Mangling the English language
I read a few blogs and tech sites that started of as blogs (sometimes before the world discovered blogs) and the one thing that tends to strike me is that whilst the content is often very useful and informative the command of the English language of some bloggers is really quite poor.
There are, perhaps, several reasons for this, things like lack of a spell checker in the built in blogging tools on websites, the need to blog there and then, phone texting and street language all spring to mind.
Twitter is is prime site for poor grammar and misuse of words with too and to and your and you're seemingly being interchangeable and having no separate meanings.
Whilst I can forgive the immediacy of Twitter and the like, Blogs should be a more considered place for one's writing and bloggers should be putting more effort in to their work.
A recent post I read went something along the lines of "....suppliers were trying their up most to...". Up most, from the word uppermost, means the top as in uppermost face of the dice or the one that counts when you roll a dice, what was required was "utmost." This word comes from the Middle English word utmest, which itself comes from the Old English utmest. The Old English adverb ut means "out," and mest is the ancestor of our word "most." "Utmost" (or "outermost") is a superlative, meaning situated at the farthest, most distant point. Thus it designates the extreme, the greatest or highest degree.
It is a small thing but shows that the author had not really put a lot of thought in to the work and one is left wondering if the writer cared about anything much.
Blogging is becoming the keeper of the language, but without the comfort of editors and proof readers it is a mangled future that we can look forward to.
Feel free to point out my failings.
There are, perhaps, several reasons for this, things like lack of a spell checker in the built in blogging tools on websites, the need to blog there and then, phone texting and street language all spring to mind.
Twitter is is prime site for poor grammar and misuse of words with too and to and your and you're seemingly being interchangeable and having no separate meanings.
Whilst I can forgive the immediacy of Twitter and the like, Blogs should be a more considered place for one's writing and bloggers should be putting more effort in to their work.
A recent post I read went something along the lines of "....suppliers were trying their up most to...". Up most, from the word uppermost, means the top as in uppermost face of the dice or the one that counts when you roll a dice, what was required was "utmost." This word comes from the Middle English word utmest, which itself comes from the Old English utmest. The Old English adverb ut means "out," and mest is the ancestor of our word "most." "Utmost" (or "outermost") is a superlative, meaning situated at the farthest, most distant point. Thus it designates the extreme, the greatest or highest degree.
It is a small thing but shows that the author had not really put a lot of thought in to the work and one is left wondering if the writer cared about anything much.
Blogging is becoming the keeper of the language, but without the comfort of editors and proof readers it is a mangled future that we can look forward to.
Feel free to point out my failings.
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