To all Lower Case People

[bexrbetter]

There are certain well known differences between US and Australian/English spelling, (eg center/centre, flavor/flavour), which we can ignore the spellcheck ...

Or you could turn the American spellcheck off and turn the English or Australian spellcheck on.

 

 

[Ron5335]

The capital should have been on Jack, not uncle.Didn't anyone else notice that?

I beg to differ...... Uncle Jack is his name, so therefore both are personal pronouns, so both should have capitals.

 

I think........

 

 

[Neil_S]

I beg to differ...... Uncle Jack is his name, so therefore both are personal pronouns, so both should have capitals.I think........

If you are using "Aunt Mary" as a name (Good morning, Aunt Mary. I went with Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary. -- The same way you'd say "Good morning, Frank" or "I went with Peter and Alice") then use capitals.

 

If you are referring to her like this: "I went with my aunt, Mary, and two of my cousins" then it's a generic noun and not part of her title.

 

 

 

[red750]

Since this thread has morphed into a discussion of errors in posts, one item which regularly occurs is using the wrong word. I'm not talking about the common there/their/they're messups, but terms more aligned to aviation. Common errors are peddle/pedal, hanger/hangar, and angel/angle. I'm sure there are more which don't spring immediately to mind. The problem with these is that spellcheck will not pick them up. They are valid words, spelt correctly, simply used in the wrong context.

 

 

[kgwilson]

American English now pervades the world & it's all due to the fact that the original computers and word processing software originated from there plus of course TV shows and movies. I prefer aeroplane to airplane but airplane seems now to be used in a lot of local press & not just articles sourced from the US. The same goes for the use of "Z" instead of "S" in words like "organise, utilise, The built in spell checker on this site is American as it underlines those words in red even though I have set my default to Australian English and British English in other applications. It doesn't matter. In a few years we will all be speaking and spelling in Chinglish anyway.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

American English now pervades the world & it's all due to the fact that the original computers and word processing software originated from there plus of course TV shows and movies. I prefer aeroplane to airplane but airplane seems now to be used in a lot of local press & not just articles sourced from the US. The same goes for the use of "Z" instead of "S" in words like "organise, utilise...

That's bad enough, KG, but worse still, the Americans are taking us back to medieval measurements. I'm finding increasing numbers of imperial measurements in our shops- even though they were banned three decades ago!

 

 

[red750]

.....The built in spell checker on this site is American as it underlines those words in red even though I have set my default to Australian English and British English in other applications. .....

My browser is Firefox. When it highlighted a word spelt the Australian way, I right clicked and selected Languages, then Add Dictionary. I selected English (Australia). This downloaded the Australian dictionary as a Firefox add-on. I then selected English (Australia) so that the black dot appeared in front of it. Then every word I typed spelt the Australian way was accepted. It is a browser function, not the site.

 

 

 

[red750]

I also tried Chrome. Although the steps are slightly different, the procedure is very similar. Downloading the Australian dictionary and selecting it, works the same as Firefox.

 

 

[kgwilson]

I also tried Chrome. Although the steps are slightly different, the procedure is very similar. Downloading the Australian dictionary and selecting it, works the same as Firefox.

So it does. I'd just selected English from the 2 options, the other being American English & noted that it states English can't be used for spell checking. Just added Aussie English & all's well.

 

 

[Soleair]

Not to mention...."Let's go f*ck Grandma", or "Let's go, f*ck Grandma".

or perhaps: "Let's go f*ck, Grandma".

 

 

[IBob]

My browser is Firefox. When it highlighted a word spelt the Australian way, I right clicked and selected Languages, then Add Dictionary. I selected English (Australia). This downloaded the Australian dictionary as a Firefox add-on. I then selected English (Australia) so that the black dot appeared in front of it. Then every word I typed spelt the Australian way was accepted. It is a browser function, not the site.[ATTACH=full]46262[/ATTACH]

Thank you, Red. I have been meaning to do something about that for so long.

 

What I can't credit is the number of businesses and media folk who don't seem to use a spell checker at all.

 

And proof reading also seems to have gone entirely out the window: it's unusual now to read a document from any source (government included) that does not contain some errors.

 

 

[IBob]

I wish the spelling police would rid us of the irritating misuse of the apostrophe.

Good luck with that, OK. It was colloquially known as the greengrocer's apostrophe, due to the liberal sprinkling of them on most greengrocer's daily roadside chalkings: cauliflower's $2.50 each etc.

 

 

[red750]

.....it's unusual now to read a document from any source (government included) that does not contain some errors.

I think the education system gave up on trying to emphasise the importance of spelling and grammar on anyone now under the age of 60. I think they even accepted it in exams. The difficulty is now generational - the people supervising and managed also have a limited command of the language.

 

 

[old man emu]

My pet hate is the failure to have the Number of the verb correspond with its Subject, especially when an adjectival phrase is placed between the Subject and the verb.

 

 

[old man emu]

Good luck with that, OK. It was colloquially known as the greengrocer's apostrophe, due to the liberal sprinkling of them on most greengrocer's daily roadside chalkings: cauliflower's $2.50 each etc.

Thank you, gentlemens. I fix in a coupla days. Coupla days.

 

 

[red750]

Bee..you..tiful.

 

 

[IBob]

Oh, here we go: anytime now I'll be asked to say fush & chups.........sigh

 

 

[red750]

I must admit, not all over 60's benefited from a good education. One poster on another forum I subscribe to is 75, and left school at an early age to work on the farm. Here is a classic example of his post, copied and pasted without alterantion:

 

"well we had Halley copters flying everywhere over Redcliffe. because of the opening of the train tomorrow.

 

I think government officials was all down hear today starting it up.

 

tomorrow is the first day, catching the train to Brisbane. from Redcliffe."

 

 

[IBob]

I can't see that it needs any alterantion: his meaning is perfectly clear to me......)

 

 

[red750]

Common errors are peddle/pedal, hanger/hangar, and angel/angle. I'm sure there are more which don't spring immediately to mind.

Another is of/off. "Off means 'not on', like a light switch.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

I think the education system gave up on trying to emphasise the importance of spelling and grammar on anyone now under the age of 60. I think they even accepted it in exams. The difficulty is now generational - the people supervising and managed also have a limited command of the language.

So true, Red. As part of that cohort of teachers I take some responsibility. Most of my generation were educated in classes of 40+ where many fell by the wayside and there was little or no individual help available.

I loathed grammar lessons and all the nonsensical rules (almost as much as I despise the stupid imperial measurement mess). By reading widely you quickly learn correct spelling and grammar. That avenue is now no longer viable, because much that's published is so badly written.

 

 

[IBob]

What I find bizarre, and quite disturbing, is that we are living through the most amazing communications revolution, while at the same time clear and concise communication seems to be a vanishing thing.

 

I suspect that our communication is being shaped, and in some ways greatly limited, by the methods and media we now use.

 

I personally don't much mind the mangling of the langwidge: I can hack my way through most of that.

 

 

[ben87r]

In regards to texting, email, and other electronic communications, the worst I know (family friends etc, not on here) ARE the over 60's. Their spelling may be better but grammar and punctuation are horrible. This seems to be due to not being able to/wanting to use the smartphone/tablet correctly. If I gave my Mum a pen her grammar would be perfect, on a phone nearly everything can be taken out of context due to grammar and punctuation.

 

 

[IBob]

That's interesting. I'm over 60 and have noticed that people of all ages, including my own children, often misunderstand or miss parts of the message when using phones or tablets. So much so that I recently had a conversation with my programmer son about it. Part of the problem seems to be that recipients are now used to handling incoming comms only in very small chunks: if you give them any more than this, part of it doesn't stick. So I suspect the medium is breeding in real limitations.

 

And in decades of specifying and sourcing, we have noticed this:

 

There used to be a rough rule of thumb that you didn't ask more than 3 questions/actions per letter/email if you wanted clear and complete results.

 

That has dropped to 2, and now to 1. And the really interesting thing now is that the recipients are not even aware of any questions beyond the first one.

 

 

[old man emu]

Actually, we should be happy with today's grammar and spelling, even if it does not follow the "rules". That constant variation shows that our language is alive, not dead like those of lost civilisations.

 

If any generation should be used to change, it should be us Baby Boomers.

 

OME