<p>Noone need worry.</p>
<p>“Noone” didn’t get a numerical return on the search…it got the “too common” reply!!!</p>
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<p>I read an article in the LA Times that said that “miniscule” is now an acceptable spelling. It gained acceptance through decades of constant misspelling. And they said that “definately” is definitely headed the same way. It’s only a matter of time before “definately” becomes a correct spelling. ((Shudder)) - I guess I’m a prescriptionist after all.</p>
<p>“moreso” = 350 posts</p>
<p>and then there is defiantly. </p>
<p>It’s very difficult to have spent one’s high school years studying Latin, collegiate years studying English and journalism, and then to proceed to the cold cruel world where spellings such as definately, perfer and preformance predominate.</p>
<p>Don’t even get me started on possessive apostrophes!</p>
<p>I now own a pet shop – I was an Animal Science major with substantial coursework in writing and language – and the spelling and grammatical errors by my staff make me totally nuts! I am the only one allowed to make signs – it’s that bad! In addition, I am spending my days correcting such things as hampsters and avi-cackes in the computer before the misspellings make it to a customer’s receipt.</p>
<p>you people all have too much time on your hands!</p>
<p>cnp55, I have noticed that all pet stores have similar spelling problems. Several days ago I was in one which had a sign on the guinea pig cage to let customers know that the long-haired “guena pig” had been sold.</p>
<p>I thought “Spell Check” was going to solve all of this.</p>
<p>(By the way, why doesn’t CC’s forum “Reply to Thread” page have a spell check function, like Yahoo’s Mail page. I have to cut and paste text into Word to check my posts. . . . I guess it would slow things down too much.)</p>
<p>I imagine that lots of stores have this issue. </p>
<p>When I bought the shop, the previous owner told me that people in our area (read: gold coast Connecticut) that will work retail have issues that keep them out of corporate America. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, that seems to mean major learning disabilities. I have a current employee who was presented as a high school grad and I don’t think he can actually read. Other “issues” seem to revolve around being a recovering (or not) drug addict of various forms and persuasions. I personally prefer employees whose issue is that they don’t want to work full time because of kids/husbands but they are bright enough to run the store.</p>
<p>Richs73cas:
I thought “Spell Check” was going to solve all of this.</p>
<p>And that of course is the problem! If they don’t KNOW the difference between perform and preform, spell check is not going to help!</p>
<p>I wood have replyed to this, but I was busy calendaring an engagement… Then I got envolved journaling. I love American English!</p>
<p>Yes I definately luv it two, Ive herd its hard too learn two furriners tho. :p</p>
<p>I don’t have as big a problem with misspelling as I do with abbreviations. ■■■■■? What is that (just an example)? It takes me forever to write on AIM because I insist on using correct English. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>^Oh, me too… my friends make fun of me for using semicolons in instant messages. I’ve stopped worrying about capitalization, though.</p>
<p>In the Caltech forum here, a student who works on the Admissions Committee suggested in one thread that applicants be sure to learn how to spell “you” and “your” (rather than using “u” and “ur”) in their applications, after some particularly hard to read “text-speak” in a few posts. He got jumped upon by posters who called him rigid and suggested he lighten up in an online forum (although none suggested his point was invalid for applications). I presume some of these abbreviations come from text-messaging on phones and the need/desire to keep it short.</p>
<p>But I thought he had a very good point. If you don’t bother to write clearly and correctly in most situations, you’re less likely to catch the occasional slip in some important situation (e.g. college application).</p>
<p>(Disclaimer: I have been known to use LOL, IMHO, and YMMV as handy abbreviations when writing/chatting informally with friends. I never, however, use “ur” when I mean “your”. That one just makes my skin crawl.)</p>
<p>anxiousmom, I think you meant “than I got envolved…” </p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>It’s “seperate”. Search returned 500 posts (maybe 500 is the search limit).</p>
<p>What is YMMV? I know the other two, but I don’t know that one. 
</p>
<p>Your mileage may vary. I find the following useful (provided long time ago by yemaya): <a href=“http://www.netlingo.com/emailsh.cfm[/url]”>http://www.netlingo.com/emailsh.cfm</a></p>
<p>Doesn’t cover everything, but helps me be at-least semi-literate cyberwise. Still fails to come through sometimes; eg, slugg used “ITA” the other day and I remain clueless.</p>
<p>jmmom- </p>
<p>I googled ITA and got 16 million pages.</p>
<p>First five:
International Trade Administration
ITA Software
Intercollegate Tennis Association
International Trombone Association
Institute of Transactional Analysis</p>
<p>However I suspect used in an instant message ITA refers to, “In The Ass”.</p>
<p>No doubt the context that it was used in would confirm or disprove that.</p>
<p>ITA = I Totally Agree.</p>
<p>It was used in the context of slugg agreeing with overseas that the Bay Area is beautiful in (what passes here for) autumn.</p>
<p>My IM pet peeve: ne1. It took me ages to figure that one out (anyone).</p>