Why are British people so stupid on the Internet?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kudistos Megistos
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Really?

Well, it's something I've noticed.
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I agree with Bosola. You probably notice it more when it turns out to be a British person because you feel like they're embarrassing you and yours. I certainly notice every time a United-Statesian makes an idiot of themselves. Of course, the rest of the world seems to pick up on that as well...

There shouldn't be one.  You should ALWAYS, speak, write, and text, in proper English, to the best of your abilities.
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I disagree only with the texting. Because I am limited to characters, so I have to squeeze a lot in a little.
 
Really?

Well, it's something I've noticed.
Click to expand...
I agree with Bosola. You probably notice it more when it turns out to be a British person because you feel like they're embarrassing you and yours. I certainly notice every time a United-Statesian makes an idiot of themselves. Of course, the rest of the world seems to pick up on that as well...

There shouldn't be one.  You should ALWAYS, speak, write, and text, in proper English, to the best of your abilities.
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I disagree only with the texting. Because I am limited to characters, so I have to squeeze a lot in a little.
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You know...  A teacher of mine told me that if you couldn't type/text anything out in full sentences and correct grammar, along with it's correct structures, you were just lazy. I can see why he said that. Besides! It's nice to have someone compliment the way that you write. (Or should I put right? (Pun on the your = you're, GET IT!? GET IT!?))

Either way, it isn't hard to just type/text something out, rather than actually writing it down with a pencil.
 
There shouldn't be one.  You should ALWAYS, speak, write, and text, in proper English, to the best of your abilities.  I firmly believe that this disconnect, which makes people believe "It's the internet, it doesn't matter if I use proper grammar here.  You're wrong when you say that it does, in fact, matter."  This then causes an issue with me, when they go to type that and it comes out "its the internet it dont matter.Your rong wen u say that it matters"
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Except there is more than just grammar to keep in mind. It's one thing to always speak and write in proper English, but keep in mind that nuances are vastly different. Written English doesn't generally have tone of voice or body language to help it. Also, social standards are very different. Something can be in proper English, but not work in one area or the other easily.
 
There shouldn't be one.  You should ALWAYS, speak, write, and text, in proper English, to the best of your abilities.
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You're right. There shouldn't be one. But there is. I think it boils down to people being impatient. I see that a lot in the US.

I disagree only with the texting. Because I am limited to characters, so I have to squeeze a lot in a little.
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That's why. Since texting used to be done exclusively on phones with only a 12 digit keypad words were shortened. There's no excuse anymore to keep typing "thx" or "ne1" when you have a fully functional qwerty alphabet layout. Again, time-savers are our opium. I guess sacrificing clarity for efficiency makes some people happy. Then again, it takes just as much time to decipher as it saved in leaving out "extraneous" (try abbreviating THAT texters! assuming you can spell it in the first place, of course) characters. It's not cool or kewl or leet or l33t or 1337 anymore. That's SOOOO 90's. :P It's just plain wrong.
It doesn't help that English has the most bizarre spelling and pronunciation rules either. There are over 50 vowel sounds spread across 5 letters many of which are to similar to distinguish at a normal conversation speed. [WHY DID WE GET RID OF THE ASH (æ)?!!?!] Most languages use far fewer. Japanese has 5. That's all. Their "spelling bees" are kanji writing contests. That rocks!

See what happens when you get me on the subject? I'm a linguistic purist, dang it! I see it evolving and I don't like it! Kids these days. :( Makes me feel like I'm running out of life already. I'M NOT EVEN 30 YET!!!  :'(
 
[WHY DID WE GET RID OF THE ASH (æ)?!!?!]
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Indeed. And why did we get rid of thorn and eth? It would be much easier and more logical if th sounds had their own letter. F*cking Normans and their ridiculous concept of the superiority of Latin languages and the Latin alphabet (I'm assuming the Normans were responsible for this faggotry).

Hell, we should have kept the Runic alphabet, which was actually designed for a Germanic language, rather than adopt an alphabet which works perfectly well for Latin but no so well for English.

See what happens when you get me on the subject? I'm a linguistic purist, dang it! I see it evolving and I don't like it! Kids these days. :( Makes me feel like I'm running out of life already. I'M NOT EVEN 30 YET!!!  :'(
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Just be glad you didn't live in the Middle Ages. The pace of linguistic change might have lead you to murder. ;D
 
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Things like "then" vs "than" annoy me as well.  I think their are some people who actually don't understand that their is a difference.  I guess its a lot easier to miss things that a spell checker doesn't detect then it is to miss blaytant misspelings because your so used to getting corrected in word processors that you actually learn a lesson.  But no one learns anything from there elementary school English classes because than its like, "Why does this matter?  Its all such obvious stuff anyway."

They're are 12 things wrong with this post.  Did you find them all on your first read??
 
I saw a great mnemonic today for recalling the difference between "you're" and "your":

You're a terrible writer and I hope your face catches fire.
 
They're going over to the building that isn't burning, because there, their faces will not catch fire ;D
 
That's why. Since texting used to be done exclusively on phones with only a 12 digit keypad words were shortened. There's no excuse anymore to keep typing "thx" or "ne1" when you have a fully functional qwerty alphabet layout. Again, time-savers are our opium. I guess sacrificing clarity for efficiency makes some people happy. Then again, it takes just as much time to decipher as it saved in leaving out "extraneous" (try abbreviating THAT texters! assuming you can spell it in the first place, of course) characters. It's not cool or kewl or leet or l33t or 1337 anymore. That's SOOOO 90's. :P It's just plain wrong.
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I didn't mean the limitations of qwerty. I was referring to the fact that my phone can only send a text message containing 140 characters, including spaces and punctuation. If I go over 140, then it will split my message into two texts and send them separately. Not a huge deal, but annoying if your recipient doesn't have a text plan with their cellphone. They'd get charged twice, instead of once. Of course, most people have texting in their plans now. But I still hate it when people send me one message spanning over two texts. I'd rather read shorthand with everything in one text.
 
I didn't mean the limitations of qwerty. I was referring to the fact that my phone can only send a text message containing 140 characters, including spaces and punctuation. If I go over 140, then it will split my message into two texts and send them separately. Not a huge deal, but annoying if your recipient doesn't have a text plan with their cellphone. They'd get charged twice, instead of once. Of course, most people have texting in their plans now. But I still hate it when people send me one message spanning over two texts. I'd rather read shorthand with everything in one text.
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I know that's what you meant. But the effect is the same. Shorthanding will turn "enough" into "enuf". It's all about saving time/money.
 
Why are British people so disproportionally illiterate online? Why are so many British people unable to write in standard English? Why do so many British people think that it is acceptable to write in their local dialect when addressing an international audience?
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that's because they think they don't need to know any other language than their own, because everybody else will have to learn english. that's doesn't help improve your language skill, even in your native language.
 
Ha, it's funny, because I'm also a linguistic purist. In case someone still doesn't know this, I'm french. And it's true that I quickly noticed that I write better english than a lot of native speakers, online (I'd never do the mistakes the Seer made on purpose, for example - and yeah, I found them all  ;D).

And I agree about the fact that you must be paying more attention to British people, than to foreigners, KM. I also notice a lot more people from my country who butcher french or english. Writing correctly isn't a proof of intelligence by any means, but it sure is a proof of respect... ...Anyways, maybe it's important to me because I love to write (in both french and english). I'm even currently writing an erotic novel of some kind here (it's in french, but I might translate it once it's finished) ^^
 
We have a lot of illiterate morons here, come visit and see for yourself! :(
 
In my (limited) experience, illiterate French people seem to write bad French on purpose (i.e. SMS speak); I get the impression that they'd be able to write decent French if they wanted to. British illiterates butcher English because they apparently don't know any better.
 
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