POLL: do you think poor spelling is a sign of stupidity?

[rh71]

For the most part, LAZINESS and never bothering to care enough to learn to spell correctly.

Of course there are others who simply don't have a good grasp of the english language in the first place... even for those who speak it their entire lives.

 

[Frdm51472]

First, there is a difference between typos and the inability to spell properly.

That said, I think its a sign of bad education, intelligence has nothing to do with instruction. It still bothers me at how rampant poor spelling and grammar have become though. I will tell you this, 1 spelling mistake on a resume that I get puts it automatically in the trash.

 

[Codewiz]

I am an AWFUL speller. I know this. I take care when I write anything of importance. I do not feel I am stupid nor do my fellow employees.

Being a bad speller has nothing to do with intelligence. I sound out all my words and as you know that doesn't lead to the correct spelling of many english words.

Now if you have important documents that are going to be reviewed and you misspell stuff then that can certainly reflect on your intelligence. EVERY person should proof read and take care when writing documents of importance. If you suck at spelling then take care to read over your stuff multiple times. If you don't then you are just stupid.

Computers with spellchecker saved my ass way too many times

 

[thirtythree]

don't have time to read all the replies atm, but I've checked my poll 4 times... it was 3-3, then 6-6, then 7-7, and now 31-31. let's mix things up a bit, people :frown:

 

[PlatinumGold]

usually inability to spell = ignorance.

there is a difference between stupididty and ignorance.

stupidity means inability to reason (to me anyway)

ignorance means lack of knowledge.

there is no logic to spelling, hence it's a matter of knowledge and not one of reason.

 

[CChaos]

While there is certainly a correlation between spelling and intelligence, the ability to spell well is a product of education. So while a smart person will probably spell better than a dumb one, it's obviously not true that all intelligent people are great spellers. Perhaps it has something to do with personality since some people are more detail oriented and some see the big picture.

 

[Rufio]

i spell good, but me grammar is a differently story.

 

[Ikonomi]

Originally posted by: Rufio
i spell good, but me grammar is a differently story.

lol

I once thought bad spelling was a mark of stupidity, but my best friend now can't spell worth a damn and he's a smart guy -- great at math and logical thinking. I guess everybody has their strengths and weaknesses.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: ndee
no, it's a sign of laziness.

^^^

Ding! Ding! Ding!
exactly my thought when i read the topic title

 

[samgau]

Probably more a sign of laziness or lack of attention to detail....

 

[DivideBYZero]

on a forum I rarely give a sh1t.

It's often funny to feed the spelling/grammar Nazi's tho

 

[GagHalfrunt]

It's not laziness! Nobody makes a conscious effort to spell words properly. Nobody sits at their keyboard and figures "Gee, it's easier to spell it hampster than hamster, so I'll do it that way". When writing or typing, spelling common words is an innate sense, something that comes naturally without thought. When you learn to read, words are imprinted on your brain. You might know "i before e except after c..." as a rule to help you with unfamiliar words, but you either know how to spell "believe" or you don't.

Bad spelling of common words in your primary language is a sign of low intelligence. It's a clear indicator that the writer does not know the difference between "your" and "you're", "there" "their" and "they're", "way and weigh". Failure to correct common typos is laziness. Using a sentence like "Over their, those people can't find they're keys, there looking in the wrong place" is just stupidity.

 

[Zenmervolt]

I think that it depends on numerous other factors. On a computer, for example, it is easy to simply mis-type and one cannot expect everyone to type flawlessly all the time. Spelling is largely the same, the occasional flub is certainly no indication of a lack of intelligence. However, if a person consistantly mis-spells words then I don't think one would be out of line to begin to question that person's intelligence.

ZV

 

[bandana163]

Yes. Especially in case the language you speak is a quite easy one like English.

 

[Parrotheader]

If it were, then 3/4s the engineers I know are stupid. Seeing as how most of those guys are girls are rather smart I vote a simple no.

 

[bo0]

Originally posted by: ndee
no, it's a sign of laziness.

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: Parrotheader
If it were, then 3/4s the engineers I know are stupid. Seeing as how most of those guys are girls are rather smart I vote a simple no.

hehe.

to clarify, I'm referring to chronic bad spelling, not the occasional typo.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: bo0

Originally posted by: ndee
no, it's a sign of laziness.

winner

o and I was tested and I "have a spelling disability" I sh!t you not, that?s what they said. i think that?s funny

And I was tested my freshman year in college.

90% of everything now is typed so it get spell checked. when I?m writing things they aren?t usually important so I don?t care. my hand writing is messy also so I?m sure that doesn?t help

 

[dartworth]

know its knot

 

[KarenMarie]

I cannot see how ppl can constantly make the same spelling mistakes when it is so easy to just go here for free.

The occasional mistake is one thing, but constant and frequent mistakes is.... a lack of caring...?

 

[Bryophyte]

It's been my experience that poor spelling is a clue that someone is an engineer or engineering student.

 

[Rob9874]

I'll check Google dictionary before submitting a post, if I don't know how to spell a word. I think it shows intelligence. I tend to doubt the credibility of a poster who misspells. Now, typos are another story. I hit wrong keys all the time.

 

[Mucho]

All thru high school and college I usually seems to average an A in math but an D in English. My guess is no.

 

[BigKev]

Yess

 

[fredtam]

I think its just laziness. I have no problem using correct spelling in formal documents but when it comes to posting I have a "fvck it, they know what I mean" attitude. The mistakes are usually a result of my poor typing skills and being to lazy to correct them even though I recognize that they are there.

Edit: spelling