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Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

wsj.com

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Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#211

Post by Multicomp »

shawn_w wrote: post #158
mmooss wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Phones (really, the pocket/handheld form factor) are a necessity and are limited; I agree. We could deliver better text input interfaces for them. For heavy typers, physical keyboards in candybar phones (.e.g, old Blackberrys, etc.) and landscape-oriented clamshells fix many issues, but those are outre for some reason. Even on-screen UIs could be better. Just arrow keys to move to the cursor precisely would be a sign…

The first Android phone had a physical keyboard and a little trackball. The rest of the phone was a bit anemic even by the standards of the time but those two features were glorious.

I still hold my uncles HTC dream and my droid 2 and wish for a landscape slider android phone. This is not Atlantis technology! Though it is 20 years old now, so probably there are HN readers here who think of that device with the same alien fascination I have for those who carried around Psion 3s in their college days when I was eating crayons.

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#212

Post by 1718627440 »

NooneAtAll3 wrote: post #171
el_benhameen wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have used em dashes and semicolons for decades. The LLM appropriation of my writing style has been almost as devastating as their impending vaporization of my career path.

I don't understand where you "users of em dashes" are coming from em dash isn't on the keyboard, where do you even find it?

AltGr hyphen, same difficulty like typing AltGr Q for an @ for me.

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#214

Post by mmooss »

rdevilla wrote: post #130
mmooss wrote: post #12

This could be read as a condemnation of the text input interfaces we've designed; the users are busy and have little choice. Typing on a phone still is awful: * Very time-consuming, especially for edits/corrections * Lacks functionality (where is undo? the right/left arrow keys?) and other functionality is very poor (mouse/pointer control) * Frustrating! * Consumes attention: I can type on a full keyboard while looki…

Bingo. I have oft opined that the switch to an audiovisual culture was (bandwidth and compute gains notwithstanding) simply due to the piss poor ergonomics of the touch screen. IRC was a literate culture, owing to its roots in the physical medium of the typewriter. It imposed technical barriers to entry selecting for a minimum of intelligence. After kneecapping the literate media by destroying this input mechanism wi…

That is a very interesting theory!

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#215

Post by stackghost »

throwaway94275 wrote: post #189
stackghost wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Cholmondeley is "Chumley" Featherstonehaugh is "Fanshaw." If you read it phonetically you mark yourself as an outsider. This is a monstrous crime against language.

well how do you say Newfoundland? Soon it will be said "Noovlan"

People from there generally pronounce it "New-fund-LAND", people from the rest of (english) Canada tend pronounce it "NEW-fund-land".

It's still got three syllables.

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#216

Post by mmooss »

joe_the_user wrote: post #147
mmooss wrote: post #12

This could be read as a condemnation of the text input interfaces we've designed; the users are busy and have little choice. Typing on a phone still is awful: * Very time-consuming, especially for edits/corrections * Lacks functionality (where is undo? the right/left arrow keys?) and other functionality is very poor (mouse/pointer control) * Frustrating! * Consumes attention: I can type on a full keyboard while looki…

I'd agree UIs are a sh*tshow but just saying this misses the wide variety of things that can put under "language is usage". Of course, the article itself misses the way the reveals texts between current elites are more equivalent to the grunts of cigar smoking old boys in clubs than to formal business communication. And that's just scratching the surface of the implication of informal business and other language. "Is…

> a fair portion of people couldn't type and typists would/could be hired for various tasks

Was typing harder then than it is now for some reason? Or are you saying that editing now (compared to correcting ink typed onto paper) means you don't need as much skill?

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#218

Post by MichaelZuo »

lumost wrote: post #209
radpanda wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really see that as the same thing as what the article was pointing out. Those are shibboleths that only an insider would know. You have to get the pronunciation of Cholmondeley or Couch "right" to pass for an insider. The random misspellings, missing spaces, sloppy grammar, etc in the examples in the article seem different to me. Misspelling "en route" as "enriewu" doesn't show, "look, I know the secret count…

Or its a simple signifier that the author was human, and that a real person is trying to convince you of something. I've experimented with putting minor grammar mistakes into my work of the sort that would be frowned upon, but are not strictly invalid. The existence of any kind of mistake makes the work sound "human".

Who said signalling would be limited to just 1 thing at a time?

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#219

Post by happymellon »

z500 wrote: post #177
bluepeter wrote: post #22

British aristocracy has been pronouncing their own surnames wrong for centuries on purpose. Cholmondeley is "Chumley" Featherstonehaugh is "Fanshaw." If you read it phonetically you mark yourself as an outsider. The misstake is the membership card. (Heck, even in Portland we locals hear about misprouncing Couch St probably every year in local press as some bar for membership to our own locals only vibe.)

That's just centuries of change without updating spelling, a la Leicester or Worcester.

Pronunciation inconsistency is due to all the invasions.

You should watch Map Men.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uYNzqgU7na4

Re: Why the global elite gave up on spelling and grammar

#220

Post by strotter »

bluepeter wrote: post #22

British aristocracy has been pronouncing their own surnames wrong for centuries on purpose. Cholmondeley is "Chumley" Featherstonehaugh is "Fanshaw." If you read it phonetically you mark yourself as an outsider. The misstake is the membership card. (Heck, even in Portland we locals hear about misprouncing Couch St probably every year in local press as some bar for membership to our own locals only vibe.)

In case you're wondering, Couch St. in Portland, Oregon, USA is pronounced "Cooch." It's named for 19th century ship captain and early businessman John H. Couch. It's the "C" street in the so-called Alphabet District north of Burnside, which is the "B" street. There are, or were, other landmarks named after Capt. Couch, but I'm not sure if any still exist.
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