Lost in Translation

Warning: A Rant of Epic Proportions

Okay, I've held off on this post long enough, but I've had it. I can't sit here "silently screaming" anymore. Most of you have already heard what I'm going to say here, but that doesn't mean you've listened. In fact I have direct proof that at least one of you (who is so obvious I don't need to point him out) is not heeding my cries, pleas...even demands.

For what you ask?

For EDITING!!

Dear GOD, if I have to read another blog, livejournal or essay of an email that has obviously not been proof-read I think I'll lose it.

Is it really so hard? Does it take that much time to just read over what you're about to post and make sure there aren't any "retard" mistakes? Does it take that much effort to move your cursor over to the spell-check button? Well, it must be! Because spell-check would have caught errors like, "terorists," and "the beadles."

Unless you have the same severe aversion to these simple errors as I do (and I know there is at least three of you out there: one in Germany, one who reads this, and one who wrote the book depicted above), this might not matter. And, I guess, in the scheme of things it is not that big of an offense. What makes it so annoying to me, and people like me, is that you have the tools to fix it. If spell-check didn't exist, if dictionaries didn't exist, if English 12 didn't exist maybe this would be excusable.

Everyone makes errors, I get that. I know I'll get at least one comment on here stating that I have an error spell-check missed. But the point is I used it!

I also get that while typing, one can make a typo. But that is not a excuse! 8 times out of 10 spell-check will catch (especially if you update your spell-check) the error. And even if it doesn't, you can still proof-read before subjecting the rest of us to your illegible thoughts! These people that don't edit probably have no idea how frustrating it is to try and read something that is full of errors. It's like trying to figure out a cryptic crossword...fucking annoying! Maybe if these individuals were subjected to their own comma spliced, badly spelt, "typoed" entries, they would understand just how irritating it is.

However, spelling, unfortunately, is not the worst of what is going on out there. I'd say most sentences are being butchered grammatically, rather than by misspelling. It's tough because there is no grammar checker. As a result, "your," "you're," "yours," and "its" and "it's" are more often than not fucked up. What bothers me about this, especially in online journals when your face and person are represented solely by your words, is that you aren't exactly putting a great face forward when everything is a complete mess. I don't think many think about this, but assumptions are made by your handling of words and grammar online, because that is all people see of you. You may have great ideas and credible comments, but they immediately become discredited when you have comma splices everywhere and you can't figure out the right tense of your words. People assume you're stupid when you can't word and write a sentence correctly. I know it seems like a shallow assumption, but sometimes it's not entirely wrong.

Why don't people take more care when they write something? Why does it seem that so few people know what a semi-colon is and when to use it? Is it laziness? Did they fall out of the school system somehow and not get taught any of this? Do they not read?

I know that one of the main reasons people suck at grammar and spelling these days (and also why they have vastly smaller vocabularies) is simply because they don't read at all, or very often. The value of the novel, short story, poem, and yes even the comic book and graphic novel, seems to have drastically declined. Is it because most have become so visual and need that immediate stimulation, the immediate result, that they don't have the patience to read through a book and imagine the characters for themselves? It's sad really. And even more sad to think that people not only don't care, but they don't notice. Even if they do, they don't think it matters that they can't spell the simplest of words, or punctuate their own sentences. I can't stress enough that it does.

Anyway, this indulgent venting session has gone on long enough. I realize I can say all of this ad nauseum and it won't really change anything...but at least I can make my tiny readership aware in the hopes that they might edit and spell-check just once.