maiii loaf ju lawng lawng taim

translation....you want a meat loaf and an instructional video

Just a different way of expressing themselves. Individuality is difficult to understand sometimes even if you are not typing. Doesn't make it wrong.

i never said it was wrong, i just find it annoying. we all have our pet peeves, i'm sure there are things people do that annoy you, unless you're a saint. i choose not to communicate with people i have trouble understanding, it's not worth the effort for me, but whatever works for you.

I'm with you on this one, Calleigh -- in a written medium, where just about the only thing we even have that we can use to make an impression is our writing, our words, then it behooves us to try to make our written communications as clear and coherent as possible.

Some people don't care about that sort of thing, and that's fine. But it makes a difference to me.

I do find it odd how easily some people seem to reflexively fall into a defensive posture the minute someone says spelling/grammar/punctuation matters. Aren't we entitled to our opinions, too?

while tilting my head at an angle....

I am no saint, I have pet peeves but spelling or grammar is not one of them, I shoot for bigger issues, to me at least.

Allowing others to express themselves as they see fit is what I wish to do. If that means terrible grammar and spelling so be it.

We all have personal issues and if one of them is being bothered by misspelled words and grammar than so be it.

All I can do is state my opinion about the issue.

There are some people (like me) who have English as their second language.

It was hard enough on us to learn the proper spelling and grammar, and it is still sometimes not easy for us to keep up.

And now we are supposed to decipher some of the gobbledegook that is posted as English.

At the end of the day, this is an international forum, and you can't only think of the people that spoke and wrote English all their life; I'm sure they have no problem with it, I do.

I have no problem with people that prefer good spelling and grammar (to me it's not a big issue) but when I see people get their red pens out in the forums for little things...it's ridiculous

Your English has always been remarkably clear and comprehensible -- had you not stated that it's your second language, I would not have had a clue!

I have noticed that the "second language" people often write in English more clearly and properly than the "first language" people do. It does make me wonder about what our schools are doing sometimes....!

Actually I think we're all on the same page here. To some it is important and to others it is not. To each his own.

However I believe the inspiration for this thread, though I should probably let Lex speak to it himself, is that because spelling and grammar do have importance to him, and because he does tend to write in full, grammatically correct sentences, he gets the 'intimidating' tag.

Sorry Lex. It's the cross you have to bear. I get the 'Idiot' tag. Which is about right.

I learned in the NYC school system - but had a little headstart, English is taught as early as preschool in Puerto Rico. So I had a little (very little) advantage.

Pffffft. You're definitely no idiot -- anyone who can consistently crack me up the way you do in OGP is clearly on the higher end of the spectrum!

And you're right about the original intent of the thread -- as a writer, spelling and grammar do mean something to me. And I'm still baffled and bemused by the idea that anyone could possibly find this "intimidating."

Yet some obviously do.

The other thing that I thought might be fun was that, since "intimidating" ends with "dating," I could use this as a springboard to toss out a completely absurd and pointless idea for a fictitious dating site.

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time....

I actually came into this thread because I thought it was going to be "INTIMATE DATING" but found the Intimidate instead.

I don't undersstand the intimidate part anyway. Only someone with really low self esteem would be intimidated by good spelling and grammar, or at least from my view where I sit anyway.

That was how I interpreted it, too, but then I started getting more e-mails about it.

Sometimes I would get e-mails from one person saying how ANOTHER person would like to write me, but she was too "intimidated" (their word) to do so.

And I could never figure that out. OK, so I can write a little bit. But I'm sure that EVERY ONE of those people who used the term "intimidated" has dozens of things they can do better than I can.

It would never occur to me to be intimidated by that.

And it turns out that some of the people who eventually wrote to me using the "I" word, are also some of the best writers, the finest minds, the greatest people, I have had the pleasure of getting to know on this site. People I never would have thought would have been intimidated by anything here....!

I am so completely intimidated by this thread, I shudder at the mere contemplation of the correct use of vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, gratuitous use of the Periodic Table.

Lex, your OP was fabulous. Great insight into your sense of humor. Who knew?

Hey, this stuff desn't just write itself, you know. Mostly, I steal it from Bob Saget.

That's not true. I know personally that Bob Saget is prejudice against antelopes with cataracts and don't get me started on his bias against people with glaucoma.