Why can't anyone spell properly any more?

Words and phrases like 'I carnt do that' or 'I would of done that' have flooded web sites like this one and it's dreadful. Is everyone truly thick these days? There's even a garden centre near my village which displays a professionally made sign stating "SMALL TREE'S." What the hell has happened?

Why can't anyone spell properly any more?
Everyone is not necessarily 'truly thick', they are poorly educated. Nowadays, standards in schools have slipped dramatically, with those twin demons, Health %26amp; Safety and Political Correctness not helping the situation.


Young people are taught to believe that correct spelling, punctuation and grammar are unimportant, as long as the meaning of the message gets through (indeed, this point of view has been expressed in some of the answers to your question).


A worrying number of people seem to be unaware of the distinctions between 'there', 'their' and 'they're', have no idea of the correct use of the apostrophe and use capital letters randomly, but rarely to start a sentence.


Phone text shorthand is all very well - WHEN USING A PHONE. When you have a full qwerty keyboard there is absolutely no need for it.


"I haven't the time for all that punctuation stuff". Give me a break!
Reply:Most of us can spell perfectly well thank you. I do not however have either the time or the inclination, to spend my whole life worrying whether my spelling is correct on something as trivial as yahoo answers.





Get sommat real to worry bout !!!
Reply:Were in the computer age thats why
Reply:Because everything is too much trouble. Besides which children are not encouraged to spell properly at school anymore because everything has a spell checker!
Reply:nothing really...the world is dead long ago...n u r awake now
Reply:I'm with you there! I suppose some people can't help it but others just do it so that they have less to type.
Reply:hooked on phonics didn't work for everyone.
Reply:Small tree is what?





Everyone makes spelling mistakes on here. Lots of people seem to write phonetically - I don't know why they do that exactly, it's just something some people do.





Other peoples spelling doesn't bother me at all, unless they use the text message type of writing, which annoys the hell out of me.
Reply:The Internet is powered by 1000 English teachers rolling over in their graves.
Reply:No T9 dictionary mode in comps.





As far as the sign is concerned, I have seen worse. Eg. AVAILABAL ON ORDOR
Reply:Would it appear churlish if I simply said "ditto"?
Reply:bad education , thank's to the labour gov:





parent's do not teach the children at home , they have no time to do it
Reply:Some doctors believe that this problem is linked with the fact that we Instant Message and Text each other so much that our brain has gotten used to the fact that spelling doesn't really matter, instead it's how the word sounds. This could be a main factor or maybe the person could be just not so good at spelling.
Reply:Perhaps Mr. Small has lots of trees to sell.
Reply:its called texting which is for shorting words u no like omg(oh my god)
Reply:It doesn't matter to me because I can't read anyway
Reply:Most of us can spell perfectly well but dont bother. I for instance left out a ' in don't simply to save time in typing. This does not affect the readers understanding of what I wrote.
Reply:LOL !!!!!!!!! sorry couldn't resist xxxxxxx
Reply:People simply can't be bothered to take the time i'm afraid. It irritates me too, I blame texting.
Reply:Children aren't taught punctuation and grammar anymore. Teachers seem to be too busy to actually teach our children the fundamentals. Children leave school with exam results that really don't mean very much at all. They've been taught to pass exams not to know what they are writing about.





I don't think we're creating a generation of thickos but I do think we're going to have a generation of lazy people who don't care.
Reply:Did you understand what was being expressed in the spelling (new words are being added all the time) if so what the **** dose it matter how it spelt.Its called evolution.Of course if we are not up to your standard you could allways go away at your own chosen speed.
Reply:cor, good luck, last time this question came up, it got deleted. After receiving 165 angry answers!
Reply:Because we are not all privileged with your education, some of us are just factory workers, Who never write or spell or speak to well educated people, Don't look down with disdain on good honest ordinary people.
Reply:does it matter?Does it really matter?Are there really no more pressing needs in yr life than correct prenunciation and spelling?
Reply:nope, caannnne spell t' save my liufe
Reply:I can spell perfectly well. Others do have a problem. And kids text, so they have a new language to ours...........
Reply:I do not know! Maybe people have just gotten lazy! Maybe no one cares anymore? I know for me, spelling is important, I want people to UNDERSTAND what I am typing so the thoughts are complete!
Reply:the ones that get me are its vs. it's, your vs. you're, and to, too, and two!
Reply:I can





P R O P E R L Y
Reply:I think too many people have become dependent upon spell-checking and grammar-checking programs. I've seen several examples of public signage that's improperly spelled; probably because nobody has developed a spell-checking program for handmade signage. I hope that whoever comes up with one also incorporates a check to ensure that the numbers and letters are put up facing the correct way; I'm really tired of those folks who insist on putting up letters backwards!
Reply:I can still spell. But sometimes on places like here people just write like that because they can't be bothered. But I do know what you mean....alot of people actually can't spell!!!