Lack of Punctuation

I agree punctuation is important. I try my best on here but the last few years my eyes have deteriorated a lot for short distances even with glasses and I’m aware what I’m writing isn’t as good as what it was. It’s particularly difficult on a phone too.

Ah, you see, I love an elipse ...

My goodness. How have I managed to get through the last 77 years without ever hearing of "fronted adverbials"? They were never a thing in GCE O level English! Happily, I have nevertheless been able to use them where appropriate.

My friend does that, in text messages. It makes it really difficult to read. She also types "Know" for "No" , as well as confusing "there", "they're" and "their".

It's social media ia why.

Why should I waste my time trying to make sense of what they're trying to say?

Why indeed? So why do you?

Mirror4U

Please educate and inform yourself on
dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia because sometimes ignorance makes you look and sound like those you intentionally or unintentionally insult!

Well said!

Some posters, who have dyslexia, may be put off posting for fear of being criticised or mocked..

My brain works faster than I can type and despite having a degree in English Language and Literature, I often transpose letters and don't always see the errors, despite previewing.

ixion

It was a birthday card card I sent to my brother, GSM.
You think there are pedants here ... 🤣
..

I’ve sent that one to a sibling pedant, too!!

It’s long screeds with no paragraphs that bother me the most. Or rather, they don’t really bother me, since I can’t be bothered to read them.

Please educate and inform yourself on
dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia because sometimes ignorance makes you look and sound like those you intentionally or unintentionally insult!

welbeck

it's not about anything. it's not deliberate.
it is just how some people naturally speak, maybe the area they grew up or now live in, or how their parents spoke.
isn't objecting to it akin to saying some regional accents drive you crackers ?
and that attitude is no longer acceptable.
thankfully. we have learned more. we are all equal and equally deserving of audience.

I do think some people (celebrities, politicians) who wouldn’t normally have done it, and weren’t brought up to speak like that, drop ts and gs on purpose in order to try to sound less ‘posh’ and more like what they are pleased to call ‘ordinary’ people.

It seems to be recent which is why I said "now dropping their gs".
It doesn't seem to be linked to upbringing, education or a particular part of the country.

It drives me crackers, but they can carry on. It annoys me which I am entitled to say. Although technically it's not punctuation, I suppose. So a slight derail.

Bella23

This post comes up constantly,don't read the unpunctuated posts if they annoy you or how about PMing the writer with all their corrections.
Not everyone who posts had a PhD in Grammar or Latin and I know of two very interesting posters who have stopped because of this kind of comment.
Personally I couldn't give a monkeys ,I can't spell, my grammar is appalling and my very strong regional accent affects my sentence construction. I have a condition that I was born with and can do nothing about. My spell check has packed in so all the pedants read at your peril.

but bella the kind of post that some people find very difficult to read is more like this version of your post this post comes up constantly don't read the unpunctuated posts if they annoy you or how about pming the writer with all their corrections not everyone who posts had a phd in grammar or latin and i know of two very interesting posters who have stopped because of this kind of comment personally i couldn't give a monkeys i can't spell my grammar is appalling and my very strong regional accent affects my sentence construction i have a condition that i was born with and can do nothing about my spell check has packed in so all the pedants read at your peril they read this getting more and more breathless and wondering where each thought ends and the next begins and also getting more uptight all the time about the obviously overwrought poster who is making them more and more anxious with every line they read i dont say with every sentence they read because there are no sentences it is all one long uninterrupted stream of consciousness that goes on and on

Personally, I can't be bothered fighting my way through it all to puzzle out what they are on about, so I don't read it. I couldn't givea monkey's either.

it's not about anything. it's not deliberate.
it is just how some people naturally speak, maybe the area they grew up or now live in, or how their parents spoke.
isn't objecting to it akin to saying some regional accents drive you crackers ?
and that attitude is no longer acceptable.
thankfully. we have learned more. we are all equal and equally deserving of audience.

What drives me crackers above all are the TV presenters and politicians now dropping their gs.
So thinkin, doin, havin, presentin. What's that all about?

I'm looking at you Priti Patel. Well I'm not as I am pleased to not to have to see or hear her again. But Beth Rigby on Sky. It stops me listenin to what she is sayin!

Remember the woman who wrote Eats, shoots and leaves illustrating the whole meaning of that sentence hinged on the one comma, the difference between a robbery and a peaceful munching panda "eats shoots and leaves"

I also liked this one, that went something along these lines, The teacher, said the inspector, is a fool as opposed to The teacher said the inspector is a fool.

The power of commas, sometimes when I haven't read my posts back, I could kick myself for omitting relevant punctuation.

Cossy

Oh god! I’ve done it again, of course I mean commas not comas! Sorry, very senior moment, where I tried to do two things at once, when I can clearly not even manage one! Very cross with myself for this gaff on this thread. 🫣🫣

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I have a work colleague who writes every word with a capitol letter, so it would go like this. Hi Bluebelle I Hope You Are OK And I ll See You At Work Tomorrow
I d love to tell her to stop, but I don’t want to hurt her feelings

ixion

It was a birthday card card I sent to my brother, GSM.
You think there are pedants here ... 🤣
..

Someone once sent me that one, too! 😂

I’ve seen ‘New Years’ (no apostrophe) at least twice already today. I dislike it anyway - what happened to New Year’s Eve? - or NYE if you CBA to write it out.

I suppose it serves me right for trawling social media when I should be Doing Something Useful instead, though.

Having read what you all have written. I shall check my punctuation in future
🤔

Oldnproud

^There's a big difference between 'Let's eat, Grandma' and 'Let's eat Grandma'!^

There is, but with that particular example, we manage perfectly well without any punctuation, or even a pause, in speech. 😁

I tried reading both out loud while listening carefully to myself, and I DID pause at the comma, very briefly. I noticed also that in "Let's eat, Grandma", my voice rose a little between "Grand" and "ma", but in "Let's eat Grandma", it dropped between "Grand" and "ma".

So I, at least, do make a difference in speech based on the difference in the meaning. Without the sound to go on, punctuation is essential.

Anyone listening to me would have sent for the men in white coats.

Oh god! I’ve done it again, of course I mean commas not comas! Sorry, very senior moment, where I tried to do two things at once, when I can clearly not even manage one! Very cross with myself for this gaff on this thread. 🫣🫣

I completely agree.

I once had a manager, who insisted on sending out long, huge sentences, as one very large paragraph, with no punctuation at all, riddled with both grammatical and spelling errors (spell check?)

I once replied with, “comas are nice!” She seemed to have not the slightest idea of my meaning.

I try hard to check my typing and to include punctuation, though I’m far from perfect.

I often argue with my husband about punctuation. He favours loads of semicolons, colons and the Oxford comma; while I like to keep punctuation to a minimum. I agree that punctuation is essential but I really hate the pepper pot method of sprinkling little dots and crescents all over a piece of writing. I use apostrophes through force of habit, although I fail to see the necessity to do so most of the time. I expect some of you will want to get the pepper pot out and punctuate what I have just written properly.

Occasionally, when my arthritic wrist is uncooperative, I’ll use the microphone facility on my keyboard which doesn’t punctuate, apart from the odd full stop. Before posting, I check it and edit as necessary. Perhaps others use the microphone but then post or send without checking. .

I too don't read long, unpunctuated screeds which, as welbeck says, would be greatly improved by the judicious use of the space bar.

I was taught punctuation and grammar at primary school in Scotland which has stayed with me ever since, although I never did learn exactly when to use a colon and when a semi-colon: I think we moved down to England before that lesson.

I remember the enormity of the crime of putting a comma before a conjunction; I still feel ill at the thought of putting a comma before "but" although I am reconciled to the Oxford Comma, which makes me feel quite dashing when I use it.

I had to Google "prosody" 🙂