Thread: A real word challenge...

I don't mind the word scrappy. I do agree that to some people it seems to make the quilt sound "cheap". I have no idea what to do about it except around "nonquilters" to not call it anything except a quilt.

As to the misspellings, etc. Sometimes it is easy to see they are spell checker changes. Sometimes they are funny. But constantly writing "boarder" (someone who pays to live in another person's building/home, etc) instead of "border" just looks uneducated. I can't help but wonder about that person's lack of observation skills. But some people just don't know notice spelling. I make plenty of mistakes. On this group, you can't change it after 20 minutes but on other forums, like FB, you can go back and change it.

My biggest problem when I see a lot of mistakes --it can quickly add to the perception that we are uneducated/unskilled, and that people who sew "only sew because they can't do real work" type of attitude.

That attitude exists among many people. We can help combat it by using the best grammar we know.

(It would help to be able to edit our posts more than 20 minutes later...as sometimes we may post and run and then come back later and see something we'd like to change. My opinion only here...)

Those of you who want to take a red pencil to internet postings -- to what end? Why is it so important?

Look, I have a graduate degree in literary criticism. I worked as an editor and proofreader for many years. I love the English language. I notice errors. Sometimes I make assessments about the author based on the way that they communicate. But I never feel the need to correct or educate. You have to pay me to do that kind of work.

So why the pro-bono educational urges?

Some describe themselves as mathematically challenged; some know they're orthographically challenged and some don't. We each have some sort of wobbly place. Probably kindest and most helpful is to do as so many here do--just get on with interpreting as best you can and answering the question.