The dumbing down of America

[nh_mopar_fan]

Is it me or is society getting stupider by the minute.

Newscasts and commercials have blatant spelling and grammar errors. The same goes for billboards.

This AM I saw an ad for the game show "Wheel of Fortune" on the side of a city bus in Boston.

It said "The Wheel's on the Bus Go Round and Round"

That has to have passed through the ad agency, the city, the printer, and the people who put it on the bus.

Do not pass go, do not collect anything if you don't see anything wrong with that phrase.

[Brock Samson]

Have you seen the spelling on this sight though?.. 

[JimShine]

What I find annoying is the current 'coolness' of speaking and even writing in ebonics. If you were raised in an area where you learned to speak that way, then that is cool, it is part of your identity. But to attempt to adopt it later in life is as corny as all the kids that adopted the California Valley accent in the 80's.

Message boards are interesting too. I host one and visit many. It is interesting how offended some people get when you mention their poor spelling. I can think of a particular guy who would get words so screwed up that you could barely make out what he was saying. When corrected he would point out he was "typing with an accent and isn't making fun of someones accent rude?".

[moparstuart]

Have you seen the spelling on this sight though?.. 

hey i resemble that remark ( I CANT SPELL FOR SH*T)

[Brock Samson]

I mess up all the time.. and seldom do a spellcheck,.. i think, mostly it's from folks who don't check their work.. or even read what they write before hitting the "post" button or think about it,.. if it makes sense. or how it might be construed... (taken) by another,.. I've had plenty of examples where I attempted to make fun of a poster who wrote something innocent but really silly, only to have them implode and get nasty with me,..

  Oh well, better that then correct or admit their misteak...  I never make misstakes, right gang?..

[nh_mopar_fan]

I never use spellcheck and am a horrible typist.

That's a pretty bad combination..... 

[moparstuart]

I mess up all the time.. and seldom do a spellcheck,.. i think, mostly it's from folks who don't check their work.. or even read what they write before hitting the "post" button or think about it,.. if it makes sense. or how it might be construed... (taken) by another,.. I've had plenty of examples where I attempted to make fun of a poster who wrote something innocent but really silly, only to have them implode and get nasty with me,..

  Oh well, better that then correct or admit their misteak...  I never make misstakes, right gang?..

I try not to ever take myself to seriously.   We should all laugh at our selfs every once in a while!  Yeah some of us get in to much of a hurry to re-read our post so they make sense.

[dodgecharger-fan]

Have you seen the spelling on this sight though?.. 

Do you, perchance, mean this 'site'?

[dodgecharger-fan]

I'm fussy on my spelling, but my typing sucks. That is what gets me all the time.

I didn't take typing in school. So, I do not touch-type. However, with almost 30 years of exposure to computers, I've developed a pretty good hunt and peck system using six fingers and two thumbs. It seems to work okay. I started out as a programmer and a lot of work included using function keys and the CTRL and ALT keys, so your hands tend to move out of the traditional touch-type starting position.

[nh_mopar_fan]

I really don't care about spelling and stuff on sites like this.

But, this stuff is on TV, on the news, on billboards.

That's the stuff that I can't believe makes it out there without someone noticing that it is wrong.

[Charger_Fan]

I really don't care about spelling and stuff on sites like this.

But, this stuff is on TV, on the news, on billboards.

That's the stuff that I can't believe makes it out there without someone noticing that it is wrong.

It's one thing to have spelling & grammar mistakes on an online forum, but to have them make it all the way through the system & slapped on a public advertisement spot is rediculous. It strikes me odd sometimes, how with the amount of typing involved in today's internet usage, that grammar & spelling has actually gotten so much worse. You'd think it would have the opposite effect, but whatever.

BTW, I'm just as quilty of having spelling errors as the next guy, but at least I try to proof read before I hit "post".

[70 Battle Horse]

Is it me or is society getting stupider by the minute.

Newscasts and commercials have blatant spelling and grammar errors. The same goes for billboards.

This AM I saw an ad for the game show "Wheel of Fortune" on the side of a city bus in Boston.

It said "The Wheel's on the Bus Go Round and Round"

That has to have passed through the ad agency, the city, the printer, and the people who put it on the bus.

Do not pass go, do not collect anything if you don't see anything wrong with that phrase.

Wheels should be plural....not possessive, therefore no apostrophe is needed

[PocketThunder]

I really don't care about spelling and stuff on sites like this.

But, this stuff is on TV, on the news, on billboards.

That's the stuff that I can't believe makes it out there without someone noticing that it is wrong.

It's one thing to have spelling & grammar mistakes on an online forum, but to have them make it all the way through the system & slapped on a public advertisement spot is rediculous. It strikes me odd sometimes, how with the amount of typing involved in today's internet usage, that grammar & spelling has actually gotten so much worse. You'd think it would have the opposite effect, but whatever.

BTW, I'm just as quilty of having spelling errors as the next guy, but at least I try to proof read before I hit "post".

quilty...  you did that on purpose..  or you have another hobby we dont know about.   

[Charger_Fan]

Ya see?

[Old Moparz]

I had always done fairly well in English or writing classes all the way through to college. I had a teacher in grade school that was a grammar Nazi & made the classes tough. I hated the fact that not only did I have her for English, but all other classes as well. She'd pick out anything & everything in the way of a small error you made, then circle it in bright red. One time I realized she missed one of my errors & I went up to her & showed her thinking she'd be happy I found her mistake. She didn't say a word, then circled the mistake & lowered my grade in her book.   

I have to give her credit though, I made a better effort to proof read my stuff all the time. The only trouble I have now is when I come across a word I want to use that I don't ever recall using before. I have to hit spellcheck for my own piece of mind.

By the way, there's a few words in the spellchecker on this site that when spelled wrong, the spellchecker misses it.   

[Shakey]

Is it me or is society getting stupider by the minute.

Newscasts and commercials have blatant spelling and grammar errors. The same goes for billboards.

This AM I saw an ad for the game show "Wheel of Fortune" on the side of a city bus in Boston.

It said "The Wheel's on the Bus Go Round and Round"

That has to have passed through the ad agency, the city, the printer, and the people who put it on the bus.

Do not pass go, do not collect anything if you don't see anything wrong with that phrase.

Since the apostrophe in the word wheels has already been pointed out, I'll point another apostrophe, well actually the two that are missing.

Guaranteed the ad agency is referring to the song that I sing with my children 30 times per week and yes, the wheels on the bus do go around and around however they should have used an apostrophe to show the missing a in the word around, as to rotate.  Not round, as in a wheel of cheese.

The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round etc.

I'll agree with your theory and I'm sure that this aspect of the conversation never even took place amongst the marketing folks.

[Mike DC]

 
My mother has a PhD in English.  Don't even get her started on this issue.   

   

[1969chargerrtse]

I mess up all the time.. and seldom do a spellcheck,.. i think, mostly it's from folks who don't check their work.. or even read what they write before hitting the "post" button or think about it,.. if it makes sense. or how it might be construed... (taken) by another,.. I've had plenty of examples where I attempted to make fun of a poster who wrote something innocent but really silly, only to have them implode and get nasty with me,..

  Oh well, better that then correct or admit their mistake...  I never make misstakes, right gang?..

Actually I remember correcting your comments to my thread.  I went to respond and I had to correct your words also.  Just not fair.    I corrected "misteak" for you.

[daytonalo]

Eye be won of thoze people who kant spel two save my life!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Charger_Fan]

The only trouble I have now is when I come across a word I want to use that I don't ever recall using before. I have to hit spellcheck for my own piece of mind.

I've done that too, from time to time.

[Charger1970]

I totally agree that bad spelling is some kind of epidemic. In school I literally flunked English on more than one occassion. For me (an English flunkie) to recognize grammar and spelling mistakes makes me wonder about people's education.

One of my favorite spelling mistakes often seen here in the south is "For Sell".

[NHCharger]

One of my favorite spelling mistakes often seen here in the south is "For Sell".

Buddy of mine was driving through Iowa, saw a sign at gas station that read "Toe service- $25.00".

[daytonalo]

Maybe it was for a front end  Alignment !!!!!!!!

[twenty mike mike]

Is it me or is society getting stupider by the minute.

That should have been: Is it me, or is society getting more stupid by the minute? 

I feel your pain. It's bad enough that most people don't know the difference between " its " (possessive) and " it's " (contraction), but at least there used to be a 50/50 chance of getting it right. Then some dimwit invented  " its' " to be wrong 100% of the time and all of his inbred cousins are copying him. 

[Khyron]

too many words here, can someone sum up this thread?

[69CoronetRT]

too many words here, can someone sum up this thread?

Sure.

You start a sentence with a capital letter and should probably use 'There are' at the beginning of the sentence in order to clarify and direct the thought. A period after the word 'here' would be appropriate in order to start a second sentence. Again, the first word 'Can' should be in capital letters.

[Daytona R/T SE]

Phrases/words that annoy me:

As mentioned above "For Sell"

I've decided that I'm going to "sale it".

An ad for an old mopar car that says " Needs a new "Truck floor"....What in the hell is a "Truck Floor"

Every time Cody (and others) use the home made word "spose" as in "spose to" or "sposed two" or "spose too"...What the hell is that supposed to mean?...Oh,wait a minute!  "spose"="supposed"


"Prolly"  WTF is "Prolly"?   I'm guessing it means "Probably"?

[last426]

Well I have a dumb doctor's degree (JD) and still can't figure out the difference between affect and effect. Kim

[kab69440]

Well I have a dumb doctor's degree (JD) and still can't figure out the difference between affect and effect. Kim

Vintage cars affect your wallet by emptying it. They certainly have that effect.

[hemihead]

What I find annoying is the current 'coolness' of speaking and even writing in ebonics. If you were raised in an area where you learned to speak that way, then that is cool, it is part of your identity. But to attempt to adopt it later in life is as corny as all the kids that adopted the California Valley accent in the 80's.

Message boards are interesting too. I host one and visit many. It is interesting how offended some people get when you mention their poor spelling. I can think of a particular guy who would get words so screwed up that you could barely make out what he was saying. When corrected he would point out he was "typing with an accent and isn't making fun of someones accent rude?".

The Ebonics thing is what kills the English language . Besides it doesn't even sound cool . It just makes the speaker sound unintelligent .

[Khyron]

Sure.

You start a sentence with a capital letter and should probably use 'There are' at the beginning of the sentence in order to clarify and direct the thought. A period after the word 'here' would be appropriate in order to start a second sentence. Again, the first word 'Can' should be in capital letters.

Huh? *drools*

[Mike DC]

   
Functional illiteracy among adults is epidemic and it's going under the collective radar.  We've got a whole lot people who can sign their name, read the gender on a bathroom door, work a coke machine, etc.  But so many of them can't read to any useful extent.  By the time they reach their teens, the situation is already becoming a life-altering issue for many of them. 



I've thought for years that the school system should teach virtually nothing but reading & writing until at least 6th or 7th grade.  Forget history, forget saving the rain forests, forget the settlement of the americas, forget the state capitals, forget long division . . .  just focus on communicating in normal english until damn near high school.

It sounds excessive until you realize that this is what it would take to get kids up to the level we assume they're already at.

     

[RECHRGD]

Lack of math skills is also a huge problem.  Whoever decided that calculators were OK to have in math classes should be shot.  I've seen guys with college degrees that can't read a ruler!  Basic skills and common sense are becoming a rarity also.  What's up with a guy in his twenties that can't change a flat tire?  Bob

[Brock Samson]

 lookin' around the www i've found some interesting stuff,..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4073753.stm

one thing according to this sudy is that Canada rates rather high, near the top in fact. 
But beyond median scores, you can see right here there is a lack of care folks show in proofreading their stuff... how difficult is it to differentiate between to and too?.. i see that mistake half a dozen times a day,.. and don't get me started on punctuation... and Caps..
When i see that I think, this person dosen't care... 
Personally, i like to make up my own rules, so my mistakes are o.k.. 

[Back N Black]

Maybe you should be a proof reader for the site.

[Brock Samson]

 There simply isn't enough time in the day,... 
...actually it comes from working for a newspaper, catching mistakes is a full time job there, and you get brownie points for catching mistakes, catching "typos" in that enviroment, earns you heartfelt kudos...
The editors would often run any auto related story past me for mistakes, there I was concidered the resident auto expert.

[twenty mike mike]

It just drives me crazy when I get something from the school's counseling office that says, "Tell your child they..."  Of course that's the result of the politically correct revolution and the effort to make everything gender neutral.

[kab69440]

lookin' around the www i've found some interesting stuff,..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4073753.stm

one thing according to this sudy is that Canada rates rather high, near the top in fact. 
But beyond median scores, you can see right here there is a lack of care folks show in proofreading their stuff... how difficult is it to differentiate between to and too?.. i see that mistake half a dozen times a day,.. and don't get me started on punctuation... and Caps..
When i see that I think, this person dosen't care... 
Personally, i like to make up my own rules, so my mistakes are o.k.. 

Brock is about the last person this site needs as a proofreader. I find his incessant errors in spelling and grammar while cursing others for the same faults quite comical. Let's nitpick his post for a while:

Why is the "o" at the beginning of his paragraph not capitalized? The first sentence is missing it's primary subject, also. What precisely does Canada rate near the top of? Personified "i"s should be capitalized all the time. What does that "sudy" suggest overall? There is no reason for periods after a question mark. "half a dozen" should be hyphenated as half-a-dozen. His afterthought "and Caps" does not need to have "Caps" capitalized and would be more correctly composed as 'or caps'... He should also use quotation marks when referring to his own thoughts. The sentence should read- When I see that, I think "This person doesn't care."
I, myself am guilty of chronic abuse of the ellipsis. Dave, however, has elevated it to an unprecedented level with this post. Aside from the aforementioned double period after the question mark, he does it again immediately after a comma in his next semi-sentence. There are THREE periods in a proper ellipsis, and under normal circumstances they do not follow other punctuation marks. Since he makes up the rules as he plays the game, what the rest of us call mistakes don't actually exist in his world. I guess that makes this entire post irrelevant, and I suppose I should have posted a typical "Bronzy-esque" post count-padding nodding head smilie instead.
  That brings up something else I am tired of seeing in posts here and everywhere else. People who "must of" seen this, or that. It makes any post, regardless of depth or brilliance seem to have been composed by an utter ignoramus. The thought you are trying to get across is the improper contraction "must've" as in "must have" As an aside, there is also no such word as "irregardless", so please stop using it in my presence.
I realize that I am not James Kilpatrick and do err myself on occasion, (I thought I was wrong at one time, but as it turned out, I wasn't...) but there is little excuse for some of  the despicable bastardization of the predominant language of this land. Those for whom English is a second or third language are excused from this condemnation, and I thank you for attempting to communicate in my language in spite of my total ignorance of yours. 

PS- Dave, I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist needling you for this!

[Brock Samson]

  why arn't ya' out in the garage?..   

[kab69440]

  why arn't ya' out in the garage?..   

This isn't San Francisco, and my garage is not heated. The car will wait. I will not repair anything while holding cold steel tools if it can possibly be avoided. A wrench with a mean temperature of 30 defrees Fahrenheit might as well be -30 for the way it hastens frostbite.

[Back N Black]

Ok i take that back you can proof read for the site.  start wit dis one.

[The70RT]

One of my favorite spelling mistakes often seen here in the south is "For Sell".

Buddy of mine was driving through Iowa, saw a sign at gas station that read "Toe service- $25.00".

That is how they spelled it on a dealership invoice I have from 1973. Toe bill 9 bucks. New 440 HP short block $175.

[Charger_Fan]

   
Functional illiteracy among adults is epidemic and it's going under the collective radar.  We've got a whole lot people who can sign their name, read the gender on a bathroom door, work a coke machine, etc.  But so many of them can't read to any useful extent.  By the time they reach their teens, the situation is already becoming a life-altering issue for many of them. 



I've thought for years that the school system should teach virtually nothing but reading & writing until at least 6th or 7th grade.  Forget history, forget saving the rain forests, forget the settlement of the americas, forget the state capitals, forget long division . . .  just focus on communicating in normal english until damn near high school.

It sounds excessive until you realize that this is what it would take to get kids up to the level we assume they're already at.    

I'm with ya.
Another setback is having poor grammar & will offen affect a person's chances of being picked as the right person for a job that 45 other people are applying for. If you're in an interview & things like "I seen the cashier answer the...", or "he gots snow on his hat", etc can slam the door really fast on your chances of being hired for the job, simply because you're giving the impression that you're lacking education.
If you start using slang (homie, bro, etc,) in an interview, you're just screwed.

[nh_mopar_fan]

   
Functional illiteracy among adults is epidemic and it's going under the collective radar.  We've got a whole lot people who can sign their name, read the gender on a bathroom door, work a coke machine, etc.  But so many of them can't read to any useful extent.  By the time they reach their teens, the situation is already becoming a life-altering issue for many of them. 



I've thought for years that the school system should teach virtually nothing but reading & writing until at least 6th or 7th grade.  Forget history, forget saving the rain forests, forget the settlement of the americas, forget the state capitals, forget long division . . .  just focus on communicating in normal english until damn near high school.

It sounds excessive until you realize that this is what it would take to get kids up to the level we assume they're already at.    

I'm with ya.
Another setback is having poor grammar & will offen affect a person's chances of being picked as the right person for a job that 45 other people are applying for. If you're in an interview & things like "I seen the cashier answer the...", or "he gots snow on his hat", etc can slam the door really fast on your chances of being hired for the job, simply because you're giving the impression that you're lacking education.
If you start using slang (homie, bro, etc,) in an interview, you're just screwed.

"dude" and "lookit" do it for me.

Use either and..."next!".

[400/6/PAC]

I just used the word ( gonna ) in a sentence on another post and the spell check did not find it as misspelled.

[remta1]

What happens if words are spelt wrong in the dictionary  ....( whoops i hope i spelt dicktionery write )   

[1FastCharger]

A younger guy came into my shop a few weeks ago and began asking me about a car I had for sale. He spoke with that ebonic/rapper style speach. I told him,"Dude - I do not understand a thing you are saying." Amazingly he began to speak normal English. It was pretty funny how he turned it on and off.

[Mike DC]

Dave Chapelle: 

"Every black person in America is actually bilingual.  They can speak "urban vernacular," and "job interview." 

   

[Charger1970]

Every time Cody (and others) use the home made word "spose" as in "spose to" or "sposed two" or "spose too"...What the hell is that supposed to mean?...Oh,wait a minute!  "spose"="supposed

I saw a cop on TV saying, "supposivly". 

I might have to revise my thinking about this being a modern trend. I saw a show on PBS about JFK, black and white film clips. One clip showed a sign in the window of a business;

Close to
day

[The70RT]

Like median strip on a highway. I heard a cop say you were in the medium 

[kab69440]

Let's not forget everyone's favorite... 
... the people who say nucular instead of nuclear. NEW-clee-ahr. It isn't that difficult.

[Charger1970]

Some of my other favorite non-words;

irregardless
anyways
alls
supposebly

[pettyfan43]

I may have missed this already, but how about they're, there and their?

That is a pet peeve of mine.

[Headrope]

I believe the majority of errors are edited in.
Several generations have been raised to depend on grammar and spell-checking computer programs. What they type is often correct but they choose instead to trust in Microsoft Word to perform the final review of their copy.

[nh_mopar_fan]

A store in scenic Lawrence MA.

How's that bilingual education treating you? 

[bull]

I see spelling and grammar mistakes all the time in public and it drives me nuts. There's a restaurant near my house that used to be named Good Buddie's Restaurant. So was it owned by a guy named Buddie? If so how come he doesn't spell his name "Buddy" like everyone else? If it's supposed to be "Buddies" why is there an apostrophe? I guess I'm supposed to think it's plural possessive which makes no sense either. I'm glad they renamed it. At work the apostrophe is abused all the time. Someone will write something like "Bolts nuts and other fastener's" and that drives me up a wall too. Why does the word fasteners get an apostrophe but not the words nuts and bolts? By the logic of the person writing that shouldn't every word that ends with an S get an apostrophe before it?

Another annoying thing I used to see at places like Google while looking up car pictures was when I would get "corrected" on the abbreviated spelling for certain years. If I type in "1960s muscle cars" I would get corrected and asked "Did you mean 1960's muscle cars?" No! I didn't mean to say 1960's you moron! I meant 1960s; exactly what I wrote because it's what is correct!

BTW -- I didn't run spell check or look up any words while writing the paragraph above. How did I do?

Now, print this list below and stick it to your computer monitor:

Two - 2
Too - also
To - expressing motion, direction, comparison, etc.

Their - possessive as in "their house."
There - location (for the most part) as in "there it is."
They're - a conjunction of they are.

Your - possessive as in "your house and your car."
You're - a conjunction of you are.

It's - a conjunction of it is.
Its - possessive as in "its paint was red and its bumpers were chrome."

[Brock Samson]

 Thanks for the laugh,.. 'bout time..   

[Charger_Fan]

Let's not forget everyone's favorite... 
... the people who say nucular instead of nuclear. NEW-clee-ahr. It isn't that difficult.

The 'nuclear' abuse drives me nuts & gets abused quite often on news programs...and even by our own president!
That just made me think of two others that drive me nuts too..."jewlery" instead of jewelry, that is aired on the radio comercials almost daily around here...and "realitor" instead of realtor, often said by realtors themsleves!

I used to have a friend in high school who said "sterel" instead of stereo. I'd even say it back to him really s l o w l y, and he still couldn't get it.

[twenty mike mike]

Let's not forget everyone's favorite... 
... the people who say nucular instead of nuclear. NEW-clee-ahr. It isn't that difficult.

The 'nuclear' abuse drives me nuts & gets abused quite often on news programs...and even by our own president!

Make that TWO presidents who make that mistake. How ironic that the libs use Dubya's misuse as proof of his stupidity, yet Jimmah Cahtah is the Hero of the Left, and he says it as well. Jimmah has NO excuse, since he was on a nuke boat when he was in the Navy.

[kab69440]

Another annoying thing I used to see at places like Google while looking up car pictures was when I would get "corrected" on the abbreviated spelling for certain years. If I type in "1960s muscle cars" I would get corrected and asked "Did you mean 1960's muscle cars?" No! I didn't mean to say 1960's you moron! I meant 1960s; exactly what I wrote because it's what is correct!

BTW -- I didn't run spell check or look up any words while writing the paragraph above. How did I do

"1960's muscle cars" is indeed the correct way to print that. You are making "1960" possessive by asking for pictures or information of automobiles belonging to the time period 1960- 1969.

[bull]

Another annoying thing I used to see at places like Google while looking up car pictures was when I would get "corrected" on the abbreviated spelling for certain years. If I type in "1960s muscle cars" I would get corrected and asked "Did you mean 1960's muscle cars?" No! I didn't mean to say 1960's you moron! I meant 1960s; exactly what I wrote because it's what is correct!

BTW -- I didn't run spell check or look up any words while writing the paragraph above. How did I do

"1960's muscle cars" is indeed the correct way to print that. You are making "1960" possessive by asking for pictures or information of automobiles belonging to the time period 1960- 1969.

No, 1960 is singular and 1960's is singular possessive. 1960s is plural and the correct way to refer to the years from 1960 to 1969 in this context. There is nothing possessive about asking for pictures that were shot during the time period known as the 1960s. Anyway, Google and Yahoo don't try to "correct" me any longer so I assume someone finally fixed the mistake, or they dropped the issue.

[kab69440]

No, 1960 is singular and 1960's is singular possessive. 1960s is plural and the correct way to refer to the years from 1960 to 1969 in this context. There is nothing possessive about asking for pictures that were shot during the time period known as the 1960s. Anyway, Google and Yahoo don't try to "correct" me any longer so I assume someone finally fixed the mistake, or they dropped the issue.

:hah:1960s's muscle cars?

[400/6/PAC]

I see spelling and grammar mistakes all the time in public and it drives me nuts. There's a restaurant near my house that used to be named Good Buddie's Restaurant. So was it owned by a guy named Buddie? If so how come he doesn't spell his name "Buddy" like everyone else? If it's supposed to be "Buddies" why is there an apostrophe? I guess I'm supposed to think it's plural possessive which makes no sense either. I'm glad they renamed it. At work the apostrophe is abused all the time. Someone will write something like "Bolts nuts and other fastener's" and that drives me up a wall too. Why does the word fasteners get an apostrophe but not the words nuts and bolts? By the logic of the person writing that shouldn't every word that ends with an S get an apostrophe before it?

Another annoying thing I used to see at places like Google while looking up car pictures was when I would get "corrected" on the abbreviated spelling for certain years. If I type in "1960s muscle cars" I would get corrected and asked "Did you mean 1960's muscle cars?" No! I didn't mean to say 1960's you moron! I meant 1960s; exactly what I wrote because it's what is correct!


BTW -- I didn't run spell check or look up any words while writing the paragraph above. How did I do?

Now, print this list below and stick it to your computer monitor:

Two - 2
Too - also
To - expressing motion, direction, comparison, etc.

Their - possessive as in "their house."
There - location (for the most part) as in "there it is."
They're - a conjunction of they are.

Your - possessive as in "your house and your car."
You're - a conjunction of you are.

It's - a conjunction of it is.
Its - possessive as in "its paint was red and its bumpers were chrome."

I vote Bull for President.

[Mefirst]

The idiots are taking over... It is scary, just thinking about it.. In 30 years the most powerful country in the world will be run by idiots

[1FastCharger]

The idiots are taking over... It is scary, just thinking about it.. In 30 years the most powerful country in the world will be run by idiots

China? I doubt that in 30 years we will be the most powerful.

[Mefirst]

The idiots are taking over... It is scary, just thinking about it.. In 30 years the most powerful country in the world will be run by idiots

China? I doubt that in 30 years we will be the most powerful.

[tricky lugnuts]

Has anybody on here seen the movie Idiocracy? It's a bad movie, but all too prophetic and certainly worth the hour and a half it will take to watch. In other words, we are very, very screwed.   

[nh_mopar_fan]

Luke Wilson wasn't it?

Hilarious

[tricky lugnuts]

That's right...

We can't be too far from the great landfill avalanche of 2505. One of my favorite parts: "Welcome to Costco, I love you."

Another: "Brawndo, it's what plants crave."

[DukesofHoward]

What I find annoying is the current 'coolness' of speaking and even writing in ebonics. If you were raised in an area where you learned to speak that way, then that is cool, it is part of your identity. But to attempt to adopt it later in life is as corny as all the kids that adopted the California Valley accent in the 80's.

Message boards are interesting too. I host one and visit many. It is interesting how offended some people get when you mention their poor spelling. I can think of a particular guy who would get words so screwed up that you could barely make out what he was saying. When corrected he would point out he was "typing with an accent and isn't making fun of someones accent rude?".

The Ebonics thing is what kills the English language . Besides it doesn't even sound cool . It just makes the speaker sound unintelligent .

I disagree. It indicates that the speaker is unintelligent.