Why can't we write?

[scotnt73]

i was talking to a coworker about my lack of grammer/spelling skills on this board. he asked me why didnt i just type it up in word and use the spelling/grammer check and then cut and paste it in here. i thought about it and decided that im not trying to impress anyone here and most of my posts are geared towards helping others(i very seldom actually request help i usually just respond to posts and learn that way).

if the grammer/spelling police want to ignore my posts so be it. as long as the people who asked the question read them im cool with that.

[Pirc Defense]

[ QUOTE ]
i was talking to a coworker about my lack of grammer/spelling skills on this board. he asked me why didnt i just type it up in word and use the spelling/grammer check and then cut and paste it in here. i thought about it and decided that im not trying to impress anyone here and most of my posts are geared towards helping others(i very seldom actually request help i usually just respond to posts and learn that way).


[/ QUOTE ]

This misses the issue. The issue is not whether someone takes the time to clean up a post using a spell checker, a grammar checker, a dictionary or a thesaurus. We all make typos and make grammar errors, egregious ones no doubt, all the time. But not the same ones over and over.

What is at issue is the underlying lack of knowledge evident when someone doesn't automatically know the proper use of lose or your or their. This is grammar school (the name 'grammar school' isn't incidental, btw), basic level knowledge that should be automatic for any graduate of an American high school. Or middle school. Or elementary school. Isn't this basic type of grammar taught in elementary school?

That's what has me worried.

I'm even waxing misty-eyed and can say that some stuff I've read makes me sad (angry?) about what's happening to my mother language, the language that identifies us as American, and one of the very things we go to war for. Would we all rather be speaking German now?

The occasional error is no problem, but just simply not knowing is disturbing.

[Lawrence Ng]

[ QUOTE ]
What is wrong with our high schools that people are graduated without this very basic information? We don't like it when citizens of other countries make fun of our educational standards, but they've got a compelling case.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think there has been far less focus on grammar and technical writing skills in our educational system the past 20 years. I do not pride myself on having the best english writing skills, but I can still write a formal report up without much difficulty.

The Internet has made shorthand writing a norm. Instead of writing full sentences that are punctuated and grammatically correct, we use abbreviations and shortcuts.

You can thank online games for this pattern. I use to play Dark Age of Camelot and when we use to chat like this,

Normal English: There will be a dragon raid tonight and all the loot the dragon drops will be distributed to characters about level 45.

Online English: L33t Dragon Raid @5 PM EST. Lvl 45+ only.

Normal English: We have reports of five full groups of Midgards on their way to the Boldian Keep.

Online English: OMFG! Zerg of mids otw to Bold. We have inc! inc!

[sfer]

I think it's likely that grammar/spelling/style/writing isn't much better or worse now than it ever was previously, but that email and the web just lets everyone see it.

[Rushmore]

I have not read any of the other responses.

We cannot write because...

We are too lazy and we do not care.

Welcome to the world.

[beerbandit]

im lazier than most

cheers
beer