Am I being unfair by using my imperfect English here?

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Would you support a such forum rule?
Yes 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
No 98%  98%  [ 59 ]
Total votes : 60

The_Face_of_Boo
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15 Jul 2010, 3:56 pm

Maybe Alex should add a new forum rule : Those with bad English, get lost!

Would you support it?

Ok, let's see ..... just forget about my opinions about the AS label there - you can dedicate a special thread under the title of "Insult The Boo" where you can insult me and insult my opinions.

This thread doesn't only concern me but it should concern all members here who aren't perfect in English, or those who are even far from perfect in the WP's official Language.

I have noticed that there are some Englishists (A term that I invented to refer to those who are obsessed with perfect English) here who have the following weird belief : if you can't argue me with a flawless English (Vocab-wise, grammatically , structure...) then I don't think that you have the right to argue me!

They often use this mentality with members who don't like ....or who strongly disagree with.

You can spot a such member here:
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postxf130616-0-60.html

To be quoted:

Quote:
Maybe you shouldn't argue with people in English if you're not very good at it. I don't think it's really fair to the people around you. You come off as unjustifiably arrogant and a bit dumb, cos you seem to have trouble understanding it, not just typing it
.


The member was most probably referring to that long post of mine which is on that page :

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postxf130616-0-30.html


my reply to her/him :

Quote:
Wrongplanet is an English website , true , but it is not restricted for people who are perfect in English, there are a lot of non English-speakers members here and a lot of very young members and there are even dyslexic members who can't even properly write any language ,even their native one. Do you want to prevent their contribution here because their English doesn't meet your "perfect" linguistic level?

Am I really being unfair to people around me here by using my imperfect English?
Let's see ..... I am gonna find out this soon ...



And oh...this is not just a poll thread, feel free to discuss the matter deeply....



Leekduck
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15 Jul 2010, 4:03 pm

they iz grammar nazis

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DemonAbyss10
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15 Jul 2010, 4:09 pm

yeah, what you describe = Grammar Nazi. You see them all over the internet insulting those who dont do everything PERFECTLY according to the rules of grammar. If you want to see even more of that type of asshatedry, just read comments on youtube.


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buryuntime
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15 Jul 2010, 4:16 pm

I have trouble reading posts that do not have appropriate punctuation and grammar, especially if they do not have enough line breaks. I just zone in on all the errors.

I skip over or skim the posts like these, it's not worth the stress to try to read them although on occasion I'll add line breaks in Notepad.exe if that's the only problem with them.



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15 Jul 2010, 4:18 pm

Looking at your post that you indicate, and the ones on that first page you posted, from later in the thread, I don't think there's anything wrong with you English. I do see a little bit of what seems to me to be you misunderstanding something, but, well, I've seen a lot worse misunderstanding from people whose native language is English. I don't think the misunderstandings (on your part, or from those reading what you post) come from you not being a native English speaker. More the natural result of most all of us here being aspies, or autistic, or autistic traits, or such. Not that aspies/autistics/pick-your-label have an monopoly on misunderstanding what others right. Hardly.


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CockneyRebel
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15 Jul 2010, 4:19 pm

I'm not picky about spelling and grammar.


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Marcia
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15 Jul 2010, 4:26 pm

The only spelling and grammar I'm picky about are my own, and my son's.



Ichinin
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15 Jul 2010, 4:38 pm

Only problem i have is with people who write a wall of text and does not insert line breaks for easy reading. And People Who Capitalise Every Damn Word Like As If They Were Five Years Old.


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j0sh
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15 Jul 2010, 4:41 pm

I was in special education classes for English. My problems learning to read when I was little were severe enough that my parents never thought I'd graduate. I think I started getting the hang of it around age 7 or 8.

I've gotten grief at school, work, and here for errors. One of the times here was quite funny: Someone who never uses capitalization or punctuation took a jab at me for saying "stimming" instead of "stemming". Ok, whatever. I'm not trying to hate on the other person's bad use of English. I just thought it was hilarious that he took issue with mine.

I can't see any images in my mind (zero visual special ability). If a word isn't spelled the way it sounds... well, then I'm completely hosed. I learned to ignore comments about my spelling, etc. I know why it's hard for me. I also know there are some thing I am very good at. I even get a paycheck for them.

Try not to let the text critics get to you. There will always be things that other people are better at; and things you can do better than most. Try to take pride in your strengths without being a jerk about it, and hope others can do the same.

There will always be someone on the internet (and real life too, but the internet attacks seem easier more frequent since people are anonymous) that tries to make his/herself feel special by dumping on someone else. If you recognize how immature the behavior is--you can actually feel sorry for them and move on.



sarek
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15 Jul 2010, 4:52 pm

Language is a tool for communication. Its to be used freely and creatively in whatever way one sees fit.

If I have to I even invent words that do not exist yet if they convey my meaning better.

And because of my attention deficit my texts are regularly full of appalling typos that make me cringe when I read them back later, often after the edit interval has passed.


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zen_mistress
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15 Jul 2010, 4:56 pm

I thought your english was pretty good. I couldnt even tell it was your second language.


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book_noodles
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15 Jul 2010, 5:01 pm

j0sh wrote:
There will always be someone on the internet (and real life too, but the internet attacks seem easier more frequent since people are anonymous) that tries to make his/herself feel special by dumping on someone else. If you recognize how immature the behavior is--you can actually feel sorry for them and move on.


Hm... :lol: I am immature and sometimes I can't help but point out mistakes.

I act like a jerk and correct other's grammatical or typographical errors.

I try to control myself when I notice that I'm being really obnoxious. More often than not, I am just impulsively fixing things instead of genuinely trying to be mean..

On a side note.. DemonAbyss10, what is asshatedry?


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15 Jul 2010, 5:10 pm

I has gud grammer cuz I wannna.

Autistic people have enough problems communicating without adding the use of proper grammar into the mix.


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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15 Jul 2010, 5:13 pm

I admit, I have to fight the urge to correct other people's grammatical and spelling mistakes. I think I've found a way to do this without appearing like an a**hat.

If you insult someone's intelligence and you misspell or have improper grammar, I will call you on it. Friend or foe.

Grammatical mistakes make my eye twitch. :-(


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The_Face_of_Boo
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15 Jul 2010, 5:25 pm

zen_mistress wrote:
I thought your english was pretty good. I couldnt even tell it was your second language.


You mean third....



TeaEarlGreyHot
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15 Jul 2010, 5:31 pm

The_Face_of_Boo wrote:
zen_mistress wrote:
I thought your english was pretty good. I couldnt even tell it was your second language.


You mean third....


That's impressive. I can't learn even a second language. I know a few words and phrases here and there of Spanish and German, but that's it.

... and it's after trying to learn Spanish for years.


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