I was going to ask you all an important question today, but instead I ran across this great link – on Facebook, of course – and had to share it with you:
the-best-obnoxious-responses-to-misspellings-on-facebook
Funny, yes. But I will ask, do you think correcting spelling is worth it in a context like this? Does it devalue your opinion by taking issue with a person's spelling instead of their meaning? Does pointing out their misspelling devalue their opinion? Is it worth clarifying a post, if you come off like a jerk?
No, it's not worth clarifying, if you come off as a jerk. I read that site you embedded, the 43 best/obnoxious responses to Fb. misspellings, and I found none of them that funny. Funny is the edge just before cruelty, not after it. Now "Damn You, Autocorrect" I find consistently funny, since all its errors seem to point at our sheer helplessness in language, how exposed we become alongside technology as we write/text or speak/air. And sheesh, who doesn't like dirty talk from an iPhone? But when technology isn't really the medium, language errors simply sit there like collateral damage to a world that no longer cares about its own literacy. -- me
ReplyDeleteVery well put. Who's going to follow that? :)
ReplyDeletei'll preface this with a qualifier: this is my opinion. just my opinion. i'm not implying in any way, shape or form that anyone should or should not agree with me.
ReplyDeletethe purpose of language is to convey ideas to others. grammatical and spelling errors are COMPLETELY irrelevant IF an idea (the idea intended by the bad speller) has been conveyed. if the speling is so atroshus that no ideaz (or at leest the idea thatz hoped 2 be convayed) can be gleened from it, then sure, their may knead to be some clairifikashun. otherwise, language was used perfectly well. it's just a tool; it doesn't matter how you use it as long as you've done the job you've set out to do.
essentially, in my opinion, it's only worth it to attack someone's spelling if: 1. you know them and they can take the criticism and 2. it's really funny.
...says the guy who posts strangers' mispronunciations online: http://acaydaberryfih.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I agree with you to a point, but you can't deny that misspellings carry along extra meanings which you may not intend - even if you do get your point across. So that can't make them COMPLETELY irrelevant.
Hilarious!
ReplyDelete