I’m going over there.
It’s a pretty simple statement, isn’t it?
I’m going over to their house.
That’s simple, too, right?
I’m going over to there house.
Does that become confusing to you? I hope so.
I’m going over their.
Yeah, hopefully if the first one didn’t get you, this one did.
In the age of digital and social media, the use of words seems to be coming to an end. It’s what I like to refer to as lazy writing. I’m sure you’ve seen it on all of your favorite Facebook posts.
R u comin over tonite? i’ll be their at 7. I cant believ there havin a party. See u l8tr.
If you’ve not been in a box, you’ve seen something like this on Facebook, or in a text, or on one of a zillion other social media sites.
And look, I’m not some perfect speller – far from it, in fact. When I was in high school and my early college days, before the onset of what we now have in this world, I was much better. But with spellcheck, I think everybody has something of a crutch.
That still doesn’t eliminate the misuse of words.
Their vs. There. Its vs. It’s. Your vs you’re. Heck, scratch it’s and just put “any word that requires an apostrophe.”
The thing that kills me most is when it goes beyond a personal e-mail or text. Such as when you get a professional e-mail and these types of items are in there. I realize spellcheck won’t pick up misuse of words, but when I typed this post in Word before transferring it to the blog, every grammatical error or misused word had a blue line underneath. That means something’s wrong.
Not every e-mail or word processing program probably does this, and I have a feeling it’s something one needs to turn on or off.
Where did we all go wrong?
Is it the lack of care of coming off in a professional manner?
I liken it to professional dress.
Look, I’m not a tie guy. I never have been. When I need to wear them, I do. But I don’t on a regular basis, and a lot of that is because I’m a vest guy. Wearing a tie under a vest doesn’t always make sense as you barely see it. If I didn’t wear vests, I’d probably be in a tie 80 percent of the time when it comes to work.
But one needs to “dress” the part. If you are a mechanic, you aren’t dressing business casual. But if you work in a corporate setting, suits might be necessary.
Where did that change?
A couple of years ago, when I was unemployed, I went to job fair that a local baseball camp put on. They hire about 700 seasonal employees for 13 weeks during the summer. This work covers all aspect of a camp, from maintenance, to customer service, to retail, to photography, to operations. So many things are covered.
Still, if you are going to the job fair, wouldn’t you want to go presentable?
This job fair is set up with tables throughout the room. You go to each one where you have interest and basically have an interview on the spot. So you might get there and decide to interview somewhere else.
When I went, I didn’t go full suit, but I did the tie and all that. I was shocked at how many people went in jeans, or shorts, or wind pants, as well as hoodies, or logo shirts. Heck, there was one guy walking around with a shirt that said “Why U mad, bro?”
Seriously.
There were hats, and piercings, and showing noticeable tattoos (note: to work at this place, all tattoos need to be covered), as well as people just looking unkempt.
And that seems to be the way we are going in society.
I have no issues with a “dress-down” approach. I truly believe that, sometimes, you need to dress a little more casual. I feel the same way with language. If I get a text that says “R u goin out later?” I don’t freak out. I don’t personally do it – but I can live with it.
In an e-mail, I get a little more irritated. In people’s Facebook posts? I move on and don’t read. I figure if you don’t care enough to make it readable, why should I read it?
And if it’s in a professional setting, it’s the worst possible scenario.
We all make mistakes when writing. I’ve done it and I’ll do it again. But basic grammar and spelling is very important in life. After all, there are people who watch and cringe at these things and their days will be better knowing things are correct!
Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please Like HooHaa Blog on Facebook!