Yes, begonia's... Perhaps some of you have heard of the hapless pair who have toured the US correcting such egregious or perhaps just irritating "errors" on publicaly displayed signs and been fined and barred from national parks... The Headline: Grammar vandals fined for altering historic Grand Canyon sign The full story http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2605213/Grammar-vand als-fined-for-altering-historic-Grand-Canyon-sign.html The back story http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-typo-guys-0521may21,0,701362.stor y?page=1 I think spelling matters when misspelling will annoy and distract from the message - and that is most of the time if you are writing to anyone other than your mother or in a private diary. Cheers, Wendy Gabriola Island, BC Phone/Fax: 250-247-8392 -----Original Message----- From: CASLL/Inkshed [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Virginia Ryan Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 11:56 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: spelling! 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 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-