Illiterate or lazy?

I recently came across the following article on how people who are commonly referred to as "grammar nazis" behave on the internet.

Literacy Privilege: How I Learned to Check Mine Instead of Making Fun of People’s Grammar on the Internet

It certainly made for an interesting read. The author is a recovering grammar pedant who realised the error of her ways after being asked to help develop an adult literacy programme. Illiteracy is an ongoing problem and living in a country like South Africa, where our education levels are some of the lowest in the world, no-one can argue that sometimes access to education is a problem.

It's quite simple, really. There are a number of reasons why someone may struggle with things like spelling, grammar and punctuation. They may not have had access to education. They may, as this article point out, have a learning disability. For someone who struggles with dyslexia, the things that make my blood boil and make me want to drive a pencil through someone's hand may quite simply seem impossible. 

Except, they're not. I understand people with learning disabilities. I know that it is no reflection on someone's intellect or ability to comprehend things. I sympathise and feel grateful that I am not one of these sufferers. But, I do think that in this day and age, this is not an excuse.

If this wasn't the age of the internet and every word I typed had to be physically checked by someone armed with a dictionary, I would understand. But I work on a computer. Almost everyone works on a computer. And I can guarantee that those constant misspellers on the internet have access to a really awesome tool - a spellchecker. 

A friend recently joked that the way to teach kids these days how to spell is to teach them to look for red, squiggly lines. You see, I can forgive someone who uses the word "there"instead of "their". I can ever overlook misplaced (or even the entire lack of) apostrophes. What I cannot forgive is someone who is so lazy that they cannot even spell it. Lasy? Laysy? Laaaazy. All of these pop up on my screen with a red, squiggly line underneath.

Granted, spellcheckers are not absolute. I live in South Africa. We usually follow UK spelling rules. Most spellcheckers default to American English. But, hey. That's something you can change too, you know. Even UK-defaulted spellcheckers aren't always correct. I remember one occasion when I was completely baffled by Word's refusal to accept the word "recuse". But there are so many minor mistakes that can be picked up simply by clicking on the button "check spelling". 

As a sub-editor, something I'm pedantic about is spelling people's names correctly. I've worked at a number of publications and misspelling someone's name is guaranteed to get you in trouble. People are precious about their name. You'd be amazed at how many submissions I get where a popular celebrity or politician's name has been spelled incorrectly. Guess what. A quick run through Google Search usually picks up any errors. Again, this isn't always true and sometimes something slips through but honestly, these are two really quick and simple steps that make a world of difference.

I'm not an expert. I'm a human being who makes mistakes. My friends and family gleefully point out when I do this. I'd die before I admit this to them but there are some things that even I don't know. And when I don't, I do the simple thing and check. Whether it's running a spellchecker over a piece, looking up the correct spelling and usage in a dictionary, or just typing a word into Word and checking for a red squiggle, I make the effort. And it's my belief that someone with a learning disability would take extra care to do the same. 

For example, I'm terrible with numbers. I can spot a misspelled word in a second but ask me to add up numbers without using my fingers is impossible. Extra zeros don't jump out at me and working out a tip at a restaurant is a mission. So I use a calculator (my cellphone has one), or I work it out on a piece of paper. My friends laugh and mock when I can't work out 10% of 100%. My father has jokingly threatened to disown me. But they accept it and know not that it is no reflection on who I am, or how smart I am. I can edit the hell out of a bill, just don't ask me to add it up.

I struggle with the fluidity of English. I know it develops and changes. I understand that rules and spellings that applied 100 years may not apply today. I get that new concepts have to get new names and that meanings change with social context. But I also think that it's the responsibility of everyone who has an education and a working knowledge of a language, to help others learn and use it correctly. If we just accept that spelling and grammar are not important, and let lazy communicators run rampant, then we have no right to complain when miscommunications happen or a message is lost because someone didn't understand the difference between "Lets eat grandma" and "Let's eat, Grandma".