Loose = Not Tight

[K9soul]

Well, this won't help in situations such as "loose" vs "lose," but if you use the newest edition of Firefox as a web browser it has an automatic spell check that works when you post on boards or in e-mails, etc. If you misspell a word it will put a little red line under it. If you right click the underlined word it will give you suggestions on the correct spelling, you can highlight the one you want, and voila, it changes the word to the correct spelling. It is very handy . Anyone interested can get it free here, it has a lot of nice features. I can't stand to use explorer anymore after having Firefox for awhile.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Also, critter crazy, Kimmy is one of the kindest and most compassionate people I have encountered on PT. I don't believe she reads a thread and then deliberately ignores it when a couple words are typed wrong. I believe she does what I do, and that is with my time very limited I stick to topics that jump out at me and posts that are easy to understand. I may have a couple minutes to sit and glance over posts, but not 10-20 minutes to try to decode and decipher a big block paragraph with no punctuation and horrid spelling all the way through. If a post is easy to read and understand I'm more likely to read that one all the way through and perhaps reply. Not because I'm being cold and callous and deliberately ignoring someone because they don't type the way I think they should. If I am sitting around with nothing much to do I may take the time to try to read posts like that, however most the time I simply don't have the time. If people will put a bit more effort into their posts they may get more response than they would otherwise for these reasons. I hope that makes sense.

[ramanth]

You are too kind Jess.

And your post was worded far more eloquently than mine.

[critter crazy]

All I was sayimg was that a thread should not be ignored solely on its grammar/spelling. I only relply to threads that i am interested in as well, but i dont ignore threads just because they are incorrect. I was only trying to say that some people cannot help it.

[Rachel]

I think the problem with lose being spelled loose so frequently comes from choose being pronounced to rhyme with lose, not loose.

Even though I agree with all those who encourage us to be good spellers and to use correct grammar here as well as everywhere we write, it is also a good idea to be gentle with those of us for whom that doesn't come easily.....or I'll have to get out my red pen.

[RedHedd]

but if you use the newest edition of Firefox as a web browser it has an automatic spell check that works when you post on boards or in e-mails, etc. If you misspell a word it will put a little red line under it. If you right click the underlined word it will give you suggestions on the correct spelling, you can highlight the one you want, and viola, it changes the word to the correct spelling. It is very handy . ... I hope that makes sense.

Made perfect sense. I use MSIE with ieSpell - a free spell checker available at iespell.com. I write legal documents for a living and am constantly proofreading legal documents that others write. I was just talking to an attorney friend last night who was considering going into partnership with another attorney and was asking me how to handle turning him down politely because his work-product was so poorly written. A well-seasoned attorney should know correct spelling, grammar and formatting of legal documents, but this guy didn't.

So what we learn here can and does carry over into our "real" lives.

[Kfamr]

I often ignore threads that have no paragraphs. I can understand if someone is frantic or in a hurry. However, please be considerate of others when typing out stories or long posts.


One of the most annoying mistakes I see often on Pet Talk is "exited." Your dog is not "exited" - He/she is exCited. It is not hard to use a spell check or dictionary.

[CathyBogart]

Loose vs lose is one of those that makes me grit my teeth, like misplaced apostraphes. "I love my dog's." You love your dog's what?

While I won't dismiss a post because of a few errors, if I have trouble understanding it or I find myself faced with a giant wall of text, I won't read it. Unless the person is a non-native english speaker, they have probably had the schooling in the english language to put something legible together. For a non-native emglish speaker, I will put in extra effort to read their posts.

Karen brought up a good point though, walls of text actually give me headaches if I try to read them, even by highlighting a little at a time.

[cyber-sibes]

Oh dear... I appologise for using the wrong word about wanting to shed some pounds! (as Phred put it) I know I'm guilty.

Same here regarding long un-punctuated posts filled with misspellings.... .
I figure, if it's important enough to post, it should be important enough to take a few extra minutes to make it legible.

Doesn't have to be perfect - everyone types a wrong letter now & then (except for our proofreaders ), but too often it appears someone just doesn't really care if anyone can read it. They must be typing as fast as they can just to get it off their chest. It actually worries me that so many people let spelling & grammar slide on the internet. OK, end of rant.

[CathyBogart]

I wanted to add that even though certain errors in particular make me grind my teeth.....that's my problem, not enyone else's. I'll still read and reply to the post.