🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <48g4af$n8s@jeeves.usfca.edu>, reicja00@dons.ac.usfca.edu (Jake Reichert) says:
>
>Don't use the "the thread stops here" excuse.  Please.  That's pretty
>tired by now.  Why should you be allowed to respond and no one else
>should?  If you mean it that much, then just stop responding.
>
>And if you want to talk education, I'm a math/physics major.  I'm sure
>most of the people here are college students or computer professionals
>(if you don't believe me, just look at net demographics figures
>sometime).  I wasn't "hurling insults" in the first place.  I was
>simply pointing out a legal issue regarding libel.
>
>One more thing.  Let's not nitpick about spelling.  Someone's level of
>education has been shown to have no correlation to their spelling
>ability.

Really.  "No correlation?"  As people's use (reading and writing) of words
(and the complexity of those words) increases (hence education), their
ability to spell them correctly does not?  That's crazy.  Spelling is to
written communication what pronunciation is to verbal, and both are
critical to imparting thoughts and ideas.  Language is too complicated not
to be precise, and those who plan to use it well must know it intimately.
I think a certain degree of forgiveness for spelling errors is due on the
net for people who are not good typists, as no one wants to waste time
with the backspace key, and for those for whom English is not their native
language, as they are still developing their skills.  This last group of
people should never get the impression, however, that spelling is not
important and because people tend to get the "jist" of what they're saying
that that's all that's necessary.  With respect to this particular dialogue,
I don't think it is a case of spelling errors at all.  I think it would
be difficult to misspell "libel" as "liable", since they are pronounced
differently.  I think it has more to do with the fact that people have
heard the word before but not listened very carefully, that the common
word "liable" has a meaning that is in fact related, and they just
assume this must be the proper word.

Dave


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