What do you think of the grammar and spelling of the average Y! answers user?

(x-posted from an answer to a similar question)

There are a few reasons why a question or answer may be poorly written:

a) The person is not a native English speaker.

b) The person is a native English speaker with a poor command of the language (i.e. they would write the same way on a homework assignment).

c) The person is a native English speaker with adequate command of the language who doesn't care enough to apply the same patience to anything extracurricular (i.e. they would write a homework assignment just fine, but would rather "typ lik dis" without making an effort here).

d) The person is a native English speaker with adequate command of the language but who thinks it looks 'cooler' to type illegibly (i.e. they would write a homework assignment just fine, but would rather "tYpE lYkEEE dIs" even though it takes longer).

e) The person is on drugs.

I'm 16, so congratulations on being a teenager who actually cares about writing properly. There aren't enough of us out here.

I have already ranted on this topic (the question keeps popping up), so I’ll just add another consideration. I appreciate your love of the English language and it horrendous and archaic rules of spelling and grammar. Not everyone is gifted in these areas. Some of the people using the worst English on this site, however, can also give some of the best answers in other areas. Not everyone is great in every topic. You seek perfection in written word, especially when you are writing it. Everyone does not feel the need to do so. This is not a college class. Every-1 is welcum no mattr how gud r bad there spelin n grammr iss.

I was just going to ask that question myself! My theories are:

1. One answer might be that many of the participants are not native English speakers and either are doing their best in English or using a program to translate.

2. We have a bunch of people who are used to text messaging and chatting, and don't know how to write a real sentence.

3. It's a sort of cyber-grafitti, where the purpose is to deface the site.

I am pretty sure it's not because people are stupid.

Here's an interesting thing. A rocket costing millions which was supposed to circumnavigate Mars went terribly off course and was lost in space. Reason? The scientists who planned the mission worked it out in inches, and the scientists that programmed the onboard computer did it in centimetres!! These were highly paid NASA scientists. What do you suppose their combined IQ's were? 80-90?They should have used monkeys like the old days. Wouldn't have happened in China.

I personally don't have any problem with it .. because it is called "online slang" thing. I do use words like.. ne instead of any .. or coz' instead of because .. n etc. But I do hate grammar mistakes.. like c'mon u know english.. so type it correctly.

And about capitalizing the beggining of a sentence.. well now c'mon.. u r not doing some english essay.. ?

I can spell, just not as fast as I type. Correct grammer is more of an issue, as you are correct in that poorly worded questions are impossible to answer...that's why Yahoo! Answers staffers will pull them if reported. I think that the problem is a combination of lazy (I'm too lazy to proofread my answers) and stupid (kids being raised by MTV).

I'm not sure what the "beggining" of a sentence is...

Maybe you shouldn't talk so much unless you were absolutely perfect yourself.

Some people that ask questions here, do not fully know English, because it's their second language, but at least they try.

People make mistakes...bottomline.

I think it's both lazy and stupid and alot of these folks think it's cool to spell ebonically. It's hard not to make fun of some of these questions. Alot of the questions are posted by people to whom the english is definitely not their first language.

eye tink wed da be shtupid, so itbe gooogd fur use to staays ins zkools>>>ammended answer i apologize to those i offended english is not my native tounge,

yet i know it well enough i am fortunate to speak 5 languages, im just here for relaxation and poke a little fun, and if i accidently help someone good for them, so have mercy on us who do not take this forum as seriously as you guys.

I'm not a native English speaker.

I thought there were many non-native speakers like me here.