Are You Forgiving Of Typos?

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Permalink Reply by Tee Wilson on March 10, 2009 at 1:02pm

I'm more forgiving to other people than I am for myself - just because I am a communications professional by trade, so when I find typos in my own writing it really frustrates me! I should know better! lol!

Minor typos in other people's writing doesn't bother me as much - if it is truly MINOR. Now blatant mispelled words, poor grammar, bad punctuation and choppy sentences that proves you are way over your head when it comes getting your point across is not cool - that irks me big time. Some folks try to sound way more intelligent than they actually are and it always tends to have the opposite effect! lol

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Permalink Reply by GILLIAN TALBOT on March 10, 2009 at 5:40pm

I agree with Tee. The odd typo is not a problem - errare humanum est and all that. But I get turned off blogs where people are trying to be too clever in their language or whose writing is littered by errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar etc.

I don't really care on Twitter. It's more of a "it's the thought that counts" medium.

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Permalink Reply by Marlene M. Linke on March 13, 2009 at 3:18pm

Wow did you hit a nerve with me! I guess I was always taught that in your absence, your personal correspondence is a reflection of who you are, how you conduct yourself and a reflection of your intelligence. Therefore, it bothers the heck out of me that people don't take pride in crafting their words with some effort towards good grammar. I don't think people realize just how much it creates an initial impression. I am also less likely to assign as much attention to reading something that is poorly written. I shouldn't have to strain to try to figure out what someone is trying to communicate. Regards!

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Permalink Reply by Mortira on March 13, 2009 at 3:31pm

Really bad spelling and grammar drives me crazy. One or two mispellings here and there don't bother me - we're all human. But for bloggers, having good use of language should be a priority, I think. If I come across a blog, or anything else online, that reads like a text message, I'll just click out and never return.

As for Twitter, I'm actually stunned by how little shorthand, leet speak and other garbage I see from the people I follow. Maybe I'm just lucky that way?

My biggest peave is the super long run on sentence with absolutely no punctuation or poor use of punctuation because i actually enjoy reading English properly and poor grammar is confusing to read. ;)

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Permalink Reply by Marlene M. Linke on March 15, 2009 at 9:23am

Adding one more thought: If someone either cannot be bothered, or is too dim to spell "I" with a capital letter, then they've lost me at hello.

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Permalink Reply by Mary on March 15, 2009 at 4:10pm

I am bilingual and this makes me more aware of what I write. It is ridiculous to read other people's mistakes when they write in their mother language and then see how much perfection they expect from others. The mistakes I hate the most are for example when they use their for there're and so on. We are only humans and sometimes you don't even realize you made a mistake up until someone point it out so I read things depending on who they come from and what mood I'm in.

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Permalink Reply by Stacy Mannion on March 15, 2009 at 7:00pm

I agree with previous posters who said they are tougher on themselves than others when it comes to typos and grammatical errors. I really have to proofread my blog posts to avoid typos and occasionally a couple slip through. I do not mind a couple here and there in other people's blogs, but I find myself resisting the temptation to inform people about their typos.

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Permalink Reply by Toni D. Johnson on March 17, 2009 at 6:30am

It is a turn off for me. Especially if I am on a business website and considering working with that person. Is that too harsh? Twitter is a bit different, I suppose.

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