Pleaase stop dishing UK......

[peteroldracer]

Excellent summary Beachy! I will have to propose and second you for membership of the Apostrophe Protection Society

[katy]

I think a few of us members have been worried about you Peter, you have been letting things slide

[Retro P]

I stand firmly on the side of Old peter on this one, ones level of education can usually be indicated by their use of their mother language, in this case English.

It's a sad but true fact that many of todays social problems are so acute because of peoples generally slack attitude to the gradually decreasing educational standards, the use of text language (in my opinion a childish pastime which should be discouraged) is a sign of either (a) lack of education, which is no excuse as every child has the same opportunity to learn, (b) laziness, again a contributor to generally declining social standards, which incidentally many of us moan about but few actually do something about, or (c) general disrespect for ones social background.

The correct use of the English language is one of the most important things I look for in people, unless of course they're foreign!

[Cassandra]

The correct use of the English language is one of the most important things I look for in people, unless of course they're foreign!

Why let being foreign get in the way They're not stupid, just foreign, so they can learn to speak proper English like what we do

[annie_d]

Hmmm, Aren't you a few apostrophes missing there Retro?

[maddy]

the use of text language (in my opinion a childish pastime which should be discouraged) is a sign of either (a) lack of education, which is no excuse as every child has the same opportunity to learn, (b) laziness, again a contributor to generally declining social standards, which incidentally many of us moan about but few actually do something about, or (c) general disrespect for ones social background.

The use of text language (in my opinion) is a sign of none of the above. It is a sign of the more modern concept of "texting". Have you tried writing a "proper" message on your phone? You would need to pay for at least 3 texts, whereas usin a shrtnd versn mn u can say wot u wnt in 1 msg
It is a sign of the times, not any of the above.

[mirandamac]

Definitely agree there Maddy - I text a couple of my friends and my daughter quite a lot & HAVE to resort to text language, for the reasons you've given. But I hope it doesn't affect my ability to spell & punctuate correctly in normal writing. I find texts so useful - I can contact someone but they don't have to respond at that moment if they're busy, whereas a phone call CAN be quite intrusive.

[annie_d]

Maddy thankyou! Fool that I am I have always used "correct" English when texting. The cost never crossed my mind. No mre of tht fr me!

[karandjon]

I agree with Maddy there also. Spot on Maddy!

[maddy]

To be honest, i think it is only the "old men" like retro P and peteroldracer who maybe can not come to terms with the fact it is more than feasible to "txt msg in 1 langug" and to still be able to carry on a totally coherent conversation in "real" english!

[bob]

If you can foul up one version of a language, you’ll foul up the other.

[Raquel]

text speak - newspeak = 1984 Orwell.

[gus]

I stand firmly on the side of Old peter on this one, ones level of education can usually be indicated by their (should be his/hers)use of their (should be his/hers)mother language, in this case English.

It's a sad but true fact that many of todays social problems are so acute because of peoples generally slack attitude to the gradually decreasing educational standards, the use of text language (in my opinion a childish pastime which should be discouraged) is a sign of either (a) lack of education, which is no excuse as every child has the same opportunity to learn, (b) laziness, again a contributor to generally declining social standards, which incidentally many of us moan about but few actually do something about, or (c) general disrespect for ones social background.

The correct use of the English language is one of the most important things I look for in people, unless of course they're foreign!

Slipped up there, Retro.

Gus

[PaulaJean]

So is it okay to put out myths and lies about groups of people as long as the spelling, punctuation and grammar are correct?

[bob]

I didn't read that. Where did you read that?

[pete_l]

I stand firmly on the side of Old peter on this one, ones level of education can usually be indicated by their (should be his/hers)use of their (should be his/hers)mother language, in this case English.

Slipped up there, Retro.

Gus

Not necessarily.
I hope you'll all receive this in the manner I mean it - as a light-hearted comment. The Economist Style Guide (available here: http://www.economist.com/research/style ... age=673927) suggests you can use the plural instead of "his" or "he", in such cases. It may not be correct, as Retro P points out, but can be less complicated. That's all I'm going to say

Pete

[peteroldracer]

Ahem! So this forum is the correct place to use "text language"? That is as bizarre a concept as that idiotic version of Shakespeare in "modern street slang" that has been published!
BBC News this morning was on about the high cost of texting when on holiday abroad - whatever happened to the concept of getting away from it all? In years gone by, no-one thought about telephoning home from their fortnight in the caravan at Clacton, or whatever, let alone sending needless messages back and forth. We used to reckon that if someone back home was ill, we would rather not know, and if they died, we only wanted to know if it meant we had to rush back for the funeral!

[mirandamac]

I don't think anyone said that the forum is the correct place for text language. I DID say that I agreed that if texting, to keep costs down, it's essential to use 'text speak'. However, I don't think it has affected my use of good English in any way. I too have quite a 'thing' about good grammar but it's not my job to be critical of the grammar or spelling of other people on a forum. But I love seeing the comments so if you want to carry on picking up the mistakes, that's fine.
I did also comment though that some of the really bad English makes it more difficult to read and there was one post that caused me to lose the will to live, half way through. But that's my problem!
My big gripe, in signs around, is the use of apostrophes. My family laugh at me and occasionally, my daughter will deliberately put an apostrophe where she shouldn't, just to wind me up. It always works.

[peteroldracer]

Next time you feel like getting wound up, go to < http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/messagebd.htm > and cringe at the stuff in the archives - all the usual suspects, like "potato's 25p" and so on are there..........................

[mirandamac]

No thanks, there's enough signs around York like that to wind me up! I can't cope with any more. But I'll remember the website, just in case. Thank you and keep up the good work.