Am I the only shooter who can spell ?

[Captain Oates 911]

One of my main interests is target shooting and I spend some time reading up on the shooting web sites.

Although many contributors seem very knowledgeable about shooting, I can hardly believe the awful level of spelling.

Is this normal in the U.S. or are people who shoot from the illiterate classes ?

eg 'Not to shure if there all like that'

Sometimes the whole article is spelled wrongly and it's not typos or occassional errors - it's how they spell.

Another example:

'its also a versitel round, that can be used for numorus things.'

I emphasis that this the norm and not just me picking out rare occurrences.

I have heard Mr O talking about the level of education in the US but surely it can't be generally so poor ?

Even really well informed contributors spell in semi-literate way.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Alan the Red

[Gemmie 142]

I missed you, Alan.

About your question, I'm not sure. But I have noticed that people from my hometown that go to crappy schools generally don't have decent literacy skills as adults. You'd think they would make an effort to improve themselves (books, TV, college, etc) but nah. So perhaps it is the education problem.

[slim 1,525]

I've seen it as generally those who care about their spelling, grammar, etc., and those who don't. There are even folks who will "text" an entire post instead of spelling it out. ALL CAPS is a favorite of mine as is one big long paragraph with no capital letters or punctuation

Is it more frequent on shooting sites? Possibly. But, I've seen it just about everywhere. Which sites are you referring to?

[Captain Oates 911]

I missed you, Alan.

About your question, I'm not sure. But I have noticed that people from my hometown that go to crappy schools generally don't have decent literacy skills as adults. You'd think they would make an effort to improve themselves (books, TV, college, etc) but nah. So perhaps it is the education problem.

Missed me eh ? You need to take better aim !

My son claims dyslexia but he left school with a pass in English and he could spell quite well at that time. Since then, he hasn't kept it up and takes no interest in spelling words correctly.

He has made me suspicious of dyslexics. I am sure there must be such a condition but I get the impression that many claimed sufferers are just too lazy to keep up their spelling skills. How we tell the difference I don't know.

My son said his girlfriend called him an 'imberseal'

The fact that a lot of these guys on the shooting sites are so knowledgeable about technical matters makes me think it is just a question of making the effort to spell. It can't be that shooting attracts dyslexics can it ?

My parents left school at 14 and could spell perfectly. My mother was a tea lady in an engineering works and my dad drove a van for the co-op.

My daughter left school at 16 and has never worked and is dole fiend and always has been - but her writing is beautiful and her spelling is superb.

I can hardly write without a computer and it's just lack of use and lack of effort.

I think it's just that people don't care.

[slim 1,525]

I think it's just that people don't care.

I'd have to agree.

For a shooting site that's doing their best to change folks' apathy (and has some pretty good spellers as well) check out the Appleseed Project -

http://www.appleseedinfo.org

[Gemmie 142]

Probably right, some people feel they have no need to learn how to read and write. I found that a lot of people that aren't good at academics usually end up doing vocational/practical jobs like engineering or sales. Which is fine to me, people learn in different ways and excel at different things.

I do have a problem with the ones that just have no reason though. My brother (25 years old) asks me how to spell words like 'corner','orange' and 'rumour'. His girlfriend says things like "it made it more worser." I've seen people on social networking sites that I went to school with use phrases like "I would of thort" and aren't able to spell simple words such as 'was' and 'want'. I'm not kidding. Somehow they manage to turn it into 'wos' and 'wont'. Most of the people I know like that left school with little qualifications, failed to get on the career ladder, and ended up having kids in their teenage years, so just never learned.

[Captain Oates 911]

I've seen it as generally those who care about their spelling, grammar, etc., and those who don't. There are even folks who will "text" an entire post instead of spelling it out. ALL CAPS is a favorite of mine as is one big long paragraph with no capital letters or punctuation

Is it more frequent on shooting sites? Possibly. But, I've seen it just about everywhere. Which sites are you referring to?

They are all the same and googling anything about shooting shows it very plainly.

THR (the high road) is one example but is not the worst by a long shot (pun intended)

Some of them are just feral mountain boys with no front teeth and who have never been to school, but others are highly qualified technicians who have served decades in the army.

Among the mountain boys, you read posts like "I like to gut shoot coyotes - I don't want a quick kill coz I want to see them suffer. They kill calves so they deserve it". Obviously these are feral simpletons who were brought up in some remote shack with brutish parents and know no better. (I try not to judge haha !). However, they are in a minority most times and the lack of spelling among people who can handle complex mathematical formulas and who have extensive technical knowledge is what amazes me.

[^_^ 5,021]

spelling is a dying skill.

[Captain Oates 911]

spelling is a dying skill.

Hence mis-spellers are attracted to killing ! That is logical.

[slim 1,525]

I do have a problem with the ones that just have no reason though.

There's a huge difference between ignorance and apathy. However, here in America, ignorance is often self-imposed.

We need to change that.

highly qualified technicians who have served decades in the army.

That doesn't make them highly qualified to spell. Army manuals are still made with pictures.... for a reason.

We used to have a saying in the Air Force for things that came with pictures and instructions on them of how to operate "face toward enemy" comes to mind. We called that stuff "army proof."

[TracyTN 237]

I agree - people just don't care anymore. If I had a nickel for every time I saw 'rediculous' on an internet forum, I would now be a billionaire. It honestly makes my brain hurt.

[Captain Oates 911]

I agree - people just don't care anymore. If I had a nickel for every time I saw 'rediculous' on an internet forum, I would now be a billionaire. It honestly makes my brain hurt.

Defenately !

[TracyTN 237]

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

We used to have a saying in the Air Force for things that came with pictures and instructions on them of how to operate "face toward enemy" comes to mind. We called that stuff "army proof."

[Calypso 464]

Sometimes the whole article is spelled wrongly and it's not typos or occassional errors - it's how they spell.

Defenately !

Language is dynamic. I don't mind misspellings as long as the context is nothing academic.

You have misspelled "occasional" and "definitely." It's not "web sites" but "websites." In short, you are a shooter and you can spell but you CANNOT spell perfectly either.

"Anyone who can only think of only one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination."

- Mark Twain

Edited November 9, 2010 by Calypso