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There are a few of us on this forum who have difficulty with spelling. It is called DYSLEXIA.

 

It is very humiliating when someone thinks they know better and corrects your mistake in the middle of a thread. It is embarrassing to be pointed at in public because that is what you do when you "correct" someone with dyslexia. It also distracts form the gist of the thread.

 

How about sending a PM on the lines of

 

"Hi Clive

 

Did you mean there instead of their, in post link?"

 

It gives those of us who have a problem with spelling chance to correct it without looking like fools.

 

It is a life time problem which doesn't need to be highlighted on what is supposed to be a friendly hobby forum.

 

Thanks for reading this.

 

Clive

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Clive fully in support.  I do not suffer from dyslexia, but my fingers frequently do - and if the spell checker does not pick it up then I too make blatant errors.

 

the important thing to ask yourself before criticising is, can I understand what the poster meant?  If yes, then better to stop showing a supposed superiority.

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I'm pretty anal about my own spelling, barring the occasional typo, and I do try to disable any spell checker on any devices I use.

 

However, to criticise others over poor spelling is, at best, impolite.

It's often also an indicator of a lost argument.

 

Grammar is an interesting subject, personally I don't study grammatical rules but if it looks all right on a page, then I'm happy with that.

I'll bet I've made at least a couple of grammatical errors within this post, does it really matter?

No.

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This is a casual forum, and as such is similar to any casual conversation. Would we be picky on our daily grammar use with others in such a situation? I don't think so. It's not like we're all being watched by the state in order to punish us for anything less than perfect grammar with an RP accent (though it would appear that some seem to think it's their duty to police us as if it was so).

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It's also worth remembering that people can be posting from tablets and mobile 'phones that suggest words as you type. Arguing with the device to put the correct word in rather than its guess can be a challenge and not one everyone wishes to take up. I also assume this is the reason some people can't be bothered with capitalisation and punctuation. I try to assume that rather than wanting to shout...

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It's also worth remembering that people can be posting from tablets and mobile 'phones that suggest words as you type. Arguing with the device to put the correct word in rather than its guess can be a challenge and not one everyone wishes to take up. I also assume this is the reason some people can't be bothered with capitalisation and punctuation. I try to assume that rather than wanting to shout...

 

 

Autocorrect is the banal of my live

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There are a few of us on this forum who have difficulty with spelling. It is called DYSLEXIA.

 

It is very humiliating when someone thinks they know better and corrects your mistake in the middle of a thread. It is embarrassing to be pointed at in public because that is what you do when you "correct" someone with dyslexia.

 

Clive's quite right about this.

 

Perhaps we should also take a similar approach when it comes to grammar.

 

Interesting points - fair comment, too.

 

I certainly don't wish to be a major offender in this regard.

 

However, I'm sure that some people might also be aware of a flipside to this - one that's frustratingly difficult to avoid.

 

Some people are very fussy about how we type things - going through everything we type loads of times to avoid errors appearing. (I could probably guess how / why this comes about - but this wouldn't help anyone.) This doesn't make anything we say any easier to understand - but it goes against the grain to repeat any typing errors we might notice in any quotes we include in our posts.

 

However, I certainly don't set out to offend anyone (around these parts, or elsewhere) - so I wonder if this might mean that I need to reduce the amount of quotes I include in future posts on this site. (I guess time will tell.)

 

 

It's also worth remembering that people can be posting from tablets and mobile 'phones that suggest words as you type. Arguing with the device to put the correct word in rather than its guess can be a challenge and not one everyone wishes to take up. I also assume this is the reason some people can't be bothered with capitalisation and punctuation. I try to assume that rather than wanting to shout...

 

Also fair comment.

 

I sometimes use a tablet when posting (I prefer not to - but I don't always get the choice). Every time I try to sign off with my middle name, followed by a full stop, the auto"correct" changes this to "His." - for some reason, I don't like this very much (and that's saying something, when I'm generally one of the most mild-mannered, easy-going, people you're ever likely to encounter).

 

Another issue concerns "special treatment" of the characters and words I type - "italics", bold type, stuff like that - which the tablet won't let me do. It will, however, allow me to add "umlauts", "accents" and various "special characters", which my Windows PC doesn't seem to like.

 

Meanwhile, currency symbols can also be an issue with some computers - especially if these computers were bought in a country with different currency (I wouldn't have a clue how to call up a UK "Pound" symbol on a US market laptop).

 

 

Of course, I might wish to shout if I reckon a magazine that's been sold to me as being about railway modelling doesn't contain enough decent quality content on how to build / convert model trains - but I suspect that might be a different issue ... .

 

 

Autocorrect is the banal of my live

 

ABSOLUTELY!!!

 

OK - block capitals is often used to mean shouting. I probably shouldn't resort to this myself - but I doubt if too many people here would disagree with the sentiment expressed.

 

 

Regards,

 

Huw.

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Hi Clive,

 

I do read through my posts to correct both my spelling and grammar and for reasons that escape me I only notice my own cock ups once posted. Very annoying and the cause of most of my edited posts.

 

Spellcheck picks up my spelling without which I would have all sorts of mistakes mostly through poor typing but some words do trouble me.

 

Grammar causes me to be quite confused at times, for example, have a read of post #3591 and my reply #3594, even funnier though was the reply to my reply #3595.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/14790-imaginary-locomotives/page-144

 

Any way;

 

Train station, railway station !

 

Don't get me started !

 

Gibbo.

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I guess we should all remember that this is a predominantly railway themed site, not an thesis for the Eleven Plus or whatever.  Also my typing came from the "that desk is yours, over there" school but I take reasonable care with both as I must admit to be bothered by bad spelling and bad English so I think before any admonishing, is it worth it?  Clive has opened up a whole new element in this kind of social interaction and has to be admired and thanked for bringing up  this subject. :clapping:

 

Brian. (another one)

Edited by brianusa
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I guess we should all remember that this is a predominantly railway themed site, not an thesis for the Eleven Plus or whatever.  Also my typing came from the "that desk is yours, over there" school but I take reasonable care with both as I must admit to be bothered by bad spelling and bad English so I think before any admonishing, is it worth it?  Clive has opened up a hole new element in this kind of social interaction and has to be admired and thanked for bringing up  this subject. :clapping:

 

Brian. (another one)

Hi Brian,

 

In the spirit of good humour, there sees to be a [W]hole in your last sentence !

 

Quick, edit it before you are berated by some awful pedant.

 

Gibbo.

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Typos (for whatever reason) do bother me, because that’s how I’m made, but I do have the ability to realise when they are important and when not.

I have to say that typos in the titles of long running threads do grate when I see them day after day in View New Content.

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Thanks for bringing this up Clive, as a fellow Dyslexia sufferer who went through the state education system in the 60's undiagnosed my attempts at spelling can get quite interesting. Being publically humiliated over it was something I got used to in the 60's but even now in my 60's it's still annoying when petty people who are probably members of the apostrophe club, think it's big to point out my errors, but not to correct me but to point out how clever they are and to publically humiliate me.

 

Remember attacking someone with a disability can be classed as a hate crime ;)

 

Paul

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Typos (for whatever reason) do bother me, because that’s how I’m made, but I do have the ability to realise when they are important and when not.

I have to say that typos in the titles of long running threads do grate when I see them day after day in View New Content.

Hi Tim

 

I see things that bother me so we are in the same boat. Thankfully you realise when they are important, and hopefully you can help the person who has made the mistake. There are two ways of getting something corrected. The first is to point it out in open forum and make the person who made the error embarrassed at minimum. The other is to send a polite PM suggesting they might want to alter what has been posted, in a helpful way.  As I said before doing the second one does not distract from the theme of the thread.

 

Thanks.

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I'm not dyslexic but I am a very poor typist. I often return to edit a post of my own when I spot an error - it's how I'm made. No matter, I can live with any number of spelling errors or even "would of" or "could of" from others without feeling the need to upset anyone by correcting their text. Providing I can make out what is meant it's fine. Mistakes do jolt a bit and sometimes amuse me but it would be bad manners to return to my former life as a teacher.

 

We are so lucky to have such a vigorous forum with so many excellent models featured. Enjoy that!

 

(edited for numerous errors)

 

Chaz

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Not so much the spelling but the use of the wrong word can have a different meaning...

"I have just brought a new loco"

"Can I see it?"

"I don't have it with me".

 

'Brought' is used by some who believe it to be the correct word, either in writing or speech, for 'have purchased' and not just a misspelling of 'bought'.  

 

Should it be pointed out?

It is like hearing the wrong note being played.

When ever I have been corrected, and because of it, it stays in my mind for next time, hopefully. 

 

Should we have a 'Mutual Improvement Class' thread?

 

 

 

Edited before sending, reason - on reading through the 'preview post' I noticed a few 'fat finger' spelling mistakes and missing letters.

 

 

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   Some people aren't as good at spelling and punctuation as others either or are from different backgrounds and their work does not require them to be great at English. Sometimes on here it seems to be a battle of who's had the best education and "I'm more intelligent than you". I've had people pick me up on my spelling rather than offer me any help with my question but at the end of the day it's a model railway forum. Should a truck driver expect everyone who uses the road to be able to blind side reverse a 40ft trailer?

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I suspect there are some who can't see a mistake without jumping to point it out. As I said before if you can understand what was meant it really doesn't matter. The confusion between "the number of" and "the amount of" has me shouting at my radio, but it never gets offended. Any amount of people make that mistake (see what I did there?) but if it's in a face to face conversation, or here on the forum I try not to wince too obviously.

 

My advice is twofold - avoid correcting other peoples' errors - and try not to take offence if someone points out yours. Life is too short and this forum should be fun. 

 

Chaz

 

Nuff said?

Edited by chaz
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