Spelling

[oldbrk42]

In my school days I remember a teacher always stressing a spelling guide. It was the letter I before E, except after the letter C. In other words RECEIVER not RECIEVER. This is just a little thing I see as gun parts are described, no big thing, just that once you see it you will notice later. Just an old guy

[Sunray]

Their, they're, there. Two, to, too. Then, than.
"...a teacher always stressing..." A nun with a pointer did the stressing where I was. Just an old guy too. snicker.

[SMOKEY]

Use to be a good speller but as I get older I seem to have to think more about how it goes together. The joys of the golden years

[IditarodJoe]

(1) As we've aged our vocabularies have increased significantly. (2) With age, we inherently become more self-critical. (3) The ubiquitous "spell checker" now points out many of our spelling errors that we might previously overlooked.

[Johnny P]

With the advent of the computer age, guns now have sites rather than sights.

[jimb]

Smell checker is fine, when it works.But we need grammar checker as well! (misspelling intended)

[PhillipM]

With the advent of the computer age, guns now have sites rather than sights.

I have seen sale, sell, and even sail used interchangeably on Facebook. It makes my skin crawl when I see some one saleing something.

[Sunray]

The ubiquitous "spell checker" does not catch words that are spelt(The Queen's English!) correctly but used incorrectly. As in There, their, or they're etc.
There is a grammar check in most word processors too.
"...on Facebook..." That'd be your explanation. 'u', '2' and 'ur' are not words either. snicker.

[phil441]

Over the last few years I've noticed our local newspaper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, contains more and more incorrect spelling and word usage. Discouraging to say the least.

[musketjon]

How about...."A historic........". It is "AN" historic whatever, NOT A historic whatever. Look at Canfield's Garand tome. EVERY "A M1" should be "AN M1". It's simple elementary school spelling and grammar. And by the way, I'm an old guy too.
Jon

[Barryeye]

As one who could never spell to save his life I take solace in knowing that Winston Churchill had the same problem. However, I was under the impression that the so-called I before E rule was long defunct because of far too many acceptations to it. I could be wrong. It is not unknown.

[DarylBruce]

I was told that you can make a good teacher excellent, and a poor teacher good, but you will never make a poor teacher an excellent teacher. I think spelling works the same way. (words of wisdom for the guy that was always first to go down in a spelling bee.)

[IditarodJoe]

Over the last few years I've noticed our local newspaper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, contains more and more incorrect spelling and word usage. Discouraging to say the least.

In my high school journalism class (early 1960s), we were told that most newspapers and magazines instructed their writers to write at a 4th grade level as an accommodation to the reading skills of their subscribers. These days, I'm convinced that most journalists lack the skill to successfully write at a competent 4th grade level.

[n64atlas]

How about...."A historic........". It is "AN" historic whatever, NOT A historic whatever. Look at Canfield's Garand tome. EVERY "A M1" should be "AN M1". It's simple elementary school spelling and grammar. And by the way, I'm an old guy too.
Jon

http://writingexplained.org/a-vs-an-difference

[IditarodJoe]

Although I personally agree with the article linked by n64atlas, there is no single definitive source for English language word usage. "Style guides" abound, some being more widely used than others. Back in the day, it was common for larger companies to adopt a particular style guide and employ professional proof readers. An engineering firm I once worked for used the New York Times style guide, and every major report and proposal had to pass through the proof readers before it went out. I wonder if proof readers even exist any longer.