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Why are so many 'cachers illiterate? Here's a recent log for instance: Yes I too did some dark night bushwackin! Yes it the only way to go strate through the nettles.

Almost to GZ and saw to lights in the dark woods.

And yes it was a much easyer way out. I also had the cache 45 feet off.

Thank for the run in the dark.

Is this a sport for the ignorant?

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I was tempted to reply using all the misspellings in this list but I'm not motivated enough.

 

I think phonics is partly to blame. Some geocachers may be very young. And for some English may not be their native language.

 

I agree. There are many cachers in my city that have a language other than English as their first.

Not a big deal. Most people can understand what they are trying to say.

 

I'm 39 and my grammar is horrible.

I do try to work on it though.

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This game attracts people from all walks of life with different skills and interests. Some of us are wordsmiths, some of us aren't. I think you should see a log like that as a positive thing - this person is sharing their cache experience, instead of just sticking with an acronym or an emoticon.

 

I can be a bit of a stickler about the written word, but I save my rage for places where it counts - mainly academic writing, and professional publications. Expecting the entire internet to conform to academic English standards is futile.

 

But don't get me started on people who spell it "geocashing." :wub:

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I was going to also point out it sounded like maybe English wasn't his/her first language.

 

I have a local hider who's literacy is so poor, it makes me almost not want to find his caches. Almost. But when I have trouble finding one, out of no fault of his writing ability, I still get angry and blame his literacy level and get mad at him in general.

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I agree with the previous responses, but will also add that not all are good typists. Then too, many utilize texting principles (or is that principals, maybe it is prinsipls, how about principalities?)!

 

Perhaps it revolves around proof reading before hitting [Enter]. :wub:

 

EDIT: TFTP IEIVM

Edited by Gitchee-Gummee
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I agree. There are many cachers in my city that have a language other than English as their first.

Not a big deal. Most people can understand what they are trying to say.

somehow i found that many foreign speakers of english have better grammar skills than many of the native (american) english speakers :wub:

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apart from the foreigners, and i mean people that physically leave in a another country where english is not first language, why don't the ones residing in english speaking countries have a spellchecker on their browsers?

 

i often wondered how do those with bad language/grammar skills get by when they need to write an official letter, do they just pay a professional and arm and a leg to write it for them?

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Why are so many 'cachers illiterate? Here's a recent log for instance: Yes I too did some dark night bushwackin! Yes it the only way to go strate through the nettles.

Almost to GZ and saw to lights in the dark woods.

And yes it was a much easyer way out. I also had the cache 45 feet off.

Thank for the run in the dark.

Is this a sport for the ignorant?

 

Sometimes I think these forums are the home of the language police.

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apart from the foreigners, and i mean people that physically leave in a another country where english is not first language, why don't the ones residing in english speaking countries have a spellchecker on their browsers?

 

i often wondered how do those with bad language/grammar skills get by when they need to write an official letter, do they just pay a professional and arm and a leg to write it for them?

Am I the only one to see the irony in that post? :wub:

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Sometimes I think these forums are the home of the language police.

 

I don't think this forum is bad for that at all. If anything, some people in this forum are a little hasty with names like "language police," and other, nastier names for people who dare to comment on matters of language.

 

I can understand the sensitivity about this issue, since this game brings together so many people with different backgrounds. But it gets a little silly when someone is likened to, say, a mass murderer because he/she makes a general comment about spelling/grammar.

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I agree that you cannot rule out the possibility that English is not the native language of the cacher in question. As a teacher of children learning English, the mistakes made in the log would make sense if that were the case. Even if it were not, many people struggle with spelling and grammar into adulthood, and as the word itself implies, many people are "average" and may not be eloquent in writing or speaking. In addition, writing personalized logs of a substantial length would increase the possibility of grammatical errors. It is easy to check through your spelling and ensure accuracy in short cut and paste logs. Even with logs that are two sentences long, I noticed you occasionally miss putting a space between your sentences. While it is a minor error, it is possible that the number of errors would increase with longer logs. I would take longer logs that reflected the cacher's experience at my cache over a grammatically perfect log any day! I'm sure if everyone chose to write "TFTC" for every cache, geocache logs would be error free!!

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Why are so many 'cachers illiterate? Here's a recent log for instance: Yes I too did some dark night bushwackin! Yes it the only way to go strate through the nettles.

Almost to GZ and saw to lights in the dark woods.

And yes it was a much easyer way out. I also had the cache 45 feet off.

Thank for the run in the dark.

Is this a sport for the ignorant?

 

You've noticed too? :wub:

 

Just proceed as though you hadn't noticed. It isn't likely to change any time soon.

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apart from the foreigners, and i mean people that physically leave in a another country where english is not first language, why don't the ones residing in english speaking countries have a spellchecker on their browsers?

 

i often wondered how do those with bad language/grammar skills get by when they need to write an official letter, do they just pay a professional and arm and a leg to write it for them?

Am I the only one to see the irony in that post? :wub:

 

Hardly.

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The only time I really have trouble with "illiteracy" is in cache descriptions. Is that word choice a clever hint...or just a misspelling?

 

One recent cache had the hint of "Ariel".

 

The mermaid? No, probably a misspelling of aerial. (It was missing anyway.)

 

A couple of weeks ago, Taoiseach and I were FTF on a multi-cache that we almost gave up on because we just couldn't get the numbers to make sense. It came down to one strangely-worded sentence, and when we figured out what it intended to say, we found the cache.

 

It was a great cache, despite the minor complication, and I gave the cache owner a suggestion for an alternate wording that would make it a bit clearer for future finders. He thanked me for the suggestion, mentioned that writing isn't his strong suit, and updated the cache page.

 

One of the strengths of geocaching is that it's community-based. Good cachers give feedback - good and bad - where it's warranted. When there's a language problem that is legitimately causing problems for cachers, mentioning it - tactfully - is along the same lines as reporting a cache missing.

 

And nitpicking minor errors isn't much different than telling someone their coordinates are five feet off - it's unnecessary and annoying.

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Sometimes keyboards play up or people are in a hurry and don't double check thier writing, some people post from phones where reviewing or changing what was typed is more trouble than it's worth

 

Simple spelling mistakes and additional or missing letters or letters out of place don't make a person illiterate or less smart than anyone else

 

Btw some of the most intelegent people I know are truely illiterate as in can't read or write but it hasn't stopped them

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I have noticed a few common misspellings in logs. "Wonder" is not the same word as "wander", for instance.

 

That's OK, though. I have learned to accept the less intelligent people by remembering one thing:

 

If they were all as smart as me, then I wouldn't be above average anymore.

 

Have you hugged a moron lately?. We need them around.

 

:wub:

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This game attracts people from all walks of life with different skills and interests. Some of us are wordsmiths, some of us aren't. I think you should see a log like that as a positive thing - this person is sharing their cache experience, instead of just sticking with an acronym or an emoticon.

 

Umm...we agree? What's happened to the world?

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This game attracts people from all walks of life with different skills and interests. Some of us are wordsmiths, some of us aren't. I think you should see a log like that as a positive thing - this person is sharing their cache experience, instead of just sticking with an acronym or an emoticon.

 

Umm...we agree? What's happened to the world?

 

I don't keep statistics on how often I agree or disagree with particular people. That two individuals with a common interest in geocaching will agree on some issues and disagree on others is not earth-shattering, or even noteworthy. Nor is it in keeping with the original topic of the post.

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Sometimes I think these forums are the home of the language police.

 

I don't think this forum is bad for that at all. If anything, some people in this forum are a little hasty with names like "language police," and other, nastier names for people who dare to comment on matters of language.

 

I can understand the sensitivity about this issue, since this game brings together so many people with different backgrounds. But it gets a little silly when someone is likened to, say, a mass murderer because he/she makes a general comment about spelling/grammar.

 

It is pretty arrogant of people to point fingers and label people as "illiterate" with no knowledge of who they are branding. This is particularly true of someone who can't seem to locate the quote key on his keyboard and puts an apostrophe in front of the word cacher.

 

Even if someone is less than proficient with the language would it not be better to encourage them than to point them out like some pariah?

 

If people don't wish to be called things like "language police" they only have to stop acting like the language police.

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Why are so many 'cachers illiterate? Here's a recent log for instance: Yes I too did some dark night bushwackin! Yes it the only way to go strate through the nettles.

Almost to GZ and saw to lights in the dark woods.

And yes it was a much easyer way out. I also had the cache 45 feet off.

Thank for the run in the dark.

Is this a sport for the ignorant?

 

The real question should be "Why are so many Americans illiterate"?

Edited by briansnat
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Why are so many 'cachers illiterate? Here's a recent log for instance: Yes I too did some dark night bushwackin! Yes it the only way to go strate through the nettles.

Almost to GZ and saw to lights in the dark woods.

And yes it was a much easyer way out. I also had the cache 45 feet off.

Thank for the run in the dark.

Is this a sport for the ignorant?

 

The real question should be "Why are so many Americans illiterate"?

 

A broken public school system.

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Why are so many 'cachers illiterate? Here's a recent log for instance: Yes I too did some dark night bushwackin! Yes it the only way to go strate through the nettles.

Almost to GZ and saw to lights in the dark woods.

And yes it was a much easyer way out. I also had the cache 45 feet off.

Thank for the run in the dark.

Is this a sport for the ignorant?

 

The real question should be "Why are so many Americans illiterate"?

 

A broken public school system.

 

... agree as long as you mean that the schools have been broken by the attitudes of the kids and the parents that have raised them.

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The real question should be "Why are so many Americans illiterate"?

to their defense: i know a couple of british/irish folks who are just as terrible at spelling (possibly even worse) than those many americans.

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A broken public school system.

 

... agree as long as you mean that the schools have been broken by the attitudes of the kids and the parents that have raised them.

 

Actually I mean the entire system. From the ground up. More correctly, it does do what it was made to do very well (crank out factory workers), but for the purposes of learning and developing young minds, it fails.

 

This is heading off-topic (or is it?) but I recommend the following books:

 

Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling

The Underground History of American Education

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

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Agree... and I have observed that those that don't take the time to proof read their page often don't take the time to determine good coordinates, find suitable containers, or locate a nice hiding spot. Like it or not, people tend to be defined by their language skills.

Edited by edscott
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Since the beginning of time, there have always been people whose reading and writing skills were poor, and there always will be. Most experts in any field are idiots in another. The nuclear physicist notices that his SUV is running rough and he takes it to the shop. The mechanic notices a loose spark plug wire, but charges $100 for diagnostic service, $200 for a part not needed, and another $100 for labor. He scribbles out the bill in some mispelled dialect, and then makes a comment to another mechanic on how unintelligent the customer is... :blink:

 

As long as you can understand what the person is trying to communicate is all that is needed and the real purpose anyway. Getting extremely annoyed could be a sign of a much worse problem such as a variant of an obsessive compulsive disorder. Perhaps the numerology of the correct spelling keeps many readers under a hypnotic spell, and breaking it wakes dem up? :wub:

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It is pretty arrogant of people to point fingers and label people as "illiterate" with no knowledge of who they are branding. This is particularly true of someone who can't seem to locate the quote key on his keyboard and puts an apostrophe in front of the word cacher.

 

Even if someone is less than proficient with the language would it not be better to encourage them than to point them out like some pariah?

 

If people don't wish to be called things like "language police" they only have to stop acting like the language police.

 

Indeed.

 

And the comments in this thread are overwhelmingly against disparaging other geocachers for their spelling and grammar mistakes. My point is that this forum isn't a haven for grammar sticklers and language police at all. The general sentiment is against this sort of post or comment to the point that it's not uncommon for people to cry "language police" or "grammar insert-unpopular-political-philosophy" when it's not really warranted.

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Why are so many 'cachers illiterate? Here's a recent log for instance: Yes I too did some dark night bushwackin! Yes it the only way to go strate through the nettles.

Almost to GZ and saw to lights in the dark woods.

And yes it was a much easyer way out. I also had the cache 45 feet off.

Thank for the run in the dark.

Is this a sport for the ignorant?

The real question should be "Why are so many Americans illiterate"?
A broken public school system.

 

misspelledAP0609_468x311.jpg

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Since the beginning of time, there have always been people whose reading and writing skills were poor, and there always will be. Most experts in any field are idiots in another. The nuclear physicist notices that his SUV is running rough and he takes it to the shop. The mechanic notices a loose spark plug wire, but charges $100 for diagnostic service, $200 for a part not needed, and another $100 for labor. He scribbles out the bill in some misspelled dialect, and then makes a comment to another mechanic on how unintelligent the customer is... :blink:

 

As long as you can understand what the person is trying to communicate is all that is needed and the real purpose anyway. Getting extremely annoyed could be a sign of a much worse problem such as a variant of an obsessive compulsive disorder. Perhaps the numerology of the correct spelling keeps many readers under a hypnotic spell, and breaking it wakes dem up? :wub:

 

I'm willing to forgive a nuclear physicist with bad spelling habits. I'm willing to bet that a very large majority of unapologetic poor spellers are not nuclear physicists nor experts any field.

 

My spelling is not 100% and I correct that with spellcheck every time it counts. I only wish that more people felt that improving their spelling and grammar skills matter more often, in more situations. I concede that often, in informal chat, it does not. Some folks feel that cache logs are informal enough for lax spelling and grammar. Who am I to argue?

 

(BTW, I fixed "misspelled" for you. :P)

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Andrew Jackson once said "It's a poor mind that can only spell a word one way"

 

I don't mind misspelled words in the logs cachers leave; at least they've written something and often enough, it's pretty interesting. What I get tired of is seeing the entire log consist of " TFTC", "found", "got it" or my personal favorite "." Also, the exact same cut and pasted phrase on all 20 of the caches visited that day is tiresome. I don't expect a long dialogue by any means, but if someone is visiting several caches by the same owner, I would think a little variety in the log would be nyce.

Edited by Brooklyn51
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apart from the foreigners, and i mean people that physically leave in a another country where english is not first language, why don't the ones residing in english speaking countries have a spellchecker on their browsers?

 

i often wondered how do those with bad language/grammar skills get by when they need to write an official letter, do they just pay a professional and arm and a leg to write it for them?

 

How ironic.

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apart from the foreigners, and i mean people that physically leave in a another country where english is not first language, why don't the ones residing in english speaking countries have a spellchecker on their browsers?

 

i often wondered how do those with bad language/grammar skills get by when they need to write an official letter, do they just pay a professional and arm and a leg to write it for them?

 

Your post is a joke, right?

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Why are so many 'cachers illiterate? Here's a recent log for instance: Yes I too did some dark night bushwackin! Yes it the only way to go strate through the nettles.

Almost to GZ and saw to lights in the dark woods.

And yes it was a much easyer way out. I also had the cache 45 feet off.

Thank for the run in the dark.

Is this a sport for the ignorant?

 

The real question should be "Why are so many Americans illiterate"?

 

A broken public school system.

 

... agree as long as you mean that the schools have been broken by the attitudes of the kids and the parents that have raised them.

 

Yes. And even though here in Minnesota the school system is over half the state's annual budget, some would lead you to believe that our school system is broken and only more funding will fix it. :)

Edited by bflentje
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I think it's great that some people have such perfection in their lives that they have to find such petty things, such as how other people spell, to stress about.

bad spelling is one thing, everybody makes mistakes. but some people's writing is so obnoxious that it's really hard to comprehend. and i'm not talking about foreign english speakers.

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How ironic.

 

 

 

Your post is a joke, right?

 

yeah the one above is, but is a very well known fact that people can't be bothered to read further before shooting their mouth

 

on the other hand, if you don't care to elaborate, the joke is on you

Edited by t4e
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I think it's great that some people have such perfection in their lives that they have to find such petty things, such as how other people spell, to stress about.

bad spelling is one thing, everybody makes mistakes. but some people's writing is so obnoxious that it's really hard to comprehend. and i'm not talking about foreign english speakers.

 

Yes, some people should be forced to keep quiet till they live up to everyones standards.

 

I will say that it's especially annoying to me with one poster, here, who doesn't add a space after punctuation. But, so far, I can refrain from stressing about it.

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Why are so many 'cachers illiterate? Here's a recent log for instance: Yes I too did some dark night bushwackin! Yes it the only way to go strate through the nettles.

Almost to GZ and saw to lights in the dark woods.

And yes it was a much easyer way out. I also had the cache 45 feet off.

Thank for the run in the dark.

Is this a sport for the ignorant?

 

My first question would be, is that the cache log or the online log... the latter is correctible(?) and the former can be a pain to write anything in at times... I can think of a few times clutching a stub of pencil in frozen fingers in near dark, where the log even looked like the work of an illiterate... simply the best I could manage at the time... :)

 

Online is certainly easier to correct some even if one isn't the greatest linguist.

 

Doug

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