A language question
Aug 25th 2011, 4:13 pm
#46
Unmitigated Gall
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: it's still too dark to tell
Posts: 16,162
Re: A language question
Probably some trick of the brain.
Aug 25th 2011, 4:33 pm
#47
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: Memphis
Posts: 1,277
Re: A language question
Cattywampus? Does anybody say that?
I'm pretty sure wallered out is a legitimate technical term.
I'm thinking more like this:
http://huntington.craigslist.org/cto/2490361930.html
I'm pretty sure wallered out is a legitimate technical term.
I'm thinking more like this:
http://huntington.craigslist.org/cto/2490361930.html
He might have misspelled a couple or a few words, but not that many. 
Aug 25th 2011, 4:45 pm
#48
He/him
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 18,837
Re: A language question
I simply cannot believe the person who wrote that was other than attention-seeking for his vehicle. Like the lettered signs in front of an establishment where some of the letters are turned backwards or upside down in order to grab your attention. I can't imagine a person intelligent enough to send pictures back and forth on his cell phone or iphone being uneducated and stupid enough to write something like that. It's a sham! He might have misspelled a couple or a few words, but not that many.
He might have misspelled a couple or a few words, but not that many. It is clearly nothing to do with stupidity, uneducated, maybe. I know people like this, intelligent people who missed out on an education; for example, someone I know would write in a similar way, they left school at 15, got a job in a factory, learned the job, started to manage, got a lucrative job abroad in a country setting up a similar industry, but they were unable to move out of that niche because they could not write a CV; actually I am talking about me dad, and I think I inherited a few of his grammar and spelling blind spots, an education stopped me being as bad as he had been, but I do have a sense of empathy with the advert writer.
Aug 25th 2011, 4:53 pm
#49
Unmitigated Gall
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: it's still too dark to tell
Posts: 16,162
Re: A language question
I simply cannot believe the person who wrote that was other than attention-seeking for his vehicle. Like the lettered signs in front of an establishment where some of the letters are turned backwards or upside down in order to grab your attention. I can't imagine a person intelligent enough to send pictures back and forth on his cell phone or iphone being uneducated and stupid enough to write something like that. It's a sham! He might have misspelled a couple or a few words, but not that many.
He might have misspelled a couple or a few words, but not that many. I'm not going to speculate on why some people write at that level. There are probabaly as many reasons as people. But if you think it's a sales trick, you don't spend a lot of time on CL!
Actually, it's not limited to CL, I've seen examples of creative spelling and random acts of punctuation at various places on the internet, including BE. 
I'll also state that an individual's crimes against the written word are not an accurate indicator of overall intelligence. Try it and you'll eventually get burned.
Last edited by another bloody yank; Aug 25th 2011 at 4:59 pm.
Aug 25th 2011, 5:25 pm
#50
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: A language question
'I could care less' does my nut in. I have never posted on this site before but this is the subject that has drawn me out of my lurking. I take it you've all seen this 100 times already:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw
Welcome to BE
Aug 25th 2011, 5:30 pm
#51
WTF?
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Homeostasis
Posts: 79,367
Re: A language question
I'm not going to speculate on why some people write at that level. There are probabaly as many reasons as people. But if you think it's a sales trick, you don't spend a lot of time on CL! Actually, it's not limited to CL, I've seen examples of creative spelling and random acts of punctuation at various places on the internet, including BE.
I'll also state that an individual's crimes against the written word are not an accurate indicator of overall intelligence. Try it and you'll eventually get burned.
Actually, it's not limited to CL, I've seen examples of creative spelling and random acts of punctuation at various places on the internet, including BE. I'll also state that an individual's crimes against the written word are not an accurate indicator of overall intelligence. Try it and you'll eventually get burned.
Example from a recent text conversation:
Them: Can you have visitors at work? And do you want to grab a late lunch?
Me: I byself tidy si u can drop by antime. We canest somewhere around here.
Aug 25th 2011, 5:40 pm
#52
Unmitigated Gall
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: it's still too dark to tell
Posts: 16,162
Re: A language question
I just think the guy typed the entire thing from his phone. I have a horrific time trying to text in perfect English and I use very little text speak. Some of the shit I text when I'm in a hurry is insane. He probably could have done a lot better but just didn't care.
Example from a recent text conversation:
Them: Can you have visitors at work? And do you want to grab a late lunch?
Me: I byself tidy si u can drop by antime. We canest somewhere around here.
Example from a recent text conversation:
Them: Can you have visitors at work? And do you want to grab a late lunch?
Me: I byself tidy si u can drop by antime. We canest somewhere around here.
I'm also pretty anal about checking my spelling and making sure the grammar is reasonably correct so composing an email the length of that guy's CL ad would have taken me a good half hour or more. As a result, the emails I send from my BB tend to read like Magic 8 Ball predictions.I have a personal cell as well, but don't text or email on it.
Aug 25th 2011, 5:49 pm
#53
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Eugene, OR
Posts: 1,352
Re: A language question
I'm not sure about that. There are several phonetically sound misspellings that are not the kind you'd get from typos on a keyboard: "it has a 350 turbow tranny", "it has crom rimmes" and "i have fearly new parts".
Aug 25th 2011, 5:59 pm
#54
WTF?
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Homeostasis
Posts: 79,367
Re: A language question
I have a Blackberry issued by work. Trying to compose and send an email on their microscopic keys is crazy. My thumb tends to hit three keys at a time. I'm also pretty anal about checking my spelling and making sure the grammar is reasonably correct so composing an email the length of that guy's CL ad would have taken me a good half hour or more. As a result, the emails I send from my BB tend to read like Magic 8 Ball predictions.
I have a personal cell as well, but don't text or email on it.
I'm also pretty anal about checking my spelling and making sure the grammar is reasonably correct so composing an email the length of that guy's CL ad would have taken me a good half hour or more. As a result, the emails I send from my BB tend to read like Magic 8 Ball predictions.I have a personal cell as well, but don't text or email on it.
Aug 25th 2011, 8:43 pm
#57
Heading for Poppyland
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,543
Aug 25th 2011, 9:02 pm
#58
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: Oz -> UK -> San Diego
Posts: 9,912
Aug 26th 2011, 12:27 am
#59
Sursum corda
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Richmond Hill, GA USA
Posts: 38,860
Re: A language question
This analysis on World Wide Words is interesting.
The writer suggests that it may be a typical American "sarcastic inversion of apparent sense" with its possible roots in Yiddish phrases etc.;
"There’s a close link between the stress pattern of I could care less and the kind that appears in certain sarcastic or self-deprecatory phrases that are associated with the Yiddish heritage and (especially) New York Jewish speech. Perhaps the best known is I should be so lucky!, in which the real sense is often “I have no hope of being so lucky”, a closely similar stress pattern with the same sarcastic inversion of meaning. There’s no evidence to suggest that I could care less came directly from Yiddish, but the similarity is suggestive. There are other American expressions that have a similar sarcastic inversion of apparent sense, such as Tell me about it!, which usually means “Don’t tell me about it, because I know all about it already”. These may come from similar sources."
The writer suggests that it may be a typical American "sarcastic inversion of apparent sense" with its possible roots in Yiddish phrases etc.;
"There’s a close link between the stress pattern of I could care less and the kind that appears in certain sarcastic or self-deprecatory phrases that are associated with the Yiddish heritage and (especially) New York Jewish speech. Perhaps the best known is I should be so lucky!, in which the real sense is often “I have no hope of being so lucky”, a closely similar stress pattern with the same sarcastic inversion of meaning. There’s no evidence to suggest that I could care less came directly from Yiddish, but the similarity is suggestive. There are other American expressions that have a similar sarcastic inversion of apparent sense, such as Tell me about it!, which usually means “Don’t tell me about it, because I know all about it already”. These may come from similar sources."
Aug 26th 2011, 12:31 am
#60
Sursum corda
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Richmond Hill, GA USA
Posts: 38,860
Re: A language question
I just think the guy typed the entire thing from his phone. I have a horrific time trying to text in perfect English and I use very little text speak. Some of the shit I text when I'm in a hurry is insane. He probably could have done a lot better but just didn't care.
Example from a recent text conversation:
Them: Can you have visitors at work? And do you want to grab a late lunch?
Me: I byself tidy si u can drop by antime. We canest somewhere around here.
Example from a recent text conversation:
Them: Can you have visitors at work? And do you want to grab a late lunch?
Me: I byself tidy si u can drop by antime. We canest somewhere around here.
I just use the excuse that I don't have a text allowance as part of my phone plan,