Some more thoughts (my own, of course):
I’ve been thinking about language and the written and spoken word since yesterday’s post. Writing about a consistently misspelled word can apparently push some buttons. But we are in an age that is increasingly high-tech – where some school children are no longer being taught cursive writing, where ‘text speak’ uses abbreviations and parts of words, where students graduating from high school and college do not have a command of the language and have few writing skills. I see it everywhere and it makes me sad.
I’m a stickler for correct spelling and I make no apologies for it. I’ve been known to go back to an old post here on this blog and correct a typo. Brenda and I routinely alert each other to errors in our posts. I’m grateful. I want to know. I used to be an excellent speller but I find as I get older, I’m not always sure of the spelling of certain words. So I look them up. Don often asks me how to spell a word. I ask him. Why wouldn’t we want to spell the word correctly? Not knowing the correct way to spell a word is no reflection on our intelligence. There are a lot of words in existence and knowing how to spell them all is next to impossible.
I think the written word matters. What is seen on a page or on a computer screen matters. And once it’s published, it’s out there.
I don’t text that often but when I do, it takes me longer because I don’t abbreviate. I don’t use LOL, U instead of you or R instead of are. I just can’t. I’ve tried, but it’s like wearing clothing that just doesn’t suit me. It doesn’t fit. (I’m not saying it’s wrong to use those abbreviations, mind you, just not for me.)
As for blogging, I tend to write my blog posts the way I speak. So sometimes, by choice, I stretch the boundaries of good grammar. That’s a style choice. Every blogger has his/her own writing style and that’s as it should be.
But, oh, do I edit. Because this blog is a reflection of me and what I value. And I want it to be well written with no misspelled words.
That’s also why I do book reviews. Writers spend years writing a book; carefully choosing each word, editing and re-editing. I want to honor their written words, especially those that are on an actual page, in a book I can hold in my hands. eReaders can be wonderful tools (I have one, though I only use it when I travel) but I feel increasingly compelled to champion three dimensional books. Independent Bookstores are going out of business. The biggest sellers for Amazon and Barnes & Noble? eBooks. On the one hand, if eBooks keep people reading, more power to them. And the smallish eBooks many bloggers are writing – full of how-to advice – are great. But if someday I get a book of fiction published – oh my gosh, I would want it to be in an old-fashioned, real, not virtual, book that I can hold in my hands and display on my bookshelf. The carefully edited words imprinted on a page, the page corners that can be turned to mark a place – oh, heaven! That must be the same feeling the authors whose books I review have when they first see their books in print. Because words matter.
My work in the theater involves the written word. I’m working on another Shakespeare play right now, in fact. Did you know that Shakespeare invented many words that we routinely use today? There are many languages in this world of ours, but the one I can speak and write is English. It’s a beautiful language that has been used to inspire, incite, woo, preach and tell a great story. It enables us to communicate all the big and little things we feel.
Let me add: I am as guilty as the next person of sometimes using incorrect grammar and not expressing myself as well as I’d like to. And I miss the occasional misspelled word. But writing is an ongoing learning experience, isn’t it? I sure have learned a lot in the course of my almost 4 years of blogging and I hope to learn more.
The end to a year is a time for reflection, for pondering. I’m pondering the power of the written word as I head toward 2012. Maybe that will be my word for 2012: Write (better.)
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Claudia ~ I so agree with you. Gone are the days of written words, correct grammar and spelling. Gone are the days of the calling card. How lovely it would be to re-establish that tradition. Gone are the days when women and men wrote letters to each other of their undying love, illness, anything really. I love the written word and do try to spell correctly, as I agree it’s a reflection of oneself.
Happy New Year ~
I’m so tired today so I’m going to make this a short one. It’s about the use of LOL that you mentioned and I would like to add the use of ROFL. Correct spelling is extremely important to me and I very seldom make a spelling mistake. I never use spell check. I don’t need to. I must say that I am flabbergasted at the poor writing and spelling ability of graduates today, even university graduates. It’s deplorable! To get back to the LOL and ROFL expressions, I have been using this only since I have been reading blogs and commenting. At first, I had to look up the meaning because I had never heard of them. Now, I am 70 and perhaps I was trying to be modern or something to that effect. But, to be honest, Claudia, I squirm inside every time I write LOL and ROFL because it’s not me at all. And, so, because of your post, I have decided never to use these expressions again. However, I respect the people who use them and I would never, I repeat never not respond to someone who uses these expressions. Everybody is welcome to write as they wish and I will continue reading them even if they do use LOL and ROFL!
Hi, Claudia, Thank you for stopping by, loved your comments! So happy to started with Blogher too, they have been great for me. Happy New year! Your blog is really pretty.
Claudia – Thank you for your wise words. I teach my students that good spelling and good writing matters. I don’t accept unprofessional e-mails from students, but am often expected to accept poorly written e-mails from colleagues. I don’t tolerate text message lingo, because that is what it is, lingo, not language. I am a stickler and am okay with that. Thank you. ~Kelly
unDeniably Domestic
Claudia, I have missed you! I’m attempting to return to the Land of the Living. My computer is clicking along nicely for now.
Funny you should mention this. I’ve noticed something about my writing. Since I’ve been using a computer, the level of my writing quality has decreased. I can’t explain why. I just know that the other day I found two letters I wrote and never mailed. I was stunned at the quality of expression. That’s how I used to write. Sigh.
I am guilty as charged of some of the things you’ve mentioned. I know I am guilty of using: LOL. That’s probably one of the few abbreviations I use, but I enjoy laughing. As to grammatical errors, I am probably guilty of some there, too. And to think, I scored in the top percentile on the English Proficiency Exam we were required to take before graduating from college! They didn’t want to send us into the world without being thoroughly examined first. That’s how important the written word was to the people I used to know. My grandmother’s cousin was a book critic in NYC, and Mr. Magpie’s great aunt was best friends with one of the greatest writers who ever lived.
As far as spellcheck is concerned, I use it, and then I go back and edit something and forget to use it again. Furthermore, I am guilty as charged about the Top Ten Posts. Check my recent post. I am without my camera, so I didn’t have much choice if I wanted a picture-filled post. I just went to the stats and figured out which posts people seemed to be reading the most. Then I added two that I liked.
I could probably keep you employed checking my blog posts for errors, but I really do try to read them over. I never made anything under an “A” in graduate school on a paper, but as I mentioned, my writing has changed a great deal. Brevity was the order of the day then along with empirical research findings. That can be a bit dry, but somewhere in the middle is a happy medium.
Speaking of writing, I am enjoying the book I won from you and intend to give it a full review. I might want to run it by you first. Okay?
XO,
Sheila :-)
(who forgot she also uses symbols for smiles and hugs and kisses! Are we still friends?)
I agree with your thoughts today, AND while reading I edited and didn’t find any mistakes, my friend. I couldn’t have said it better but I’ll keep preaching so others out there will know. I refuse to text. A phone is for SPEAKING to people, listening to their voices and reading the emotions that conveys. In fact, I find it harder to misspell purposely! I have to THINK about it. Writing correctly and properly is much easier.
xoxo,
Connie
I agree, Claudia. I always notice a mis-spelled word. Years back, I did editing for a management consultant so I had to know the right spelling as he was an atrocious speller. My children all know how to spell because I made sure of it. I found the teacher would let them away with bad spelling. My mother always said to me growing up, “If you are going to do it, then do it right.” That stuck.
I think readers are better spellers and have a larger vocabulary. Just a theory. And then there’s the malaprop. My husband takes the cake on those (:
P.S. I’ve reached the point that I loathe texting, and what I hate most about it is that I see people sitting at the dinner table and in meetings doing it. How rude! It seems to me that when people are sitting around in a group, breaking bread or conversing, that it behooves each person there to make every effort to connect with each other. There needs to be a texting manners course taught in high school and colleges. Maybe even in elementary school. They start young.
I know that some people are visual, while others are auditory. As a communications major, it was important for me to be both. But there is an entire generation of young people (some for whom I care included) who can’t seem to function without a keypad. They are missing out on life!
Alvin Toffler described it best in the book FUTURE SHOCK. Technology has made life too stressful for words. I’ve no doubt it’s created a whole new series of challenges for teachers.
There’s also little doubt that rampant technology has created students with reading and memorization problems. I shudder at the text messages I receive, messages riddled with errors of every sort. I’ve tried to explain to people that I simply do not text. I hope this is something that will pass away as a fad.
I think bloggers are to this century what letter writers were to the 1800’s. We are people who like to communicate with one another through the written word, and the emphasis for many of us is interpersonal communication. This implies a two-way street. Texters might like to communicate, but for people who are used to auditory communication (which includes a great deal of the Boomers), this is a serious problem.
Claudia, I have to put in my two cents about texting. I work as a nurse at a clinic and one of jobs is to bring patients back to the exam room and get a history of their present illness. You would be shocked at how many people are texting on their phones while I am trying to ask important questions about their health. I finally figured out how to nip this in the bud. I completely stop what I am doing, stare directly at them until they stop. They usually get the hint and put the phone away.
As always, enjoying your blog! Jenndon
Well, I didn’t like the Kindle and gave it away. I rarely even turn my cell phone on. And I’m sure not learning to text. Stubborn as a mule, I am. I barely showed up at high school at all, I’m ashamed now to admit. But words have always been powerful to me. As a child I came home from school and wrote words down out of the dictionary with their meanings. I loved words, always will. I think it’s a shame that so many kids today won’t experience that joy. Or pick up a book.
Brenda
Claudia, I realize I am not a great writer and never will be but I am an excellent reader and always have been. I love the written word and read one or two books a week and have passed this love on to my child. I have never used that awful LOL and do not use abbreviations. In my career as a nurse, medical charting insisted on writing in a much different fashion and using a lot of abbreviations. I have no desire for an e-Reader of any kind. I may misspell on occasion but I try to go back and correct them every time. Joe is my darling editor. I speak in my southern voice on the blog and always will. Readers, as someone has already stated, do have better vocabularies. Great post and following comments. Olive
I could not agree with you more. Writing and reading are becoming a lost art. I also miss the book stores, especially the independent and used ones. There are none where I live. Nothing, not even an e-reader or Kindle can replace the smell, touch, and sensation of holding a book in your hands and turning the pages, one by one. I am a collector of old, classic books. I hope libraries do not become obsolete. They are such a cozy, peaceful place to go – and for free! I hope I spelled everything correctly in this comment!
Hi Claudia,
I worked in the field of advertising and public relations for many years. It was all about the written word. We didn’t abbreviate words or dare spell them wrong. Everything was first written onto a yellow pad and then typed into copy form for presentation to a client. Also the press release would have been tossed out by an editor if there were mispelled words or poor grammar.
It is ashame that students today do everything on the computer thus limiting their penmanship. Let alone reading books on Kindles. Gosh, what a shame to miss that wonderful smell of opening up an old book.
Great post.
hugs
Sissie
I, too love books, I love the sight, the feel, even the smell of them. Mostly, I love the feeling they give me. A well worded sentence is like a fine chocolate, something to be savored, read slowly, re-read, and sometimes memorized.
Susy’s comment about readers being better spellers and having a larger vocabulary is probably right; I know in my case it is. We have a huge dictionary that Eddie’s stepdad used in his law office, and I refer to it often. I love finding a word that expresses exactly how feel!
Of course, I had to laugh when I saw Brenda’s comment; I knew what it said before I even read it! Maybe our feelings have something to do with our generation. We spent a lot of time learning the English language and now we feel proud of our ability to express ourselves. Most of us probably feel a little angry of the way the younger generation doesn’t even bother to be bothered by their lack of knowledge. I for one also feel a little pity for them, they truly don’t know what they’re missing!
I have a sister who is very good at grammar and she will email if I have used apostrophes incorrectly. I use spell checker too. Don’t text, no ‘reader’, cell phone for emergencies.
Amen! It matters. Would you want your doctor or lawyer or accountant or therapist or chemist or teacher to be careless with what they write? One small word like “may” instead of “will” can make a world of difference and cause a truck load of consequences of the most unpleasant nature. Writing is hard work, and it should be given the respect it deserves. I have a Nook which I love, but nothing beats a real book when you are settled in a favorite chair ready for the possibility of the awesome trip that books can and do provide.
Claudia~
I love the fact that you so carefully choose your words. In a world where so many let any old thing fly out of their mouths and tend to write that way its comforting to know that some still take the art of storytelling as a serious craft.
Happy New Year~
Good morning Claudia
I’m also very much into correct spelling. And I always fix wrong spelling in my old posts. As my mother tongue is Swiss German, even writing in German is quite a challange not to mention English. ;-) I often look up words. I can’t stand wrong spelling, which others might call perfectionisme.
Anyway, I truly believe that the possibility of expressing thoughts by the means of words is a wonderful “invention”. Some people bring it to perfection so it is art. Writing precise and with the correct spelling I honour this form of art.
And now I notice that I mixed up save and safe in my last comment in a blog. Sorry!
Hey Claudia,
ich wollte es nicht versäumen und Dir und Deiner Familie einen guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr zu wünschen… und das viele Deiner Wünsche in Erfüllung gehen.
Schicke ganz liebe Grüße an Dich über den großen Teich
PuNo / Monika
An excellent post Claudia. The thing that bothers me even more than bad spelling or grammar is the use of profanity on blogs. I don’t talk that way and I don’t care to read it. Recently I started to link to a gal’s post on my Fri Faves, because her post was awesome. But, she gave links at the end of her post, to other supposedly good posts, and one of them used profanity every other word.
Happy New Year to you and yours!!
As a lover of words and a constant writer, I agree!
Happy New Year, Claudia!
S
xo
I so agree. I belong to a forum and one of the members thought it ok to type her posts as if she was texting. I don’t text, so it was hard for me to read.
I agree with all you said except…turning down the corners of a book as a bookmark!!!! Sorry, but that is one of my biggest pet peeves.
LOL :)
An excellent post, as was the previous one – sorry I’ve not had a moment to comment but I have been reading like a fiend since returning from SE Asia, trying to catch up with all my dear blog friends, and cope with the holidays (I didn’t do too well with that part this year!).
Just want to let you know dear Claudia that I love reading all you write, your love of words – and correct spelling – your ‘babies’, your cottage, your wonderful husband, and definitely your new hat!
Here’s to a better year coming up – may your parents have good days, and you enjoy life in your lovely spot in the countryside. Hopefully the snow will be just a dusting this Winter, and your Spring will arrive early.
Sending hugs and love,
Mary
Claudia I have arrived kicking and screaming into the world of ebooks with a Kindle Fire I received for Christmas this year. I so love the feel of a book in my hands and like you I respect the time and effort the author has put forth and feel he or she deserves a permanent record of this accomplishment.
Surprisingly I have taken to the Kindle – I can read it easily, take multiple books with me as I move about. I am not kicking and screaming anymore, but I know I will miss my permanent friends of books read on my shelves. Will still have some of them, I think. Have a wonderful new year. Ann
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