One-Sixteenth

Contractions are so déclassé. :-)

You elitist you. I know. What really gets me is that the same folks who are offended that anyone would dare suggest the use of proper spelling and grammar have no problem suggesting that the book you just read and loved is actually poorly written twaddle - when there are actual *rules* of spelling and grammar. So which is elitist? (And just to show I'm not elitist, I used a run-on sentence.)

Please, don't correct my every quickly written comment, but if you see the same thing pop up over and over again, then by all means let me know, please. Unless it's a clever Texas saying like "y'all" or "I just don't give a lick" or "that makes my butt pucker". If you need to correct those, then you just don't get it!

At my old job we used to call these "squick the editor" errors. Color me elitist.

And if I haven't said so before, I am grateful for the times you've privately corrected an error of mine.

My DH and I are language geeks and wink at one another when we hear "anxious" and "eager" used interchangeably.

My ex-boyfriend once accused me of always having to be right. If it was pointed out to me that I had done, said, written something wrong, then endeavored to find out what the right answer was. It could have been spelling, it might have been a statistic, or a bit of trivia.

I would accept that I was wrong, but I wouldn't leave it at that - I saw it as an opportunity to improve my knowledge. A more accurate assessment would have been that I strive to always be right, knowing I won't get there, but not settling for where I am now. Why would I choose otherwise?

That's exactly it, Heidi. The mistakes aren't the problem; it's the attitude that it's better to not bother and play dumb than to risk hurting someone's feelings. (And again, no one was singled out so ... whose feelings?) They'd correct it in their kids' schoolwork, but I guess once you're an adult, you're above that sort of thing.

I'm teaching my kids. If I don't keep learning, hoo boy are they in trouble. What if I took that attitude with math? It's too scary to contemplate.

I'll go stop being bitter, now.

Bunch of jackassed boneheads. I fail to see how attempting to use correct grammar is elitist, or to be correct in anything is elitist. By that logic, the next time my mechanic makes an error computing my bill, I should probably stay silent so as to not hurt his feelings. :P

Poof! There goes the myth about homeschoolers being education snobs!

:)

Right there in the headline: definitely - not definately. :)

This is wonderful. Here's something for you:

http://wtmboards.com/K8genMay312007/messages/1642.html

I am more likley to forgive spelling and grammar errors in type than in speech. Could have been a typo or something, right? Maybe they're tired. But if I hear someone say "supposably" I just want to smack them. My husband calls me the Grammar Police. No, you're not perfect. Nobody is. I think if you were trying to be helpful, or especially just making random comments, they had no reason to get uppity about it.

I didn't spot your deliberate typos the first time I read your post. When I came back this afternoon, I did.

Does this mean I can't sit in the elitist pew with you or does it mean I can't do it until later?

I consider classical education to be thorough and intriguing. I guess, if I weren't so busy trying to be an unschooler, I'd call our style relaxed classical. Which I do upon occasion!

Anyway, the basics of grammar and spelling are important to learn and anyone who shuns them is probably wary of all educational methods.

As for spelling errors, I've made a few doosies in my blog posts as well and that just proves we're all human!

I know I make spelling errors--especially when I am typing fast! But I don't think it is elitist when someone corrects them.

I am a fan of the book "Eats Shoots and Leaves." If you haven't read it yet, I think you will enjoy it.

But...it is interesting that some of our most confusing spelling rules come from the time when Samuel Johnson wrote his dictionary. Right during a time when the English language was making a transition. The fact that English language accumulates words from other languages doesn't help. Let's face it, English speakers are just a bunch of uncultured language slobs who borrow words and make up words (think of "burbled") when they can't find one that will do. It's kind of hard to be an English speaker and be a language elitist! Congratulations on your achievement! ;)

Ask the French language academy. They've been trying to eliminate bastard phrases like "le weekend" for years. Unsuccessfully.

Ah, well! I was educated at a Latin School and speak several classical and modern languages fluently. English has the most difficult and fussy spelling rules and grammar. Unfortunately, though, if we ignore them all, confusion reigns.
(I hope I spelled that correctly).

This is why some boards make me, erm, pucker...

But it's not as though the entire idea of a classical education is learning to communicate one's thoughts clearly, is it? Or maybe that's only for the kids.

Go, Steff!

From one elitist snob to another.

I am an intellectual, I'd say and a very good speller. But (to ungrammatically start this sentence with a conjunction) most people don't consider how perilous it is working for the public schools, especially in communications. I lived in fear of the day I would accidentally leave the letter "l" out of the word "public" and the world would laugh at me as a dunce.

Finally one day it happened, on a carefully written poll that went to every registered voter in the county. Pubic schools -- it wasn't pretty! ;-)