Ebbay lishting seling misstakes :(

[Fordulike]

Why oh why do business sellers on eBay attempt to sell their items, with listings that are full of obvious spelling mistakes.
Common errors like their and there, or lose and loose crop up time and time again.
I'm not being snobby, but we're talking basic English here
If you can't be bothered to spend a little time getting your listing right, then maybe the rest of the service will be lacklustre.
Personally, it puts me straight off from buying an item from that seller.
Is it just me, or does it annoy anybody else?

Rant over

 

[flecc]

Not just ebay of course, the overall standards of English language usage are probably at an all time low now. It really does make one wonder how our huge expenditure on education can have such a poor outcome.

The problem is common to both spoken and written English, but does not cause as much offence when spoken since one tends to expect to hear slang, colloquialisms and regional variations then. This is particularly true of face to face communication when visual cues act with the speech to give meaning.

It's in written and printed usage that the parlous state of today's spelling and punctuation becomes most objectionable, frequently impeding understanding to the point of rendering an attempted communication unintelligible.

I have no immediate solution, since so many of the current crop of teachers do not have an adequate command of the language and are therefore unable to correct student errors. Possibly a programme of compulsory retraining of all English language schoolteachers would be an effective start point.

The problem is not merely one of schooling though. Some of my primary school years were part time education only with unqualified teachers and I left school at fourteen years old. In consequence the total of my school time was less than eight years, compared with the eleven to thirteen years which is commonplace for school students today.

Such English language ability as I possess has been learned by reading books from an early age and subsequently acquiring additional knowledge of usage from the example of others throughout life. The second derives from the love of the language gained from the first. Today's young tend to read very few books, filling their physically inactive time by using electronic gadgets of various kinds, so the fundamental start point for gaining a love of the language can be missed. Add to that the sparsity of good language usage that they come into contact with and it's perhaps little wonder that the decline of recent decades is so apparent.
.

 

[Fordulike]

Nice reply flecc, did you use spell check?

 

[flecc]

Nice reply flecc, did you use spell check?

No I don't. It usually applies American English which confuses spelling and I don't bother to change the software dictionary since I can spell anyway.

That is not a criticism of American spelling though, since I have a great respect for the scholarship of Joshua Webster, he who originated the Websters American dictionary. I equally respect the correct usage of English that Americans often practice, such as the correct use of gotten where it applies, where the English usually incorrectly use got.

And there is no denying the logic of American English, like the consistency of spelling that Webster instituted such as getting rid of the redundant "u" in such words as colour. This was in stark contrast to the poor scholarship of Samuel Johnson that produced such eratic outcomes, with half the involved words using the redundant "u" and half not, examples being ardour and anchor.

Other logic examples exist in Sidewalk which is correct and Pavement which is incorrect in meaning and foreign in origin. Elevator which is correct and Lift which is a verb incorrectly used as a noun.
.

 

[Bob_about]

Kindle

Such English language ability as I possess has been learned by reading books from an early age and subsequently acquiring additional knowledge of usage from the example of others throughout life. The second derives from the love of the language gained from the first. Today's young tend to read very few books, filling their physically inactive time by using electronic gadgets of various kinds, so the fundamental start point for gaining a love of the language can be missed. Add to that the sparsity of good language usage that they come into contact with and it's perhaps little wonder that the decline of recent decades is so apparent.
.

So - e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle - a force for good if the "yoof" can be persuaded to use it?

I agree ref book reading and thankfully both of mine are avid readers, but I also accept that they are both wed to their electronic gadgets too. (They are 18 and 16 yrs old)

Any thoughts on electronic books?

Just curious

Bob_about

 

[flecc]

Although I much prefer the printed page, I'm happy with others using e-readers and will be delighted if they get the young reading more from sources using good language. That doesn't have to be great literature, I hardly read any when young, most of my reading being non-fiction. Fortunately the scientists and other technical people who write non-fiction books are generally very literate so still usually a good example.

I think the early years are very important for the young to gain the reading habit and a love of the language, so early investments in e-readers could be rewarding.
.

 

[indalo]

Sir,

I agree absolutely with the sentiments expressed both by yourself and those who responded before me.

Without necessarily wishing to apportion blame for the current situation, there is no doubt that some improvement is required. Academies, of course, must be the answer because....well....., well, just because!

Yours respectfully,

Disgusted,
Tunbridge Wells......in'it!

 

[flecc]

Yeah, stuff, an' that.
.

 

[dmcgoldrick]

unfortunately, 'we dont need no education' was taken far too literally and the modern education system is producing the highest pass rate to justify the large expenditure, and yet the poorest educated generation we have ever witnessed post war........we have dropped so far down the world table we are almost at 3rd world level......
there is a huge shortage now for engineers, scientists, technologists and skilled tradesmen........mainly because we no longer have a substantial manufacturing economy.........
am i bovered ??? well yes......who's going to pay the tax when i get put out to grass ??....... not the new generation of 'backpackers' thats for sure.....

rant over......

regards

 

[indalo]

I empathise entirely with that "rant".

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If you want to see some really bad adverts, have a look on your local Facebook listings. It's a great place for picking up good value (cheap) project bikes and bits - if only you can figure out what the adverts mean.

 

[indalo]

No I don't. It usually applies American English which confuses spelling and I don't bother to change the software dictionary since I can spell anyway.

That is not a criticism of American spelling though, since I have a great respect for the scholarship of Joshua Webster, he who originated the Websters American dictionary. I equally respect the correct usage of English that Americans often practice, such as the correct use of gotten where it applies, where the English usually incorrectly use got.

And there is no denying the logic of American English, like the consistency of spelling that Webster instituted such as getting rid of the redundant "u" in such words as colour. This was in stark contrast to the poor scholarship of Samuel Johnson that produced such eratic outcomes, with half the involved words using the redundant "u" and half not, examples being ardour and anchor.

Other logic examples exist in Sidewalk which is correct and Pavement which is incorrect in meaning and foreign in origin. Elevator which is correct and Lift which is a verb incorrectly used as a noun.
.

Can you tell us some more, flecc, about Sam Johnson's "eratic" outcomes? I think you meant "erratic" but "erotic" could increase page viewings considerably!

Regards,
Indalo

 

[flecc]

Yes, erotic certainly could!

My spelling of eratic results from my preference in common usage for using the more logical American spellings of many words, especially where the reason for the English spelling is spurious. Such an example is my preference for "program" over "programme". The former is in fact the correct English spelling that the early Americans retained. The latter appeared in London in the early nineteenth century when a few of the chattering classes in England adopted the snobbish affectation of using the French version of a number of words. This coincided with the formation of the original Oxford dictionary committee, the unfortunate result being a mistaken adoption of many French words as standard. Some were later corrected, but others like programme have persisted.

Dr Johnson was clearly torn between his love of the social life and his scholarship, and it's self evident that the former affected the latter as I've shown in his inconsistency. He made some corrections to the inconsistencies of common language usage but rarely completed any one area worked on, hence the examples I've given. It's in this respect that Webster was clearly by far the better scholar.
.

 

[Blew it]

A couple of examples of why it can only get worse.

An exam paper marker was instructed by his supervisor "Don't worry about the spelling, as long as they get the gist of it, it's a pass".


A young pupil who did not understand an exam question was rewarded with points for using obscenities.

"One pupil who wrote “f*** off” was given marks for accurate spelling and conveying a meaning successfully."

 

[indalo]

It's not the fault of the teachers. They do a fine job trying to educate children about the important things in life.

There are some great stories about teachers; this is one of them:


A class of five-year old schoolchildren return to the classroom after playing in the playground during their break time.
The teacher says to the first child ‘hello Becky, what have you been doing this playtime?’
Becky replies ‘ I have been playing in the sand box’
‘Very good’ says the teacher ‘if you can spell “sand” on the blackboard, I will give you a biscuit’
Becky duly goes and writes ’s a n d’ on the blackboard.
‘Very good’ says the teacher and gives Becky a biscuit.

The teacher then says ‘Freddie, what have you been doing in your playtime?’
Freddie replies ‘playing with Becky in the sand box’
‘Very good’ says the teacher.. ‘If you can spell “box” on the blackboard, I will also give you a biscuit’
Freddie duly goes and writes ‘b o x’ on the blackboard.
‘Very good’ says the teacher and gives Freddie a biscuit.

Teacher then says ‘Hello Mohammed, have you been playing in the sand box with Becky and Freddie?’
‘No’ replies Mohammed, ‘I wanted to, but they would not let me. Every time I went near them they started throwing sand at me, calling me nasty names and asking to see under my jacket in case I had explosives’

‘Oh dear’ says the teacher. ‘That sounds like blatant racial discrimination to me -
I tell you what, if you can spell “blatant racial discrimination” I will give you a biscuit too.

 

[pjvenner]

Woteva!