Survey Comments
Consider the humor!
Funny to see hams that can't spell amateur! :D
Posted by
KF4HR on 2022-02-04
I choose other
I think the type people that have the mentality to enjoy ham radio, have a mind that is problematic with spelling!
Posted by
W8BBK on 2022-02-04
Lif is tough, for some, spelling is hard.
My daughter has a PhD, two masters, and two bachelors, all with honors. She's dyslexic and can't spell. Chances are many others bright people are bad at spelling, too. If you can get the meaning across, that's great. Those that must assiduously enforce grammar are at another vector of the spectrum; you know what spectrum I'm talking about.
Posted by
W9YW on 2022-02-03
For some, spelling comes naturally
My wife is a technical writer and editor, I'm an analyst and writer, my twin sons each write professionally. It just comes with the territory. If I misspell something, it is on purpose.
Posted by
K8KVN on 2022-02-03
Hilarious!
All of the spelling and grammatical errors in the comments make me laugh! Especially annoying are the comments that we engineers somehow can be excused as long as we get the point across! Real engineers (not just those that call themselves "engineers") are taught to crave accuracy in their data and how it is communicated to others.
For example, their peers would laugh them out of the room for marking the scale of a graph in a presentation using "DBm" or "dBM", when they meant to scale the data in "dBm". It communicates a certain level of education and care to spell things correctly, and to place them in the proper context with good grammar.
People who write formal communications as if they were sending text messages or using the atrocious abbreviations commonly used on Twitter and other "short" forms of getting a point across really show their lack of education, and that's just sad.
Equally sadly, it's today's "modern" way of writing for many people. In that regard, we, as a society are circling the drain.
Posted by
K7DAA on 2022-02-02
A Generational Problem? Which Generation?
So we have two problems: younger people aren't joining (and sticking with) the hobby in significant numbers, and yet somehow today's allegedly declining educational standards are the reason for the poor spelling and grammar in these parts. I don't know how they're doing it, but those darn kids are crafty!
(The real situation is that most techies think grammar and spelling are window dressing. They're wrong.)
Posted by
W6BP on 2022-02-01
Spelling.
Hams are probably no worse that most. Read a newspaper. Bad grammar; spellcheck prevents misspelling, but sometimes its not the right word; nonsensical headlines, etc. Its an indictment of our educational system mostly.
Posted by
NG2O on 2022-02-01
Good Grammar Saves Lives
Eating Grandma vs. Eating At Grandma's..
Posted by
AA2DK on 2022-01-31
Spelling -- a lost art
This trend toward bad spelling and grammar errors has been going on for quite a while. My kids are nearly middle-aged and I was dismayed when I looked at the spelling and grammar tests their elementary school sent home. Some of their teachers didn't know the difference between its and it's. One teacher mistakenly thought every noun was to be capitalized when only proper nouns are to be capitalized. I wrote a note to the teacher and she was honest enough to admit she had gotten it wrong on a test she compiled. Today's generation has been educated on many things we didn't study in school, but when it comes to spelling, grammar, geography and social studies, the Baby Boomers know their stuff while younger generations have been short-changed in some school subjects. 73, N4KZ
Posted by
N4KZ on 2022-01-31
Trend over past 10 - 20 years
I think that in the past 10 - 20 years we have become more accustom to using standard and non-standard abbreviations and reliant on spell check. It is to easy to use a incorrect word and not notice it if spell check doesn't flag it. I short people do not take the time to proof read what they write. How many times have you read something that is awkwardly written or makes little or no sense how it is written! - Just one man's opinion!
Posted by
KC9YAV on 2022-01-31
TO ALL AMATEURS
I'm amused when hams misspell amateur. I used W1AW for code practice in the 1970s. Every cw bulletin began with TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS.
I'm an engineer and a poor speller. My employer had me run my "foils" for a public presentation past the company technical writing department. I commented about how I found spell checkers made writing easier. The technical writer didn't agree as he no need to use a spell checker.
English has words from different languages which complicate spelling. I had to memorize the exceptions to i before e except after c like foreign, science, neighbor and so on.
Increased difficulty occurs with words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. "That is quite a good price for a quiet fan."
I believe engineers are in general poor spellers. The one thing that my engineering friends had who succeeded in management was the ability to write clearly and effectively.
Posted by
WB0U on 2022-01-31
Grammar
What irritates me is those who think that
AMERITRON is AMITRON...... Read what you see.
Posted by
KB7TT on 2022-01-31
's woes
Why two potatoes and two antenna's?
It's means it is. Its means of it. Not difficult, isn't it? And yet.
Posted by
MM0TWX on 2022-01-30
Lower the bar
Well, you lower the bar and get the lowered bar people.
It's really irritating to find that almost everyone has spell check and/or grammar check on their phones / PC's as well.
Grammar: The difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit!
Posted by
KD6VXI on 2022-01-30
Spelling
I think everyone mind is in a different place with what's
going on the world today that somethings just aren't important. Hams as well as everyone else get the point across. Much more important things to worry about that
a misspelled word.
Posted by
N1FDX on 2022-01-30
Sometimes, it's OXFORD English.
There is this thing called Oxford English...
Posted by
W8LV on 2022-01-29
English Language.
Two words are overused. Like and basically.
Like basically, can you construct a sentence without using like and basically?
Watch Judge Judy to see what she thinks. :-)
Posted by
WB5WLZ on 2022-01-29
Educational system
It' s not just on ham-related sites; it' s on all of them. It' s as if the English language is not taught in schools anymore. In this semi-rural county in NC, it seems difficult to find anyone who can spell anything more difficult than their own name, and as far as sentence structure - forget it. It is sad and particularly irritating to old people like me. To use the vernacular, our schools SUCK !
Posted by
K4MK on 2022-01-29
Bad spelling
Take a close look at #5
Posted by
KE0QPP on 2022-01-29
Good spelling is vintage
What matters is writing 59 and the serial number correctly, the rest are mere details.
Posted by
KD7RDZI2 on 2022-01-29
Lern too spel....
While it's not essential in HAM radio, how we present ourselves (spelling included) reflects on us all as a society. Let's take the time to do it right, please!
Posted by
AF4KK on 2022-01-28
Poor Spelling
Imagine how hard poor spelling makes copying code these days????????
Posted by
K1FBI on 2022-01-27
I notice bad writing style
I saw a review on a ham radio, that had little or no punctuation,no paragraphs, the reviewer spoke about himself in the third person, his review really didn't make sense, the radio wasn't heavy enough.
It was a bad reflection on the poster, and after reading it, I imagined that its like looking into a person's inner thoughts that just got typed out.
I am always amused at the comments on utube music, its like very poster has had a few beers, is feeling melancholy and is remembering that song from the backseat of dad's car.
Posted by
KC6RWI on 2022-01-27
Spelling problems!
Yep, society is on the downfall. You kno, like a, do da pepal, like a, not care anymo. There's absolutely no reason for anyone not to be able to put complete sentences and correctly spelled words together in today's world. Those who question whether or not a word is spelled right, or a sentence sounds right, can just ask Alexa. She'll tell ya!
Posted by
WB4PJF on 2022-01-27
Education and laziness is a problem
I remember when we got a new Grade 5 teacher. After the first spelling test, she went ballistic. The class average was about 70%. She had everyone line up in the hall and proceeded to rant about how stupid and lazy we were. This went on for a few minutes. The following week the class average shot up to 95%.
Posted by
K9RJ on 2022-01-27
Poor quality education
If you don't demand the best from yourself, you will never achieve anything. The US educational system has bought into every self-destructive fad imaginable, from "no grades" to "all students pass". The US has been systematically dumbed down for the past 70 years including Ham Radio. School children have been lied to and cheated out of a decent basic education in this country since the end of WWII. Education has been replaced by indoctrination. If you don't care, you're the problem.
Posted by
N6BU on 2022-01-27
Spelling
We understand each other, a few missed letter here or there don't matter. we get the point across.
Posted by
N1FDX on 2022-01-26
speling problems
it is a break down of our schooling system. now at 62, i remember (how can I ?) but we were taught the see and speak style. never even know about phonics till i was in high school.
Posted by
KG6TGU on 2022-01-26
So much pivots around education
I don't think spelling and grammar are taught with the same emphasis as used to be.
Yes, I am an old guy.
We had weekly spelling tests starting in the 3rd Grade. Is anything like that done anymore? Grammar and composition was taught from 6th Grade on. Is that done anymore? I'm not making any kind of claim to excellence in the grammar category, but I have written a couple hundred manuals and work instructions in which proofreaders didn't find much to correct.
As far as hams' spelling goes, maybe as a CW guy, gud spelling isnt as importnt as gettin the msg across quick -....- until it becumz a radiogram.
Posted by
K7NG on 2022-01-26
People Don't care
Our society is breaking down. It's not that people are stupid. It's because people just don't give a shit about anything anymore. The world is falling apart around people and they just don't care enough to notice. That's why things are going to get really bad. Not because of some magic boogie man with an evil master plan. It's simply because people don't care enough to put out the fire.
Posted by
KG6HXN on 2022-01-26
Spellaer
I spell perfectly. My fingers however, not so much.
Posted by
K8DO on 2022-01-26
We have fallen into EddickAyshunal vicissitude.
We have left learning about our linguistic foundations, to wit, Latin "the dead language" is source for 50% of our vocabulary, and Greek for ca. 15%. And, for example in days of yore, a physician was expected, as an educated person, to know Greek as well as Latin. We have exalted the "presence" of our ignorant selves. To do a "video" is the height of our learning. In my opinion, STEM should be STEAM, including Art (and the "art" of linguistic learning). John Dewey's "progressive" B.S. be damned. (And of course, some of you may recall that B.S. is "Taurus Stercus" in the "dead language.") Used to be fun at the Ford dealers to ask if they had special "Taurus Stercus" pricing on select vehicles.
Posted by
WW4JF on 2022-01-25
Its not just spelling
Spelling is a problem, but knowing how to use words is more critical. You can guess a ham's age by the use of words such as then/ than, their/there and more. In most cases it is not a big deal, but those words have different meanings for a reason.
Posted by
KF5YZ on 2022-01-24
Spelling In Amateur Classified
Part spelling, part relying on or using 'spell checkers'. On occasion, spell checkers will see 'week' and erroneously correct it to 'weak'. All in all, our spelling is no worse than the general population.
Posted by
WA9AFM on 2022-01-24
Survey Answers Biased
Strange selection of choices for answering. There is no option to say that hams are *better* than average at spelling. I am pretty sure that is the case, perhaps because many hams work in jobs that require basic literacy to advance. Just look at the spellings people use on social media and "comments" sections in general! Usually even worse! So I'm not answering the survey. "Other" doesn't really cover it. (Yes, there are many cases of atrocious spelling on eHam and other ham sites. I'm not denying it!)
Posted by
G3EDM on 2022-01-23
??????
OMG, does it even really MATTER a whit...?!
Boy-o-boy, but the bottom of the ol' oak barrel of topics for discussion must REALLY be showing tell-tale signs of being scraped clean, of late...
Posted by
VE3CUI on 2022-01-23
Education
Not that long ago, the US was number one in education. The US is currently 25th in education and falling. The US education system, from grammar school through college, has become a politically correct social experiment. And it shows.
Posted by
K4GTE on 2022-01-23
spelling errors
I find that our language is quite complicated with its rules and exceptions. As long as you get the idea across its OK with me. So what if someone interchanges some vowels here and there. I just (at age 71) learned that weird is spelled with the e before the i, which is totally not covered in the i before e except after c unless it sounds like a in neighbor or weigh rule.
Posted by
KD2HCU on 2022-01-23
Learnin' Ain't What it Used to Be
I think it depends on the country too. Some non-US countries that obviously don't have American English as their main language, struggle with grammar and spelling. Within the U.S., about half of new college freshmen are required to take remedial English and grammar classes because some of them can't even form a decent sentence! That's not to mention math skills either! For those born prior to 1990, they have a much better handle on grammar and spelling than younger people. Some younger people want to use their texting abbreviations to write sentences and don't understand that isn't a real language... SMH
When it comes to hams I don't think they are better or worse than the rest of the population because I feel the lack of good skills is a generational item, not specific to this hobby.
Posted by
K7IN on 2022-01-23