Right from ancient times , when human beings learned to communicate with each other , spelling was very important to the language. It was one of those vital things which ensured we communicated what we wanted to communicate correctly. We have always given utmost importance to getting this part right . Right from early stages of education in schools a huge stress has been given to spelling , in my school the teachers used to punish spelling mistakes by docking 0.5 marks for each error. An answer sheet with all words spelled correctly was the sign of an intelligent and well educated kid who will achieve something in life !
The main reason why i started writing this is because of a few things i noticed over last few months. In office we had to write a letter in normal paper with pen for some purpose and a friend of mine started writing and he couldnt write a single sentence without making spelling mistake ! "I always type on MS-Word dude", he told me , "it always corrects my spelling mistakes , i just need to supply the alphabets in somewhat correct order".
This was bound to happen to most of us who were working with computers for quite a while , only when he spelled it out i realized it !
I was surprised by his remark but still felt that such things wont happen people like me who were very good in English language since school days. However recently a friend of mine spotted 2-3 spelling mistakes in a mail i sent to him ( i don't run spell check on personal mails as we use words from Indian languages in it ! ) and then i realized that this spell-check dependency had affected me too !
Now this guy has a really good command over the language still i could spot a mistake in the mail he wrote me informing me about my spelling errors (these were not typos as they got repeated couple of times ) . Now i realise a lot of us will not able to spell 100% accurately like how we
used to do 6-7 yrs back when we did not use computers.
But the more i think about it , more i realize that knowing the exact spelling is no longer required in today's world , the computer is here to help you with it ! I guess the brain has realized this and no longer cares too much about getting the proper spelling of all the words typed !!!
The language purists will surely disagree and the schooling system will not drop its attitude towards getting spelling right , which i think is fair. But deep inside me im kinda convinced just like how my brain/subconscious mind felt while typing .. it no longer matters :)
The other day when Spelling Bee contest was getting aired on the TV , i simply changed the channel ... i really don't see the point of remembering such complicated spell(ing)s ... after all we are just Muggles !
13 comments:
Well, honestly speaking I was planning to write on this after our conversation, but glad that you took the first shot! Anyways, the point here is its not only just spellings, in almost everything human beings are now more or less dependent on technology which is a good and a bad thing.. But these are trivial issues, its very difficult to force a change at this point.. The drive has to come from within for someone to make sure that he or she does not depend on the spell checker to correct the spellings..
This is how machines will take over the world :)...
soon you don't want to calculate as there is a calculator to do it...
There are many things which are not really necessary, but you can get things done with...
good spelling and grammar might not be necessary to communicate your ideas...but they are like a good dressing sense...you can turn up to work in black pants and a white shirt and still call it formals...
I do judge people based on spelling and grammar...it irritates me when people say 'loose' for 'lose'. It just shows how well you have learnt stuff... and how keen you are on the details....
typos are different... they happen by human error... and spellings for really long words like circumambulation don't count... but when bad spelling is ingrained... you tend to form an opinion on that...
Vaidya, if you can ask Anush I have the same problem. Umpteen number of times I have corrected people who don't know the difference between 'lose' and 'loose' or 'quiet' and 'quite' or rather when to use which.. I totally agree with your point of view. These are the fundamental things which are instilled as a part of your education at the grass root level.. But people tend to ignore.. We may keep arguing on this front forever but things still wont change.. Thats why I mentioned the drive has to come from within.. Anyways thats that. Interesting to know someone who thinks somewhat similar to what I do!
One of my friends started blogging just so that she could improve (secretly not lose) her vocab. And that day on, I took to writing correctly in my blogs. Have to start writing in correct English in personal mails too ...
Anyway. That said - I am actually a fan of the SMS lingo. It saves so much of bandwidth and besides if we are able to communicate as effectively with badly written words, then does it really matter? Quite revolutionary, this SMS thingy, no?
I have to confess, I just cant stand sms spellings. find them smart alecky- feel sad they are eroding language skills among a whole generation. wont get into generation debate here- thats another post! I don't buy the evolution of language theory for this rapid deterioration. people are becoming language less and careless which is sad and such a loss for humankind. In the UK since it was found that most kids are unable to spell right they had this preposterous suggestion to actually mainstream sms lingo. basically backdoor entry and legitimacy for bad spelling. substance and form- both matter!
@Manoi :)
@ Vaidya - good language 'used' to be sign of well educated person , i was wondering if its really needed these days. Agree with u - knowing good English doesnt harm anyone , but its no longer a must!
@ Abinav - sms lingo will soon join the mainstream i guess ... wtf is a word/expression i use maximum these days :)
@ Indhukka
looking forward to the post on language !
But seriously , weren't the chaps in England few decades /or centuries back complaining the same way when the language they spoke got changed and evolved into the language you and i type / converse in
trying to save a language IMHO is like trying to save culture :)
Dont mistake me , Im not comparing you guys to moral brigade
But acc to me both culture and language cannot be permanent , both are constantly evolving and its upto us to catch up !
I think you are tending towards using evolution as an excuse for everything :P
Words go out of usage, new ones come in from different languages and languages evolve due to necessity... there was no 'software' a few 100 years back in English, language evolves as society evolves and when we need new words to describe something and what used to be described by some words goes out of usage...
spelling mistakes and not learning stuff, or plain refusing to learn stuff properly is not evolution...
Evolution comes out of adaptation, not incompetence...that is all I have to say...
I completely concur with the pevious comment, cheechu has said what I was trying to say succinctly. using culture and moral brigade analogy with language is specious. the moralbrigade actually opposes evolution or assimilation, they are fundamental in cohering culture. we are not opposing evolution and assimilation in language but the assertion that there is no need to strive for perfection or that attention to detail is puritanical. basically i am opposed to 'anything goes' masquerading as evolution.
@ previous 2 comments
I agree , maybe i tend to add to many stuff to evolution basket :)
Im not denying that ... But as of now im convinced about what i wrote earlier ... hoping one of you would take this further and write a post on this
Language exists basically to help people to communicate with each other
If they can communicate with reduced alphabets , then that means lesser reams of paper consumed / lesser keystrokes ... more energy saved , which augurs well for everyone ! Why not look at this like that ?
Wondering why 'nothing' is not 'nthng'or why 'probably' is not 'prolly' then? That would have saved lot of paper/ink in the Oxford dictionary or the Thesaurus!! There is a reason I used these two examples. 1.Coincidently just before I wrote, this colleague who sits next to me asked me "Do you know what 'prolly' means?" I said: "If you are referring to 'probably', then I sure do!But I would appreciate if you stick to 'probably'"
2. While chatting with one of my friend, she used 'nthng' for 'nothing', just the 'o' and the 'i' missing, oh! wow! that was short!
Why are we taught the English language, the right way then? So you mean to say that I should teach my kid 'prolly' and not 'probably'? Evolution should be in terms of how you use the words to express your ideas, not how you kill the language, thats by no means effective communication. For someone like me who cant understand half of the lingos used, would be using an extra text message to confirm what 'IMHO' is (just an example). So thats my point. So thats again more keystrokes, more bandwidth, etc etc..So I guess it does help in every sense to use the correct form of English. It makes things a lot clear!
In My Humble Opinion = 21 keystrokes
Rolling on the Floor Laughing = 30 keystrokes
Laugh out Loud = 16 keystrokes
Be Right Back = 13 keystrokes
As Far As I Know = 18 keystrokes
IMHO = 4 keystrokes , ROTFL = 5 keystrokes ,LOL , brb = 3 keystrokes, AFAIK = 5 keystrokes
Now all these words (or acronyms) are used so many times in conversations that i am totally convinced that all of us are better off learning these acronyms
U quoted one example of me spending time explaining IMHO to you . Now that u know cant i save 17 strokes during every argument?
I so love PG Wodehouse :)
For the record , i don't use sms lingo/ popular acronyms in official mails , but i do use shortened vocabulary for personal emails/chats/comments in various forums/blogs as the aim is to help others understand my point
And i just cannot accept this stand of language cannot/should not change , then we will still be using 'antediluvian' words !
We should be saying "Thou Shalt" instead of "You Shall" .. maybe go back to using purer forms of language like "betweoxum" instead of "between"
Did the above mentioned changes kill the language ? I don't think so , the words from other languages assimilated into English like Jungle , pajamas , History , Ketchup or typhoon didn't kill the language . It enriched the language and made it only better. So why should acronyms or sms lingo kill the language ?
Guys and girls of all ages. Be calm. We aren't talking about corrupting a language. We are talking about offering convenience.
I so love the way Vaidya has put it "they are like a good dressing sense...". It sort of sums it all up.
And guys, when was anything stated to imply that "spelling mistakes and not learning stuff, or plain refusing to learn stuff properly" is acceptable? Can we not know how nothing is spelt (spelled, whichever suits your text editor!) but still use 'nthg' as a substitute simply to save keystrokes/ bandwidth. Come to think, it reduces the net time we spend in front of the PC/ laptop/ mobile screen. Now this of course as we all know will have beneficial ripples and lessen damage to health, save power and increase the quality time spent with family thereby reducing the number of divorces. :P
Manoi - There is this 'funda' called one time investment. It basically means that you invest more than your 'opex' once and reap benefits by spending lesser than the original 'opex' for keeping the operations on. I hope you draw a parallel to your 'IMHO' dilemma and keep at least that quarter of your argument open to change.
Indhukka (hope you don't mind me calling you that; for the records I am younger than Anush :)) - For all the hatred you suppress in yourself for the 'sms' spellings; while spelling out the hatred, you use 'sms' and not 'short messagin service'. See, that's the kind of convenience Anush and I are pitching for.
The real argument, from my PoV (point of view) is this. Should we really know what SMS expands to? Aren't there lakhs of Indians who SMS and even use the term SMS without knowing what it stands for? Does it make the very concept of SMS any weaker? [I submit in an attempt to preempt an attack that SMS is not the best of examples as SMS itself is not a classical English phrase/ term/ word; but this is in trying to build a very relevant analogy]
Plus all that Anush has to say about 'Thou shalt' and the likes. Wonder why no one fusses about 'etc.', 'i.e.', 'e.g.' and their kins.
Also, there is this other thread about what we can call evolution. Opinions on that deferred to a different thread/ forum/ comment chain! :)
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