give a damn anymore about academic standards, all they care about is bums-on-seats to maximise university income @ 3,000 per student.

Try failing a student or kicking them off their degree for poor academic performance or non-attendance, and university managers will say 'But we can't afford to lose their 3,000 - unles we offset the losses by making you redundant'.

Far from raising standards by creating more competition (as bull-shit politicians always claim), making students 'paying customers' has led to a decline in standards, because university managers won't do anything which might mean expelling or turning away fee-paying students, and a drop in income.

Its gonna keep getting worse, but it wil be us lecturers (like school teachers) who'll be accused of being crap at our jobs, not the management numpties or toss-pot politicians who keep imposing unworkable systems and impossible targets on us.

I really do despair.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Unfortunately, we are not allowed to penalise students for bad spelling, poor grammar, etc, in case they suffer from dyslexia, in which case we get done for discrimination against someone who is classified as having a disability.

Dyslexia has become the catch-all factor to account for any bad spelling, etc.

Well then, I have diksleckzia (honest, Guv), so I take the somewhat revolutionary steps of using a dictionary at times; & also the spellcheck facility. I even, on occasion, have a literate person check through my prose to make sure everything vaguely stacks up. Bad spelling & grammer is for Mugs. FACT!