Who are the spelling police?

[fuzzybuddy]

Who wrote English spelling rules? Why isn't neice, nees? Do we really need the "g" in thought? Why advise instead of advize? Yeah, we have spell check, but we still spell using old rules, that are contrary and confusing. Why are we spelling words the way they did 500 years ago, when English was pronounced differently?
Who are the spelling police?

 

[Pepper]

Who are the spelling police?

Retired.

 

[oldaunt]

According to the poor spelling prevalent across the www, there are no longer any spelling police.....or spelling teachers either.

 

[Capt Lightning]

According to the poor spelling prevalent across the www, there are no longer any spelling police.....or spelling teachers either.

Or teachers of grammar.

 

[dilettante]

I think spelling gradually regularized with the advent of widespread publishing, reading, and formal education. The goal was improving communication and disseminating knowledge.

 

[Nathan]

Spell-checker in document software, plus spell checking in most web browsers has negated to need to know how to spell....or remember how to spell.

 

[VaughanJB]

You need to visit:

word histories

I had to write something by hand the other day and was appalled at how my skill at it had deteriorated. I've been typing for work and at home for decades, but who knew you'd struggle writing something intelligible?

I do use spell check, it's a force of habit. What confuses some folk is that I use the US dictionary, not the UK one. This is because I've done so much work with US companies it just became the best option. Now I can't be bothered to change it.

 

[jujube]

When I run into the Spelling/Grammar Police, I pat them gently and softly say, "There, their, they're" until they've calmed down.

 

[oldaunt]

Two too much to bear....

 

[officerripley]

I used to be a member of the Spelling/Grammar/Punctuation police. Much better now, though.

 

[caroln]

Like @officerripley , I was also a member of the Grammar/Spelling Police. I still notice misspellings, or words not used in the proper context, etc., and even though I still grit my teeth, I've learned to zip it. Most people say spelling doesn't matter, and they are probably right, but to me, seeing misspellings is like nails on a chalkboard!

 

[Della]

Two too much to bear....

If theirs one thing I learned from the internet its how to loose weight.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves One of my favorite books.

 

[Michael Z]

If theirs one thing I learned from the internet its how to loose weight.

If theirs one thing I learned from the internet its how TOO loose WAIT.

 

[Della]

If theirs one thing I learned from the internet its how TOO loose WAIT.

I stand corexted.

 

[Purwell]

I've given up bothering to correct anyone as long as I understand what they mean.

The ones that puzzle me are those that don't seem able to use the spellchecker!

 

[Bella]

 

[-Oy-]

 

[horseless carriage]

In August 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt issued an order from his summer residence in Oyster Bay, New York, that would soon be the talk of Washington—and the world beyond.

Addressing himself to the government printer, Roosevelt decreed that all documents issued by the White House should now follow the spellings advocated by an organization known as the Simplified Spelling Board.

Launched the previous March and financed by the steel baron Andrew Carnegie, the board wanted to strip the American language of its antiquated British baggage and create a clean and modern version for the 20th century.

A few words were changed, but nothing of significance, had it done so, the chances are, spoken English would have become as fragmented as the Romance languages of French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian, which once all spoke Latin. Then where would we be on our forum?

 

[jujube]

Little Johnny answers the door. It's his teacher! She asks, "Johnny, is your mother home?"

"No'm" he says. "She ain't home."

"Well, what about your father?"

"No'm. He ain't not home neither."

"JOHNNY! I've disappointed with you. Where is your grammar?"

"She ain't here, neither. She down to the Elks Lodge, playing at bingo."

 

[Fyrefox]

Did you hear that Dick Tracy arrested Mumbles for first degree murder of the English language?!