It's curious that nerds, who are generally very precise in matters of technology, are such painfully sloppy writers.
Like, say, this review.
I don't remember the username, but someone on here had an excellent signature for this: "Slashdot, where people know the difference between grep, zgrep, and ngrep, but not there, their, and they're."
I've explained how I think this works before, but got was moderated into oblivion. Hopefully this will light a spark to some of you...
When I type, I literally have an inner monologue going on of what I wish to type. A lot of people work this way. It is a means of pre-screening what you want to say so that it would actually make sense if talking directly to other people.
Also, my hands move faster than I can think sometimes. When words like "there/their/they're" come along, my brain just says "there". Espec
Also, my hands move faster than I can think sometimes. When words like "there/their/they're" come along, my brain just says "there". Especially in a hurry or under stress, my brain doesn't say "WHOA there buddy. That sound can be spelled more than one way depending on the context".
This is where the amazing skill taught in school called "proofreading" kicks in. Before you click "Submit" you pause, re-read what you've written, think about it for a moment, and correct any mistakes. Conveniently, Slashdot
I think there is a good portion of people that do not consider a post on the internet to be worthy of proof reading. Any typo's or misspellings are insignificant enough that you can still read and understand the post.
I think there is a good portion of people that do not consider a post on the internet to be worthy of proof reading.
That's sad. I would imagine there's a pretty large intersection between those people and the ones that claim "language is a living construct, so I can break the rules whenever I want."
On the Internet, we don't have things like body language, voice inflection, or eye contact to help convey extra information. The words that you use become more important in those circumstances, not less.
I think the largest reason for it is that posting on the internet is done for entertainment. Because it is done for entertainment, it does not require the same level of professionalism as something, well professional.
The greengrocer's apostrophe is a tell-tale sign that you are probably one of those people you refer to.
Nerds (and most otherwise intelligent people, for that matter) usually give a lot of importance to language. Not bothering to express oneself correctly is something "typical people" would do. But not nerds, no. We know better.
Note: English is not my first language, so any grammar mistakes found in this post are the product of ignorance, not sloppiness.
By the way, do you have any source that supports the idea that nerds and most otherwise intelligent people give a lot of importance to language (Proper spelling & grammar specifically)
I don't see signatures. I don't remember if I set it up that way on purpose -I don't like sigs- or it was like that by default. Sorry if I lost the context because of that (btw, I still don't know what your sig says, I'll take a look at the settings later).
By the way, do you have any source that supports the idea that nerds and most otherwise intelligent people give a lot of importance to language (Proper spelling & grammar specifically)
Well, yes, the Jargon File should count as source, IMO. It says 'hackers' where we say 'nerds' or 'geeks', but in a broad sense, meaning approximately the same. I quote the section about the writing style of hackers:
Though it is considered gauche to publicly criticize posters for poor spelling or grammar, the network places a premium on literacy and clarity of expression. It may well be that future historians of literature will see in it a revival of the great tradition of personal letters as art.
A lot of nerds or geeks wrote C. We don't give damn about spaces, variable names, etc. Heck, i wrote several functions with name such as mbiasi() which is actually done by taking initial letter of every word in the string "my boss is a stupid idiot". When he ask, I just told him, that it just came to my mind. That made me think, that maybe the word 'fsck' and 'gimp' might not be as wierd as it sounds.
"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging
their prejudices."
-- William James
Nerds. (Score:5, Interesting)
It's curious that nerds, who are generally very precise in matters of technology, are such painfully sloppy writers.
Like, say, this review.
I don't remember the username, but someone on here had an excellent signature for this: "Slashdot, where people know the difference between grep, zgrep, and ngrep, but not there, their, and they're."
--saint
Re: (Score:5, Interesting)
When I type, I literally have an inner monologue going on of what I wish to type. A lot of people work this way. It is a means of pre-screening what you want to say so that it would actually make sense if talking directly to other people.
Also, my hands move faster than I can think sometimes. When words like "there/their/they're" come along, my brain just says "there". Espec
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, my hands move faster than I can think sometimes. When words like "there/their/they're" come along, my brain just says "there". Especially in a hurry or under stress, my brain doesn't say "WHOA there buddy. That sound can be spelled more than one way depending on the context".
This is where the amazing skill taught in school called "proofreading" kicks in. Before you click "Submit" you pause, re-read what you've written, think about it for a moment, and correct any mistakes. Conveniently, Slashdot
Re:Nerds. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I think there is a good portion of people that do not consider a post on the internet to be worthy of proof reading.
That's sad. I would imagine there's a pretty large intersection between those people and the ones that claim "language is a living construct, so I can break the rules whenever I want."
On the Internet, we don't have things like body language, voice inflection, or eye contact to help convey extra information. The words that you use become more important in those circumstances, not less.
--saint
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
The greengrocer's apostrophe is a tell-tale sign that you are probably one of those people you refer to.
Nerds (and most otherwise intelligent people, for that matter) usually give a lot of importance to language. Not bothering to express oneself correctly is something "typical people" would do. But not nerds, no. We know better.
Note: English is not my first language, so any grammar mistakes found in this post are the product of ignorance, not sloppiness.
Re: (Score:2)
By the way, do you have any source that supports the idea that nerds and most otherwise intelligent people give a lot of importance to language (Proper spelling & grammar specifically)
Re: (Score:1)
I assumed my signature would be the first clue.
I don't see signatures. I don't remember if I set it up that way on purpose -I don't like sigs- or it was like that by default. Sorry if I lost the context because of that (btw, I still don't know what your sig says, I'll take a look at the settings later).
By the way, do you have any source that supports the idea that nerds and most otherwise intelligent people give a lot of importance to language (Proper spelling & grammar specifically)
Well, yes, the Jargon File should count as source, IMO. It says 'hackers' where we say 'nerds' or 'geeks', but in a broad sense, meaning approximately the same. I quote the section about the writing style of hackers:
Though it is considered gauche to publicly criticize posters for poor spelling or grammar, the network places a premium on literacy and clarity of expression. It may well be that future historians of literature will see in it a revival of the great tradition of personal letters as art.
However, I have no clear source for the
Re: (Score:1)