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Sat Sep 20, 2003, 05:44am
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Have seen a couple of post regarding spelling and etc. on post lately, so thought I would pass this along.
[I am as quilty as anyone] __________________________________________________ ___ Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig, huh? Reminds me of some of OUR post. glen
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glen _______________________________ "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." --Mark Twain. 
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Sat Sep 20, 2003, 08:10am
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
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Sat Sep 20, 2003, 08:40am
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It is true that if you have the first letter, the rest of the word has to be pretty badly botched before it's unrecognizable, especially when it's in context. The previous post is clever proof of that.
Unfortunately, such findings led many schools to teach reading by the "whole word" or "look-say" method, with disastrous results, both for comprehension and for spelling. Thus the "back to phonics" movement. There is today a (much smaller) movement to recast every word phonetically so that it is spelled exactly as it sounds. Of course, this would create other problems. Paragraphs written with such spelling are easier for people with poor reading skills, but they are murderously hard for normal readers. When I taught high school in the early 1970s, many kids (almost all of whom had been taught by the look-say method) were helpless when it came to spelling even the most basic words. How a kid gets to 18 years old and writes "sevan dayes a wheek," I don't know. Maybe the University of West Virginia ended up teaching him to spell better. One played "defen savin" on the school football team (and went on to play big-time college football). Another wrote that he was going to visit "Yomain" (the state north of Colorado). Many kids could not correct their own obvious misspellings. I remember that one had spelled "suicide" as "suidice" but couldn't see what was wrong, even though she could pronounce the word correctly. By the way, this was in a suburban high school with a low murder rate. Interesting that the insistence on correct spelling is fairly recent. Read documents written by, for example, President Andrew Jackson, and you see that spelling didn't seem to matter back then. In Shakespeare's time, spelling was practically arbitrary. However, the codification of spelling (and grammar) helped English become practically universally established. When an Iranian airliner lands in Russia, the pilot and tower communicate in English. More people speak English in the Far East than in North America. Fair or not, misspellings cause many readers to lose respect for the writer. I know of companies that, in reviewing resumes, start by tossing out the ones with misspellings.
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greymule More whiskey—and fresh horses for my men! Roll Tide!
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Sat Sep 20, 2003, 09:34am
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After he typed and e-mailed it, he left it on the screen. I sat down and had a helluva time reading his short paper because 25% of the words were mispelled. I'm not talking typos, these words weren't even close. I told his parents that I wasn't trying to be intrusive, but that I read his submission and mentioned the spelling. I was told, quite as a matter-of-factly, that they (professors) really don't care about the spelling or grammar, just as long as they can understand the point the student is trying to make. Well, I onlee a hi skul grateate, but if this is what the higher levels of education is pumping into our society, you can expect our society to be history in a couple of generations. BTW, the English language has not become universal due to the codification of spelling and grammar. What has made the English language universal is business and the money derived from it. JMHO,
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
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Sat Sep 20, 2003, 08:27pm
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Tom
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Sun Sep 21, 2003, 06:46am
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I was told, quite as a matter-of-factly, that they (professors) really don't care about the spelling or grammar, just as long as they can understand the point the student is trying to make.
I've been hearing this nonsense for decades. As if grammar and even spelling were irrelevant to expression and understanding. It is true that people can use bad grammar and still be understood, but what happens when they try to make lengthy, complicated points about subjects other than turning on the television? Correct grammar is necessary for accuracy and precision. The sad fact is that many—probably most—teachers don't know much grammar themselves and couldn't correct it if they had to. It's much easier to have the class talk about "what life is like in my neighborhood." Many college professors don't know much about grammar, either. I know. I edit their writing. Some cynics have proposed that because so much academic writing is utterly without significance, it doesn't really matter whether anyone understands it or not, but that if instructions to a telephone lineman aren't clear, there can be serious consequences. BTW, the English language has not become universal due to the codification of spelling and grammar. What has made the English language universal is business and the money derived from it. Well, I said that codification helped English become universally established. The fact that Britain, by the beginning of the 20th century, was the wealthiest nation in the world certainly didn't hurt. (They were soon broke, however.) But it is important that English is English, and the empire was not "Balkanized" in terms of language, the way some people want the U.S. to be.
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greymule More whiskey—and fresh horses for my men! Roll Tide!
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Sun Sep 21, 2003, 10:46am
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Damn,
This has been a good edge u kchi nal topic.... Enjoyed the responses... Thanks guys. glen
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glen _______________________________ "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." --Mark Twain.
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Sun Sep 21, 2003, 09:45pm
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Dan
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Sun Sep 21, 2003, 10:04pm
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"I'd be happy with a mnemonic device for spelling pneumonia.
" Players Never Echo Umpires Mantra Of Nice, Intelligent, Acurate. How's dat?
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Mon Sep 22, 2003, 11:24am
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 And for Mike, remember,  Miss Pell never misspells misspell.  SamC [Edited by SamNVa on Sep 22nd, 2003 at 02:10 PM]
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Wed Sep 24, 2003, 09:03am
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Iltnsegnetiry I'm sdutynig tihs crsrootaivnel pnoheenmon at the Dptmnearet of Liuniigctss at Absytrytewh Uivsreitny and my exartrnairdoy doisiervecs waleoetderhlhy cndairotct the picsbeliud fdnngiis rrgdinaeg the rtlvaeie dfuictlify of ialtnstny ttalrisanng steennces. My rsceeerhars deplveeod a cnionevent ctnoiaptorn at hnasoa/tw.nartswdbvweos/utrtep:k./il taht dosnatterems that the hhpsteyios uuiqelny wrtaarns criieltidby if the aoussmpitn that the prreoecandpne of your wrods is not eendetxd is uueniqtolnabse. Aoilegpos for aidnoptg a cdocianorttry vwpiienot but, ttoheliacrley spkeaing, lgitehnneng the words can mnartafucue an iocnuurgons samenttet that is vlrtiauly isbpilechmoenrne.
Or, if you prefer... Interestingly I'm studying this controversial phenomenon at the Department of Linguistics at Aberystwyth University and my extraordinary discoveries wholeheartedly contradict the publicised findings regarding the relative difficulty of instantly translating sentences. My researchers developed a convenient contraption at http://www.aardvarkbusiness.net/tool that demonstrates that the hypothesis uniquely warrants credibility if the assumption that the preponderance of your words is not extended is unquestionable. Apologies for adopting a contradictory viewpoint but, theoretically speaking, lengthening the words can manufacture an incongruous statement that is virtually incomprehensible.
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Wed Sep 24, 2003, 09:25am
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Tom
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Wed Sep 24, 2003, 10:08am
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Very clever. Shows how once you reach a certain point with length and unfamiliarity of words, the "first letter" theory breaks down. Obviously a word like Aberystwyth, which even most educated readers would find unfamiliar and difficult to pronounce, becomes practically impossible when it is jumbled.
If you want to examine writing that is almost incomprehensible, pick up a modern-day school textbook that has been "dumbed down" to meet reading-level requirements. The words are simple, the sentences are short, the "grade level" comes out nice and low, and after a few sentences your mind is numb. Every child left behind.
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greymule More whiskey—and fresh horses for my men! Roll Tide!
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