Spelling and Grammar

De ez-est whey two luk smartur (or dummer) then u r s 2 uz (or not too uz) curekt speling and gramr.  Evin tho its exceptable 2 uz abbrs 4 neerly evry wurd n a 4um poast, Facebppl statis updayt, or txt msg, it luks a lot wurs dan if ech wurd wuz writen out kurektly & teh sentens had kurekt gramar.

(The above paragraph translated into English)
The easiest way to look smarter (or dumber) than you are is to use (or not to use) correct spelling and grammar. Even though it's acceptable to use abbreviations for nearly every word in a forum post, Facebook status update, or text message, it looks a lot worse than if each word was written out correctly and the sentence had correct grammar.

If someone was reading a post that you made, and every other word was spelled wrong with sentence fragments all over the place, then the first thing that he (or she) will think of you is that you're lacking in intelligence because you can't even write normally.

So, I suggest that you keep spelling and grammar in mind when you write stuff, even online.  It will help you in the future if you can make it a habit.  If you haven't already taken the horrific SAT, then constantly using correct grammar will help you in the new and terrifying Writing section.

Remember, if you're really smart, but can't get your ideas across, then you'll still look pretty dumb.  Unless, of course, you're like an Einstein.  Communications skills are so important in today's world, and it all starts with spelling and grammar.

That brings up another point: What happened to teaching those two skills in elementary school?  Even though there are still spelling tests, they are so easy that they don't really teach anybody anything.  Here's an [exaggerated] example:
Teacher: Time for a spelling test.
Kids: <Groan>
Teacher: Here's an easy one: Spell "I" as in "I love you."
Kids: <some write "I," others write "eye," even others have no idea>
Teacher: The next word is a lot harder: Spell "add" as in "To get the total number of apples Robin and Martha have, add them up."
Kids: <some write "add," others write "ad" because they don't know how to spell it or because they don't know the difference between "add" and "ad," still others have no idea>
... etc ... more words of this difficulty.
Teacher: Here's the bonus word -- it's a real challenge: "flower" as in "I picked flowers for my mother."  I'll even give you a hint: It has 6 letters!
Kids: <some write "flower" (good job!), some write "flour" even though it only has 5 letters, some write "IDK" because they text too much already at a young age>
Teacher: All right, that concludes our spelling test!  It's time for recess!
Kids: Hooray!!!  (then they run to the computer to play video games and turn their brains to mush)

I hope there's a reason that elementary school is also called "grammar school."  Incorrect grammar has been imprinted so deeply that using the correct grammar makes you an outcast.  "May I go to the bathroom?" ... "That's not right." ... "May I go to the bathroom, please?" ... "That's still not right." ... "Can I go to the bathroom, please" ... "That's much better!"


I think it's OK to misspell a word here or there or to forget your grammar rules (temporarily) if you are chatting online or sending text message because nobody besides maybe a few people will see what you said, but if it's going public, then you should correct the easily spotted mistakes first, including typos.

Is the spelling and grammar problem fixable?  I think so.  The question is: Will you be part of the solution or part of the problem?