Following the poor photos thread,poor English

Does anyone else notice that the titles for items are spelt or punctuated wrongly on the Landing pages?
I’m probably being pedantic (but I was a teacher in my previous life) but in these days of spell checkers and such, it makes me shudder when things are not right. I wonder about the impression it create’s (sic) on new site visitors.
I’d be very interested in other people’s opinions on this. It’s more than fine to be casual in everyday situations,but do you want to buy from someone who doesn’t know what to do with apostrophe’s?
No personal criticism intended.

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I try extremely hard to make sure my listings use the correct spelling and grammar.

I think it’s professional to take the time to attempt to get it right.

However I do have problems at time and have to edit some of my listing and it might have noticed that I’m forever editing my posts in the forums.

I always advise typing up listing in a word document as at least it can check your spelling and grammar. However it can get it wrong as one might type in the wrong word but have spelt it correctly.

I am one who hates to see sentences, paragraphs with mixed tenses in ie starting in the singular then going into the plural or in the past then suddenly going into the future tense. It makes it hard to read and thus hard to understand.

I often see their and there mixed up and to, too and two, etc etc.

I cringe with bad punctuation as well. No capital letter at the beginning of sentences and the use of comma’s instead of full stops.

We all make the odd error often it’s a typing error but a listing full of errors does make me wonder how much attention to detail has really gone into the sellers work.

If it’s all over a front page of a website I will admit it turns me off and I click away and would not bother to look further. That’s me I can’t answer for others but I do wonder if other’s would put off the way I would be.

lol see what I mean I’ve already edited this twice for bad sentence structure and typo’s.

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I think predictive text has a lot to answer for as well, especially if you’re in a hurry!

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Phew! I thought it was only me using the editing tool over and over. I must admit I don’t use much punctuation in my listing title; I’m trying to reach as many people as possible :blush:

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Titles are titles, but the descriptions and inspirations boxes I feel should be in well-crafted sentences, with correct grammar and punctuation. As has been said, it’s your professional reputation and is as important as your packaging and customer service. I’m sure there are people who disagree with that though, and feel that the items should speak for themselves.

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I know what you mean Rozcraftz I detest predictive text. I don’t find it useful and it makes texting even longer. So I have it turn off on my mobile.

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Predictive text has good things going for it,but I do agree that it’s probably responsible for typos. That said, I also agree that it is your professional duty to read your own writing before letting it romp free. Lots of “wrong” words…homophones if you want me to be posh again - could be picked out with just a little more time In some ways, the reliance on just your computer to check is akin to relying on your calculator and not having a reasonable estimate of a sensible result. Don’t get me started! I’ve been using computers since the old Atari days and think they are wonderful - but not infallible.

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Denise, were you being ironic with “apostrophe’s”? There shouldn’t be an apostrophe there! :slight_smile:

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Personally, I don’t find this such a niggle - and probably wouldn’t spot the errors anyway.
English being my second language, I am perhaps more tolerant .
I look for creativity, originality and craftsmanship in the item - these speak for themselves.

Until recently spellchecker didn’t pop up on my Folksy listings , so some of my older listings are probably full of typos . It doesn’t seem to affect sales.

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I must admit I don’t like to see spelling mistakes and incorrect grammar - it doesn’t matter here on the forum but I always try to get it right in my shop. It wouldn’t stop me buying from a shop though. The worst thing is getting a letter from school or a business which clearly hasn’t been proof read - that grates with me.

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I am a spelling and punctuation freak…and my pet hate is a missing apostrophe…I have even been known to go into shops to ask them to correct something in their window…I really hate people who can’t spell you’re or they’re …but I rarely correct people as I accept that a lot of people are dyslexic. However, I think that if someone is in the public eye, they should get someone to check their spelling for them and I agree, it looks bad when spelt wrong (OH and being an oldie…whatever happened to the world SPELT ?? now everyone says SPELLED)…even worse the pc’s try to tell the BRITISH how to spell their own language…but that is a whole new topic…lol…

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I’ve never seen spelled that’s a new one on me lol

Oh yes and I have a big beef with American spellings popping up as English when using Microsoft software.

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Christine I’m so glad you said that - thought I was going silly - couldn’t find any possession or abbreviation and nearly looked it up.

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I have been known to ask for a felt tip / chalk in a cafe (sorry no acute accent available) so I can correct the spelling mistakes on a menu board…
The response is a guaranteed - oooh it wasn’t me who wrote it.
I don’t care who wrote it I just want to correct it. Hurts my eyes.

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LOL Joy of glass…we had a fish and chip shop here called Tres Bien…(sorry no accent on my keyboard either) the accent was round the wrong way and on a beautiful laminated and lit up sign outside…they thought I was bonkers pointing out the error…(they didn’t stay long…lol)

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Eileen @EileensCraftStudio I hate bad spelling too. I was a secretary for many years and badly spelt letters and bad grammar grate on me as well.

There is a way to change Microsoft Windows so that it uses English UK instead of English US, but it’s not always easy to find on your PC or the application you are using. It isn’t foolproof either. I used to use the personal dictionary function in MS Word to save words which MS consistently spelt the US way. I’m not sure where to find it these days.

One of the things which annoys me the most is when using my e-Reader. One of my favourite English authors - Elizabeth Goudge is very popular in America and only a few of her books have been converted to e-books in the UK so I have had to buy the US versions. Colour is always spelt “color” and favourite is always spelt “favorite”, even though she would never, ever have spelt them that way herself.

Shirley x

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and I never ever ever use an iZe suffix when a good old English iSe will suffice - tell that to my spell checker !

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I think it’s sad that many foreign people can write English grammar much better and more effectively than the British ! Having been brought up by two immigrant parents myself, they insisted that good grammar, spelling, and maths were to be the foundation for a good education.

They were correct, but standards have declined a lot.

I recall, as an employer, reading the CV’s of candidates who had 2:1 honours degrees, and ‘Master’s’ degrees. But they often couldn’t structure a sentence or use punctuation properly, and not an isolated case either !

I try to ensure all my emails are properly structured and punctuated. It is so easy to get sloppy with computers and ‘smartphones’.

The older generations have witnessed the decline in standards, and particularly in English language, grammar, and maths. Not helped by constant change in new words to reflect social media, and many new abbreviations, most of which go over my head.

It has got to the point, that when I read a letter or an article with correct grammar and spelling, it stands out above all the rest.

In my career, I have also seen examples of Universities failing to teach students a basic grounding in technology, and concentrated on teaching ‘management’. I had to write to a professional institution to say that a particular well-known University had failed some very bright individuals, who needed to go back to basics, as they were barely employable, and it really wasn’t the graduate’s fault, but the education system.

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I use the z correctly in place of the S we have forgotten when to change the S to a Z as there are rules in the English for when and how to replace S’s with Z’s but you have to know the rules.

I hate to see the placing of the Z when it’s not required and I hate to see the non placement of the Z when it is required.

Shirley I find that with my newer version of Word I have to change it to UK English every time I use it as it always defaults back to USA ugggg.

Oh have you noticed the importing of the USA gotten it makes me want to shout, it’s got, not gotten. It’s bad enough hearing some kids saying it but now some are writing it. :open_mouth:

Two of my friends are teachers one at private school the other in the local school.
We were discussing the lack of language skills in a lot of children. When the teacher from the local secondary surprised me by saying she’s not allowed to correct the children’s language as that is how they might speak at home and correcting them will harm the child’s self image by degrading their social and cultural home life.
I nearly choked on my drink when she said that and my other friend did a double take. In some ways it was very funny but dreadfully sad.

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I spent a lot of years after university and before retiring ( :slight_smile: :slight_smile: haha ) fighting American spellings as I was in IT - early IT that is with punched cards and programming languages which required an attention to detail which many (most) students of today would not manage.
As the computer languages I used were developed in America then the specific section names I had to use in my Cobol programs were always the American version and I hated having to use them.
Organization …grrrr…

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