Meta: A Memo to Commenters on Every Blog In the World
No one is impressed with your knowledge of spelling or grammar. "Learn to spell" is not an argument. Criticizing someone's use of verb tenses is not an argument. If you understand what someone wrote well enough to ridicule or correct their spelling or grammar, then you probably understand it well enough to write something about their actual argument. Please do not use bandwidth and storage space doing your impression of a kindergarten teacher.
That is all.
That is all.
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I certainly agree with you, but you know there are just a whole lot of people out there who, apparently, can't resist that sort of thing. It's especially obnoxious when they are correcting things that are more than likely simple typos that weren't caught before submitting a comment.
February 12, 2009 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I knew there had to be at least one thing we could agree on.
Now, if we could add in trying to be calm, cool and collected as a first resort when offering comments or criticism, we might start making some headway rather than having the same spats over and over again, ad naseum.
"You're an idiot and here's why..." isn't any more useful than grammar or spelling advice.
February 12, 2009 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree Jason. Even though I am guilty of this myself, we could all work a little more on our ability to disagree without being disagreeable. This is a very unique site where, more often than not, we do have civil discourse.
February 13, 2009 10:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am also guilty of taking offense too easily, though I think some TPM bloggers I have shown inhuman restraint.
I cuss like the Sailor I am in person and would love nothing better than to start dropping F Bombs on people at a certain point. That would be self-defeating though which is even worse than holding my tongue.
I agree with you that 95% of the interaction around here is substantive and respectful, if overly cheeky at times.
February 13, 2009 10:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Second.
For what it's worth, passion is a sign of engagement, and on balance I'd rather engage in discussion with someone who actually cares what they're discussing (and isn't there just to throw darts). I'm as guilty as the next guy of going over the top in the heat of the moment.
Self-discipline is like my golf game: the evil pursuit of a goal that is always just out of reach.
February 13, 2009 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
As lnog as teh wrods aer in odrer tehn msot poelpe can fguire otu waht the maennig is. Jsut by lokonig at it.
See what I mean?
As you can tell from the words above. Actually it has been proven in numerous studies that as ling as the first letter and the last letter are what they should be most folks can read it and get the correct meaning.
February 12, 2009 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've always wondered if being able to understand the words even when spelled entirely wrong is peculiar to English.
February 12, 2009 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Historically, it is only in the last century or so that a standard was set for English. read historical texts and you can find a variety of spellings because there was no actual standard. I think Webster began demanding everyone spell things the same, then everyone else just gobbed onto the idea.
February 13, 2009 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, the second sentence should begin with a capital "R". I knew that!
February 13, 2009 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Appreciated. Thanks. Rec'd.
February 12, 2009 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amen!
(sorry for the correct spelling...)
February 12, 2009 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is off topic, but can anyone give me a clue as to how to post here or point me to a step-by-step FAQ? For whatever reason, I can't seem to get to the "create entry" page, and I'm sure I'm missing something incredibly obvious. Thanks and sorry for hijacking the thread.
February 12, 2009 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did you click "Blog Now" link up above? That should take you straight to a new blog entry page.
February 12, 2009 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's exactly what I did, and it took me to the same place as clicking on "Your Blog." If I put the cursor on the "Blog Now" and "Your Blog" links, the URLs shown are exactly the same. I guess other people aren't suffering from the same glitch.
Just out of curiosity, what URL do you get when you click on "Blog Now?" Maybe I can get there by putting the URL in manually. Thanks.
February 12, 2009 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Send an email to talk@talkingpointsmemo.come with Al Shaw in the subject line. Al will likely try to work with you on this.
February 12, 2009 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
sorry: talk@talkingpointsmemo.com
It is important to spell correctly with an email address!
February 12, 2009 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Also true with URLs.
Yesterday, my son's kindergarten teacher was using the class's new "smart board" to show them pictures of people in government. Unfortunately, her first stop was "www.whitehouse.com".
To her credit, she spent her planning period calling every parent in the class, apologizing profusely. :-)
February 12, 2009 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, will do.
February 12, 2009 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think I see the problem. You may need to modify your Bio information before you are able to blog. I think it might be a bug in the Movable Type software because a lot of us had these sorts of issues early on. Also, if that doesn't work, try changing your password. That helped me when I ran into similar problems.
February 12, 2009 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tried that, didn't work - it kept kicking me out of the system and none of the changes took. Hopefully I'll hear from Al Shaw. Thanks -
February 12, 2009 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Odd for sure. Good luck! With that much determination to blog, I'll look forward to reading your posts. Someday. :O)
February 12, 2009 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not determination so much as the desire to make a one-time-only, timely post on something I care about.
February 12, 2009 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah, well, you might want to try more than once if it is something you care about, because blogs can take time to make it through all the noise in the Cafe. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts.
February 12, 2009 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Al Shaw responded and worked out the glitches. Thanks to all who helped.
February 12, 2009 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Glad to hear this!!
February 13, 2009 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Emailing Al does work. I had to. He has to change something so you can post. But be warned, once you change over to posting mode you cannot keep track of your comments. Like you, I wanted to post on something timely and spent 2 days fighting the system. By the time Al got back to me (and he was prompt) I just wasn't into it.
February 12, 2009 10:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Aye Captain, I've given her all I got!!!
I do not know what that means but you sounded like Captain Kirk.
By the way, just for the record, I make an attempt at tense but I misspell on purpose. It makes others proofread and that way they tend to get more of my message.
THE END
February 12, 2009 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do I get credit for refraining from ever pointing out the correct spelling of "Its" when possessive?
February 12, 2009 9:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
You would, but theirs been quite enough of that recently. ;-)
February 12, 2009 9:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hard to top the shear arrogance of some, but than you no what I mean.
February 12, 2009 10:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Might be cool to have a whole blog, and every comment, in which people broke some spelling or grammatical rule.
Id be awesome at it.
February 12, 2009 11:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ultimate metta.
Great game when visiting the inscrutable Orient, looking for L-R substitutions. Recent one in Shanghai Marriott---Mandara Spa, as in "Take your place on, the Great..."
February 13, 2009 12:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Its tough to make your point in this doggy dog world if your not a good speller.
***
I suppose at this point we are committing another internet sin: wasting bandwith by agreeing.
February 13, 2009 12:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
I comply with that rule every single day.
February 13, 2009 5:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
I spell just fine thank you. It's my impatience with editing that makes for poor posting. And sometimes, I'm forgetful too!
February 13, 2009 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I spell good two! I no I do.
I AM guilty of pointing out a few errors, but I tend to do it when someone has been on a high horse, wagging their fingers at someone about something just to make noise.
February 13, 2009 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's face it. Some people have a way with words, and some not have way.
February 13, 2009 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
But nearly as much fun as a whole blog practicing for the annual "dark and stormy night" competition.
We should all try it; the results are always hilarious.
About the phrase and the annual contest (from Wikipedia):
"The phrase "It was a dark and stormy night", made famous by comic strip artist Charles M. Schulz, was originally penned by Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton as the beginning of his 1830 novel, Paul Clifford.
The phrase itself is now understood as a signifier of a certain broad style of writing, characterized by a self-serious attempt at dramatic flair, the imitation of formulaic styles, an extravagantly florid style, redundancies, and run-on sentences.
Bulwer-Lytton's original opening sentence serves as an example:
'It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.'
The annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest was formed to "celebrate" the worst extremes in this style. The contest is sponsored by the English Department of San Jose State University, recognizes the worst examples of "dark and stormy night" writing."
February 13, 2009 11:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do this Belle. Please do this. Set it up tomorrow or Sunday. When you have time.
Call it Snoopy or something.
God, I just love this idea.
You had another idea I forgot about. Doing a separate site for fiction or something.
Fun idea!!!!!
February 14, 2009 12:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Consider it done; I'll post it tomorrow, Dick. And in the meantime, I, for one, will be practicing, as I suspect the competition will be fierce, or should I say florid?
February 14, 2009 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Grammar and Linguistic Arts are important to some of us; so much so that I thought I would share the following:
Brave New Artist and His Brave New Work at SF-MOGA
New Wreck Times
Senior Linguistic Art Bureau Chief
Gerry Bronco
(San Francisco)
A new show at the San Francisco Museum of Grammatical Art is drawing crowds in numbers not seen in this city for over a decade. Justice Putnam's groundbreaking new work entitled, "More Than Marks on the Page" addresses mankind's essential disconnects between Nature and Mind.
Cited by both public school advocates and home-schooling aficionados as a major work that defines clearly and with precision the balance of form and function, "More Than Marks on the Page" goes deeper and attempts to delve into the cultural psyche that makes us who we are.
Probably the most important single piece in the show, one that could stand alone and justify the $100 admission price is "The Solitary Period on the Page."
Reprinted below with permission of the Artist, "The Solitary Period on the Page" evokes man's lonely stand in the universe:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>
.
("The Solitary Period on the Page" © 2006 by Justice Putnam and Mechanisches-Strophe Verlagswesen; used by permission; any use or citation without prior approval is strictly prohibited by law.)
>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>
Other pieces in the installation include, "A Question Mark of Meaning?" "Ampersand & The Asterisk*," "A Semi-colon; is Better Than No Colon At All" and ("Parenthetical This") among others.
12 Feb through 27 September 11am-8pm Daily
(Ha!!)
February 13, 2009 5:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
I love it!
February 13, 2009 10:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
There is a whole museum of grammatical art!?! Quick someone tell faces in the crowd! I don't even know how to flip my question marks on their head, but I have a goatee and want this one in there! :-{)>
February 13, 2009 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I may, or may not, have a preposition for you.
February 13, 2009 6:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
"This is the sort of arrant nonsense up with which I shall not put!"
(Eats, shoots, and leaves.)
February 13, 2009 9:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, you can't shoot chickens. There an engendered species!
February 13, 2009 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Are they bamboo shoots and leaves? Yummy :P
February 13, 2009 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Cudos to all - your the greatest!
True story - Per my Mom, my great grandfather always said: "It's a poor word that can't be spelled more than one way!"
February 13, 2009 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
I will make a rather obvious point. A major, major perhaps the major trolling technique is to talk nonsense at someone. People who fail to make any sense even though ostensively on the correct side are very frequently trolling. Of course, there is no point in correcting someone's grammar but there is no point either in talking to people who make eregious lapses in arguement via poorly formed sentences. There is no point in talking to someone who correct's one's minor spelling and grammar errors either, too, of course.
February 13, 2009 2:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
well, shut my mouth
on the other hand, severe lapses of grammar deserve attention
I agree that typos should be forgiven
February 13, 2009 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink