This is a group that I belong to: If you cannot spell, I will think less of
you. It is part of Facebook and you must belong to the Carelton University
Group to join. Need I say more. Part of the basic information behind the
rationale for the group, probably shows where the other authours who
profess, prolifolate and gather as one and I [a mere working stiff, who
found using words sufficent] --- differ.
Basic Info
Type: Common Interest <http://www.new.facebook.com/s.php?k=200000010&c1=4>-
Languages <http://www.new.facebook.com/s.php?k=200000010&c1=4&c2=68>
Description: If someone has ever called you a "spelling whore" or "grammar
snob", this is the group for you. Share your stories about bad grammar and
spelling, or rant about the same.
Website: http://spogg.org/
I too have spent time teaching in China and now know spelling is a Western
device disingeniously employed against the rural, the male, the non-American
[eh!] and the second language user. What would Heideger say? More if I
spelled his name properly?
Best regards,
Michael J
On Wed, Aug 27, 2008 at 2:55 PM, Virginia Ryan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Greetings to everyone on this list! I have just been invited to sit in as
> the "visiting expert" on a CBC radio "Cross-talk" show on the topic "Does
> Spelling Matter?" It sounds to me like Pandora's box is once again to be
> opened in the province of Newfoundland. With equal parts delight and
> terror, I said "yes," and now I'm turning to all of you for positions,
> epiphanies, and metaphors. You see, they wanted someone who "sees both sides
> of the issue," and in me they found such a someone. I am old enough (and
> old-fashioned enough???) to feel that yes, it matters very much (in many
> contexts). But I also listen every day to brilliant and passionate young
> tutors who argue for simplicity and accessibility, and who point out that
> deliberate, alternate spellings shouldn't matter if they do not interfere
> with understanding (as Charles Shultz once put it in one of his cartoons,
> "If K-A-T doesn't spell 'cat,' what /does /it spell?")
>
> This issue is forcing me to try to resolve a dilemma I've carried around
> for years. For example, I absolutely hate comma splices, but I've never
> quite determined whether my hatred of them stems from some justifiable
> philosophical principle that I haven't yet managed to articulate, or rather
> from simple snobbishness and adherence to rules-for-the-sake-of-rules.
> Similarly, and more to the point, here, I hate the sign outside the garden
> centre that says "Begonia's for sale," but wonder whether my reaction is
> really justifiable, since any reader will understand that all the sign
> /means/ is that there is more than one begonia being sold.
>
> Now, I understand and can readily explain to any call-in guest that in the
> context of a student paper submitted for a grade at a university, while
> misspellings generally (not always! I know!) do not interfere with meaning,
> they are also generally considered unacceptable by the intended readership
> and so should be avoided. But the bigger questions are _why_ are such
> spellings unacceptable? Do they matter outside of academia (and business)?
> And if they matter, why do they matter?
>
> I welcome any and all reactions, apologize for my own lengthy silence on
> this list, and hope that despite it you'll be vocal!
>
> Ginny Ryan
> The Writing Centre
> Memorial University of Newfoundland
> St. John's, Newfoundland
>
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>
> For the list archives and information about the organization,
> its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
> http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>
--
Michael J. Ryan, Professor
Business Communication
Jiangnan U - Lambton College
Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
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To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
[log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
For the list archives and information about the organization,
its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
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