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From: preece@uicsl.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: A New Subject Worthy of Flaming - (nf)
Message-ID: <2264@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 17-Jun-83 22:54:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.2264
Posted: Fri Jun 17 22:54:58 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 22-Jun-83 00:16:03 EDT
Lines: 33

#R:rabbit:-158500:uicsl:4300024:000:1441
uicsl!preece    Jun 17 09:21:00 1983

I'm tired of people reacting to spelling/grammar complaints by
looking for errors in the complaint. Most of us make occasional
spelling errors; all of us make typographical errors. Anyone
with two neurons to call his own can recognize the difference
between that kind of error and the kind of illiteracy seen
in some articles an the net. There are people posting their
opinions in language lending no impression of competence to
the writer. I have seen words consistenly mispelled that my
four year old spells perfectly.

I don't say anyone should stay off the net. The diversity
of experience and opinion is what makes the net fun. But
everyone posting to the net should remember that a large
group of highly educated people is going to be reading the
words he uses and giggling even at the innocent typos.

So let's stop ridiculing people publicly for their errors.
Everybody knows how to use a dictionary. Most dictionaries
include some notes on punctuation and grammar as well.
Just remember, what you write is the ONLY contact between
you and the other members of the net. If you can't write
coherently and you can't spell even the words peculiar to
our shared expertise, we're probably either laughing at
you behind your back or writing you off as hopeless.
You've got to have pretty shiny thoughts if we're to notice
them through a fog of presentation errors.

scott preece
uiuc - coordinated science lab
pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece