Ask HN: Why the grammar and spelling pedants? Is it good for HN?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4144976

by SoftwareMaven • 14 years ago

2 6 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

it? What kinds of mistakes should be corrected (at least factual errors, obviously)?

I value grammar and spelling, but is an HN comment thread the right place to teach it?

gregjor2• 14 years ago

Some research on this and one possible solution: http://typicalprogrammer.com/?p=68

Mz• 14 years ago

I don't mind the pedants, as long as they aren't assholes about it. I grew up in a bilingual home, so I am prone to certain errors in spite of generally being told I "write well". I am acutely aware that poor grammar and spelling can be genuine obstacles to effective communication. As long as pedantery (sp?) is not served up with a huge side of sneering, disrespect, pissing on people and similar, I think it has real benefit for the forum.

whichdan• 14 years ago

I think everyone here would agree that HN would be better served with an extremely robust spell- and grammar-checking WYSIWYG comment editor. /s

10dpd2• 14 years ago

Use OSX - at least here on Chrome text is automagically underlined when there is a spelling error.

10dpd2• 14 years ago

Like it or not, grammar and spelling has a huge influence on people's perception of you. Online we don't have the visual and auditory cues we use to make judgements. So I have mixed thoughts - pointing out someones flaws in public is never a good thing.. if you really feel the need to correct someone, do it in private so they don't feel embarrassed.

gregjor2• 14 years ago

There's probably no point correcting comments posted online. I think it's most polite to correctly spell or construct a sentence in the comment without directly pointing out the error.

Correct spelling and grammar is not pedantry. If you don't bother with spelling and grammar your readers may think you uneducated, lazy, not able think and communicate with precision. Especially in a technical field you don't want to be perceived as a sloppy thinker. When I see misspelled words followed by (sp?) I wonder why the author was too lazy to open a browser tab and Google the suspect word -- it's so easy to look up a word when you have a computer with an Internet connection in front of you. When I see grammar errors I wonder if the writer finished elementary school.

Writers struggling with English because it's not their first language should be cut some slack unless they ask for help.

Many times in my career I've seen résumés and proposals tossed aside because of spelling or grammar errors, especially in cover letters. If I notice errors on a web page my scam alarm goes off (except for "FAQ's," which I've given up on). The little things do matter.

Ask HN: Why the grammar and spelling pedants? Is it good for HN?

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