“You can be the greatest designer on the planet, have the most intriguing concepts out there, create wonderfully thought provoking experiences for your users, but if you type something like ‘I’ve been freelancing for a number off years’, you honestly look like a five year old.”
Paddy Donnelly vents his frustrations at the common and simple spelling mistakes that plague the web in Learn To Fucking Spell → another wonderfully crafted blog post.
Spencer Fry 11 December 2009, 10:12
#1
I agree with Paddy. You’ve got to learn how to write proper sentences and use grammar correctly. The time of 1337 speak is over.
Sam Brown 11 December 2009, 10:22
#2
Absolutely, another of my pet peeves is ‘teh’ instead of ‘the’, especially when done on purpose.
Keith 11 December 2009, 18:43
#3
What about “loose” instead of “lose”?
“Would of/could of/should of” instead of “would have/could have/should have”?
“Mischievious” instead of “mischievous”?
The list is seemingly endless.
Just learn to fucking spell, people—and try to pick up some grammar along the way! ;-)
Damien Buckley 11 December 2009, 19:53
#4
Hahaha, gold ; )
kevadamson 12 December 2009, 12:52
#5
He is right to point out that spelling and grammar do seem to be on the decline, and that many sloppy mistakes could be rectified with a bit more care, attention to detail, and “self-help”.
Whilst extremely impressed with Paddy’s obvious web design skills, I was slightly disappointed by the patronising undertone and unnecessary aggression in the post – especially as the post was published containing some quite obvious mistakes – which he may not have picked up on, had it not been for a “proof reading process” from visitors.
I’ve already commented about it on the post, but do so again here as I think the way an author words and approaches articles on these kind of subjects, is as important as his points on spelling.
Ian P. Hines 12 December 2009, 14:18
#6
My biggest pet peeve is people who write Text Messages in shorthand. It’s just not necessary.
Cyprian Gwó?d? 13 December 2009, 06:35
#7
So much true and I think it means a lot for people from UK. Especially native speakers.
Paddy 13 December 2009, 15:25
#8
Thank Sam,
Motivation behind this article was somewhat frustration on my part but mostly I wanted to create a wake up call for young designers who don’t see (or haven’t been taught) the importance of spelling. So many young designers are heading out into the big bad world without a decent knowledge of the basics. Trust me, nothing sinks your credibility faster in an interview than a spelling mistake on your CV.
Hopefully the relatively shocking tone of the article will help the topic hit home for some designers and in turn help them become more professional in the long run.
It’s all in the details.
Thanks again for the link Sam.
nomadikal 20 December 2009, 16:06
#9
I care most about what someone has to say then how they say it, or how many times they have went over it.
There is no shortage well spelled garbage, really its everywhere you look. Some people who were never meant to write and have no talent learn to use their energy trying to make everything look good, but it has no value.
I will just remind people, that many of the best musicians never learned music theory and did everything “wrong” same with painters, and even if you didn’t know the best writers has something to say, they are a dreamer, and a dreamer spews stuff out and never goes back to fix things for the anal people.
I hate anal spelling nazis.
Sam Brown co-founded Iterate, and was previously VP of Design at Foursquare. Based in NYC.
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