Thread: Spell it Right

Sadly, folks here seem to pay little, if any, attention to how the owners of PayPal spell/portray their name; it's



and please notice that only the "Y" appears in upper-case; the other letters are clearly lower-case.

Perhaps all the squinting through tiny jewelers' loupes, at even tinier scratches (real and imagined) on the bevel of a blade, have caused some of you to "lose the forest for the trees". I'm just sayin'.



Hey! smooth shaving...

PS: My family name is Horen, but it took forever to get JimmyHAD to not prepend a "w".

Originally Posted by leadduck

This is true. If you look at the original writings of our founding fathers, in paricular Jefferson, who took great pride in education, their spelling was atrocious (did I spell that correctly?) by our standards It just wasn't important then. On the other hand, I've seen hand-written letter by a 19th century ranch hand by the name of Henry McCardy (aka Billy the Kid) and noted that the spelling, grammar and even the handwriting were impeccable.

Very interesting I'd want to see that. I love small facts of history.

I only know poor english and bad english, I'm lucky when spell check recognizes my words

Lets hear it for the school system letting me out functionally illiterate and only 1 semester of general math At the time I thought it was pretty funny, now I'm just sad...

I think my English and spelling is more or less ok although i still make mistakes. I've heard that getting into same level with someone who speaks English as a mothers language is almost impossible.
I get Obies point about proper spelling, but he should hear me (or any other Finn as well) speak English. Wouldn't be a pleasure for any English ears. We pronounce vocals more or less different here.

Have to consider, at least here, that 'official' language is something almost nobody speaks correctly. It is a compromise between different dialects from different parts of the country, and those dialects might differ very much.

Originally Posted by JBHoren

Sadly, folks here seem to pay little, if any, attention to how the owners of PayPal spell/portray their name; it's



and please notice that only the "Y" appears in upper-case; the other letters are clearly lower-case.

Perhaps all the squinting through tiny jewelers' loupes, at even tinier scratches (real and imagined) on the bevel of a blade, have caused some of you to "lose the forest for the trees". I'm just sayin'.



Hey! smooth shaving...

PS: My family name is Horen, but it took forever to get JimmyHAD to not prepend a "w".

They actually spell it both as "ebaY" and "eBay" but your post gave me a good chuckle anyways.

Originally Posted by Obie

I insist on good grammar and punctuation for myself. Whether a line or a long essay, I try to be as correct in my grammar and punctuation as is within my range.

I had struggled with the correct spelling of eBay, having spelled it (or misspelled it) more ways than I can count. Finally I decided to find the correct spelling for the word once and for all.

Henceforth, I will spell the word eBay with the "e" in the lowercase and the "B" in the upper case.

Regards,
Obie

My dear Sailor:

Thank you for your note. Of course, you make excellent points, and all well taken.

I must say, though, sometimes the threads on this learned forum have a tendency to detour in such directions that we lose the subject's focus.

As you notice, I have quoted my initial post in part to refocus on the original subject. My comments centered on my struggle to spell the word eBay the proper way. I also used the term "good grammar" instead of "proper grammar" intentionally, because in America the term "good grammar" is often used. I know one of the gentlemen made a critical reference to my using "good" instead of "proper." I let it pass, because it would have taken us on another detour. But back to the subject . . .

For some reason, even though I have seen it in the company's website and in other places, I ended up mangling the word eBay. I forget how many different ways I have spelled it in the past. I blame it on a mental block, probably because I am not all that fond of eBay.

I think it took seeing the word spelled correctly in the New York Times, which I read daily, that the spelling finally sank in. Of course, I could have shrugged at whether I spelled the word correctly or not, but spelling and proper grammar are important to me.

Whether they are to others on this learned forum is not the point. Nor is it my business on which to comment. By no means do I preach anywhere in my post about how my fellow SRP ladies and gentlemen speak or spell. Do as you please. Spell and speak as you will, for either way, you have my highest respect as a friend and colleague at SRP.

My post was personal, directed at me by tapping me on the shoulder and barking, "My good man, get it right." I thought I should share my thoughts with you. That was the only reason for the post.

Thank you for reading, and for your comments.

Regards,
Obie

Next order of business....


let's get mad that IBM, GE, GM, KPMG, et al are not spelled I.B.M., G.E., G.M., K.P.M.G. and so on.

Originally Posted by deighaingeal

Very interesting I'd want to see that. I love small facts of history.

I saw the letter in the book, Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride by Michael Wallis. Interestingly, I saw it in a bookstore but it was absent from the edition I bought on Amazon.

Originally Posted by Obie

Ladies and gentlemen:

I insist on good grammar and punctuation for myself. Whether a line or a long essay, I try to be as correct in my grammar and punctuation as is within my range. After all, English is our language.

I had struggled with the correct spelling of eBay, having spelled it (or misspelled it) more ways than I can count. I am not a fan of eBay for buying anything, most of all razors, but that's another discussion.

Finally I decided to find the correct spelling for the word once and for all. Since I have always found the New York Times to be a stickler for spelling — though obviously it has its own style, as do other publications — I have decided to go with the way that publication spells the word.

Henceforth, I will spell the word eBay with the "e" in the lowercase and the "B" in the upper case, the way my most favorite newspaper spells it. I know, with all the major problems plaguing the world, correct spelling of something might be minor. To me, however, it is major in its own right.

So, for what it's worth: eBay.

Regards,
Obie

I've been wondering for quite a while now how to spell that company's name correctly. Thanks.

Now I have to learn how to spell B. P. the abbreviation for British petroleum. I was informed that the company does not use any periods, only the letters. I hope they have a better nose for grammar than they do for drilling safely for oil.

While we all seem to be sharing our pet peves about spelling and grammar, here is mine. I am sick and tired of people refering to initialisms as acronyms. If it spells a word, or if the letters become accepted as a word such as NASA then it is an acronysm. If it is said as letters, such as I.B.M. then it is an initialism.
It seems to me that there are far more initialisms than acronysms, especially in this world that is trying to go too fast.