(slightly OT) My latest internet pet hate

Wow, you posted that without having to edit it once.

Bad spelling, punctuation and grammar on internet forums does not irritate me, text speak and msn chat using all those flowers and hearts icons gets me seeing red. I think it's because it takes me ages to decipher what they're saying. I get bored and give up.

I have a cousin who's like that. And her messages are so full of "yoof" slang, I don't have a clue what she's on about.

Funny, I thought I got that sentence grammar right though.

Yes, but teachers are only human after all. I'll admit that a lot of people consistently make simple errors so it therefore is a fundamental misconception. However, teachers can have 'off days' - it's quite easy to make a spelling or grammatical error and not even realise. Until teachers are robots, then I'm afraid the odd spelling/grammar mistakes are here to stay.

I completely disagree itsrobert.

This may sound unduly reactionary, but for an English teacher to make a mistake like that is unforgivable. If I was the head of a school's English department and was made aware of a mistake like that, I'd be inclined to sack the teacher in question if it could be shown that he or she had made the same mistake on more than one occasion.

Would you employ a mathematics teacher who couldn't count?

Everyone makes mistakes from time to time. Even English teachers. Who knows, maybe the teacher was having a hard day?

A sacking is a bit extreme. If the problem occurred over and over again, training would probably be the better option.

May I ask what job you do? Have you ever made a simple error? Would you like to be sacked because of it?

I don't think you appreciate what teachers do. I'm a trainee primary school teacher and I've only done a fraction of what a qualified teacher does every day. Believe me, a simple grammar mistake like that is the least of their worries. There are endless plans to be done, assessments to be made, not to mention actual teaching and looking after the children in their care. It's a heck of a lot more than just standing up and speaking in front of a class.

To make the mistake of writing "should have" instead of "should have" is common, but that doesn't mean it should be forgiven, or not corrected.

I myself would have made such an error many years ago when I was very little, but these days I use it correctly.

I remember a school History lesson a few years back where so many people wrote "would of", "could of" etc in their answers that the teacher stopped everyone for a moment to mention it. He might not have been an English teacher but it was good of him to do so.

I'm not sure what is to blame for this common error - the increase in 'txt speak'? The decrease in teaching standards? Who knows. Perhaps back in the day as it were, pupils would have been punished more harshly for such mistakes en masse.

I'm sure there are people who do it all the time because they think it's correct. People who write it uncharacteristically accidentally but generally don't make the error most of the time, I have no problem with.

Wow, i definitely do not remember posting that. Judging by some of the replies against that post and the other quoted posts i for one do not have learning difficulties and as far as im aware my english and grammar are fine (hold the sarcastic comments if you think different.)

I hate the way how some of you are labeling the authors of the quoted posts with learning difficulties.

I wasn't singling anyone out, I just did a google search and picked some random examples.

I too am a little p*ssed off too. If you feel so strongly about such things, just PM the people involved.

Personally I just think you're being stupidly anal about this. This forum is not an English exam, and whilst I appreciate people moaning about txt speak, because you actually have to try and decipher what is being said, moaning about grammar is pointless. Are you the kind of person who writes into the Times because they made a spelling or grammatical error? Or the kind of person who phones up a local radio station and complains that the broadcasters are not speaking in local dialect? Believe me such people exist, and they should really find something better to do with their time in my opinion!

I think people make too much fuss about bad spelling/grammar on this forum, as long as you are able to understand and its not in text speak its ok.

Often when someone makes a mistake its due to a typing error rather than them having bad spelling!