Can't Anyone Out There Spell?

[Frank]

I STILL REMEMBER my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Fitzgerald, preaching to my classmates and me about taking pride in the quality of our work: "Your mistakes are a reflection of your person," she preached with such passion. She was perhaps the most fastidious woman I have ever known.


Mrs. Fitzgerald demanded perfection. Or at least a reasonable facsimile. Poor penmanship, coloring outside the lines and cross-outs were all egregious violations; no infraction, however, was as heinous as the spelling error, for it was her contention that this type of mistake conveys a carelessness that threatens to impugn one's character. Fanatical? Perhaps, but the longer I live, the more inclined I am to believe that Mrs. Fitzgerald was on to something.

Although her methodology was at times despotic, it did illustrate the value of hard work. It is a lesson most of us never forgot.The impeccable calculations in my checkbook register (not one cross-out) are a true testimony to her power of persuasion. Her not so subtle persuasion has found its way into other areas of my life as well.


As I drive the roads of Long Island, some 35 years later, Mrs. Fitzgerald's
warning resonates in my mind like a full-scale nuclear attack. When I cruise past the local mini -mart that proudly proclaims to be “open seven day's a week”or enter a car dealership that “accepts you're credit application with no questions asked,” I am filled with an overwhelming sense of dread; if Mrs. Fitzgerald's philosophy is indeed valid, and these errors are indicative of the quality of service each proprietor offers to the public, Armageddon can't be far behind.


Driving the information highway is no better; in fact, I have found that I cannot read for more than a minute or two without being subjected to someone’s ill conceived post on Facebook or Twitter.

Sigh.

As time goes on, and both the gravity and frequency of these blunders continue to escalate, I find myself pondering their origins. True, not every third grader was fortunate enough to experience the Fitzgerald indoctrination,
but it seems reasonable that at some point during the course of the educational process these individuals should have learned the basic principles of the language or at least have developed enough common sense to consult someone who has before going “public.”

Some of these errors possess wonderful irony, like "The Comitee For Improvement Of Public Education." Others, like the dental office that extols the importance of "the three P's-pride, professionalism, and presision”-are frightening.

Other mistakes are just plain silly. Who can get angry at a motor lodge that boasts to prospective patrons about attention to every last “detale?”

I have also wondered, from time to time, what Mrs. Fitzgerald would think about all of the carelessness I have observed. Although her first impulse would most likely result in a trail of red ink marks stretching from Manhattan to Montauk, even she would come to realize that her correcting pen wouldn't stand a chance against this deluge of errors. Something should be done.

This can be corrected, right?

Or have we simply become products of a world that has sacrificed integrity in language and expression for speed and convenience?

WTF? OMG...

I am scared....

[Jim]

I am right there with you Frank. I see glaring mistakes in full inch headlines in the local paper that claims to be an award winning publication. College newspapers are so full of them that it would be a huge job to mark them and turn them in to the editor. My current top-of -the-list item is the use of then for than. While then is the correct spelling for a word, it is not the correct word for the sentence. Keep writing and maybe we need to elect some third grade teachers from the ‘60’s to office and let them see what they can do (probably fix many other problems, too).

[Frank]

Wow!! I just told my classes on Friday that the indiscretion that irks me most (followed by "that" instead of "who" and "your" instead of "you're") is the "then" instead of "than," mostly because it seems to me to be a completely illogical mixup. Great minds!!!

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Harold]

Thank you for providing me a few laughs. I remember as a boy traveling through Utah with my parents and my newspaper proof-reader father noticing a huge banner over the road leading into a town proclaiming "Govenor ____ to Speak Here." My 15 year old granddaughter won't let me read her fiction writing because of her spelling mistakes. Students who don't value much what they write are not going to concern themselves with word selection correctness and accurate spelling. How do their teachers instill in them pride in what they write? That is a huge challenge.

[Frank]

Harold wrote: "Thank you for providing me a few laughs. I remember as a boy traveling through Utah with my parents and my newspaper proof-reader father noticing a huge banner over the road leading into a town pr..."

As a teacher Harold - I agree - major challenge!!!

[Shalini]

A great post Frank and one I thoroughly agree with. As you know I review books and of late, mainly for independent authors. When reading one such novel, I was shocked at one author who had their book published with various spelling errors including 'threw' instead of 'through'.

I blame the increasing usage of cellphones and text speak or should that be txt spk? I have a few Facebook friends who are teenagers and I itch to correct their sentences - 'I'm glad your having fun, it would be grate to meet up'. I shake my head at our future.

But to add to my worries/woes, as a British person arriving on US shores, I struggled to write 'American' - color instead of colour, center instead of centre. I lamented initially about the fall of the English language but soon kept quiet when I realized (or realised) that Dickens would spell 'honor' without a 'u', as was common place in the 1840s, so trends appear and disappear in spelling it seems.

But when I find myself irked by sloppy writing/spelling I appease myself by saying 'there, their, they're'. :o)

[Frank]

It seems like almost no one knows that there is a word "you're" - I see your for everything! But you are so right - spelling does have trends I suppose. I wonder though more often than not if it is that people don't know or we are just so pressed for time and move so quickly from one thing to the next that no one really notices!

[Jim]

Shalini"s there, their, they're is to, two, too good. You, Frank, are too kind (part of being a teacher) to the spellers or non-spellers of today. I think bad spelling, most of the time, is a result of laziness and/or indifference. As for who notices, I know my generation (baby boomers) does and we wonder "how can these things be?".

[Frank]

Perhaps Jim!

And yes, laziness is rampant among us. I too remain incredulous as to "how this could be" and also jealous of your generation. At least you lived a good portion of your life in a world that made a little sense!

Thanks for the note!