Dumbing Down America

longnecker · #11 06-11-2008, 02:25 PM

Quite often I'll write something and if it doesn't look right use another word..

SCRAPPY · #12 06-11-2008, 02:33 PM

I do the same thing longnecker..

motherof3 · #13 06-11-2008, 04:12 PM

I do the i before e thing too. And if the word still looks wrong I'll type it into the computer and hit spell check. It drives me nuts that my kids aren't really corrected on their spelling in school. They are told to write it how it sounds, I call this kindergarten speak because I'm now fluent in it after 3 kids home work. I personally make them rewrite the misspelled words when I catch them as I go over their work. They think I'm nuts since the teachers don't do it. But spelling is a big thing for me, probably because I suck so bad at it. I was always the first one out in a spelling bee. I was so embarrassed that I saved up and bought a book of 20,000 words that just gave spelling and where to break the word when you typed it (remember type writers?? anyone??? lol) I still have this book. Spelling and how you write, to me, shows a degree of intelligence. The way people abbreviate stuff in texting and IMing drives me nuts sometimes. My mom does this when she sends me email and it drives me crazy, the woman can type so damn fast and yet it looks like a friggin code to me at times. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I think this kind of stuff is really hurting our kids. And recently when my kids say anything in appropriate (ex. damn or a cuss word) we've been getting a lot of that since they are getting into higher grades, I make them get a dictionary and find 5 words they could have used in place of the offensive word. They have to write the 5 words and their definitions, they must find new words every time. I keep the old sheets to compare. I figure it gives them a consequence and improves their vocabulary at the same time. We actually have 3 or 4 dictionaries and books of synonyms/ antonyms for them to use. And yes I hear every time what a mean mom I am. Don't care.

Bada Bing · #14 06-11-2008, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motherof3

And recently when my kids say anything in appropriate (ex. damn or a cuss word) we've been getting a lot of that since they are getting into higher grades, I make them get a dictionary and find 5 words they could have used in place of the offensive word. They have to write the 5 words and their definitions, they must find new words every time. I keep the old sheets to compare. I figure it gives them a consequence and improves their vocabulary at the same time. We actually have 3 or 4 dictionaries and books of synonyms/ antonyms for them to use. And yes I hear every time what a mean mom I am. Don't care.

That's awesome! Keep it up... words get butchered so much these days. Illiteracy leads to all kinds of trouble.

max1 · #15 06-11-2008, 04:16 PM

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Joe Walther · #16 06-11-2008, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bada Bing

you f*cked up your i-e thing again.

Just for the record, "O'reilly" is properly spelled--O'-r-e-i-l-l-y. It is a proper name and not subject to any established spelling rules. There are millions of people who spell it "O'reilly."

Neither is it a spelling felony to spell it, "O'rielly." just as many spell it this way, too. I have a friend at MIT--faculty member--who spells his as "O'reiley.

The thing about proper names is that the only spelling boss is the originator of the name's spelling. The same is true for proper name pronunciation.

On the dumbing down thing, never take what you hear on television as evidence of national intellectual reality, especially where youth is concerned.

There are a great deal more smart youngster than dumb ones, but the media rarely reports on the former. However, let some airhead blunder through an off the wall dissertation full of run-on sentences and the incident will be on every talking head cable show in the nation for about a week.

There is a huge difference between news reporting and news discussion. The latter consist of "perfect" hair windbags who simply MUST say something even though there really isn't anything to say.

Regards,

Joe Walther

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LozerBoozer · #17 06-11-2008, 04:24 PM

I Weep For The Future

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Bada Bing · #18 06-11-2008, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Walther

However, let some airhead blunder through an off the wall dissertation full of run-on sentences and the incident will be on every talking head cable show in the nation for about a week.

Lest I be mistaken for the same airhead, I was only being sarcastic about the O'Reilly spelling to get a rise out of BC.

(The fact that the name Bill O'Reilly, in any spelling, takes up room on my cerebral hard drive, irritates me more than you know).

Doris · #19 06-11-2008, 04:29 PM

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witchofthedogs · #20 06-11-2008, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bada Bing

Lest I be mistaken for the same airhead, I was only being sarcastic about the O'Reilly spelling to get a rise out of BC.

(The fact that the name Bill O'Reilly, in any spelling, takes up room on my cerebral hard drive, irritates me more than you know).

I <3 you, Bing.

Dumbing Down America

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