Proper spelling - is it that important?

It's good to be correct, to a point. I used to subscribe to Language Log a blog by linguists (I stopped because they were pretty spammy), and I was fascinated to find out that linguists are not interested in beating people over the head with a bunch of rules in a musty book printed a hundred years ago, but how people actually use language.

Take the phenomenon of Eggcorns for instance. For people who are too lazy to click:

Originally Posted by WIKIALITY

...an idiosyncratic substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound similar or identical in the speaker's dialect. Characteristic of the eggcorn is that the new phrase makes sense on some level ("old-timer's disease" for "Alzheimer's disease"). Eggcorns often involve replacing an unfamiliar, archaic, or obscure word with a more common or modern word ("baited breath" for "bated breath").

Linguists have actually set up a website to find and track eggcorns on the interwebs. Being able to Google Search for a phrase is a linguist's dream, apparently. I guess it makes sense -- they can see how real people are using language without any observational bias: people don't know they're being listened to. You can also see how many "ghits" a phrase has. It's pretty cool to watch linguists at work -- it totally shattered my mental model.

Anyway, my point is: nobody except a grammar nazi gives a shit if you occasionally make a typo or comma splice. The point isn't to have perfect grammar: the point is to clearly and concisely communicate what you are trying to say. Language is a tool to communicate. The more smoothly, more clearly and more emotively you can do this the better, and that's the point. Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma? As long as it's not ambiguous and reads cleanly, you're good. Fret not.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

There's a reason spelling counts: standardization.

Also if you spelled standardization "standurdizashun", most folks would be unable to determine what you were trying to say without taking time to sound the word out.

More than just a bunch of arbitrary rules that serve no purpose, proper spelling allows others to quickly parse what you're trying to say. More than anything it's an optimization for reading speed.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I think I've said my peace in this thread but I noticed this:



How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Dhsu

At the risk of missing obvious irony, do you mean "piece"?

Hah! That's actually a perfect example of an eggcorn, which I posted about above!

Delicious.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Scarletdeath

Says the guy that listens to animu music. How does knowing the language make someone a weaboo. Don't be jealous now.

Dyin' at the cognitive dissonance between this and your Disgea 2 avatar and signature.

Too much.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Scarletdeath

Dude, this is a game. If it had Mario style drawing and I liked the game, I'd still put on the theme. You don't seem to understand the usage of weeaboo.

You're getting all hot and bothered over a term used by Japanophiles to insult other Japanophiles...

...while you have in your avatar and signature Disgea 2, published by a studio whose name translates as "Japan #1" and is wildly popular amongst those same Japanophiles.

It's like a guy in a Batman costume making fun of a guy in a Superman costume for wearing his underwear on the outside.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Anyway, I am with Bigblah on this. This thread is so incredibly far derailed at this point that I'm just going to stop posting in it.

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by Scarletdeath

You were the one who started this (again) outta nowhere

You're just as bad as Elixir. "CAN'T LET THAT INSULT GO UNRESPONDED TO.........."

FELIPE NO