That's it, grammar is for usability!

[jmiller]

I was trying to decide which forum grammar, spelling, and punctuation fit into. Usability for sure.

Without the three pillars, a website or blog is worse than frustrating for the reader, it makes you look unprofessional

Defense of grammar and guide here.

[weegillis]

There are at least two incomplete sentences in the opening post for this thread... can you spot them?

Then there is a comma where no comma is required, and a comma preceding a complete phrase (should be a semi-colon or a period).

Either my browser butchered your article, or you did. So your point is...?

Let me guess: You're as fed up as many others of us are with the proliferation of e.e.cummings-style writing on the web, or more to the point, the complete lack of writing style that has become so commonplace.

Could this be the direct result of the 3-second page flash syndrome? If no one is going to read it, why spend any time making it grammatically correct? So long as the reader gets the gist, should it matter?

Do we blame the writers or the audience?

[Tubby]

question...
"Do we blame the writers or the audience?"

I blame the reader . . . If you dislike three full stops in a row, if you are unable put this fanciful dream of the perfect written word aside, and simply observe the message. Then it is the readers loss, worse, it is a self inflicted loss.

There are no mistakes in the written word. only mistakes in the read'en word. If we chose to read only the words written by those that can manage to do this 'correctly' - - We miss out on the genius, the original, the innovative, the clever, the self taught. We ridicule them, we taunt them, we laugh at them and we ignore them. . .

Blame the reader. If the reader dismisses the content of a paragraph because of an inability to get past a spelling error. This is stupidity. . . I suspect a wise person would tolerate ignorance before stupidity.

[jmiller]

Originally Posted by weegillis

There are at least two incomplete sentences in the opening post for this thread... can you spot them?

Then there is a comma where no comma is required, and a comma preceding a complete phrase (should be a semi-colon or a period).

Either my browser butchered your article, or you did. So your point is...?

You're right, the forum thread posting had potential grammatical quandries. It is a forum thread and doesn't matter as much.

I took license with the fragments (at least I was a aware of them) for that reason. The comma usage is a personal preference but is not incorrect. Some style books would require a comma there for a series. Others do not.

Yes, a semicolon should have been used between "reader" and "it."

However, I really do think in a forum thread, it's not as important, especially in the gray areas that make the proper absolutes of punctuation. Style is always an allowance as well, so fragments in a forum thread are forgivable.

But my article (i.e. not the forum post), should be clear as far as those issues go, aside from where mistakes are intentional for stylistic reasons. And I wasn't too persnickety about it, acknowledging that ending sentences with prepositions is now an acceptible practice, because of the awkwardness factor.

If you find errors in the article, please point them out, as I would be quick to correct them and appreciate where I can improve.

I understand that, on the Internet, I'm a minority when it comes to my preference for more proper writing.

And it really doesn't matter, as long it's not your professional online appearance. Having sloppy grammar and spelling on your website promotes the same message as an employer receives when a job seeker shows up for an interview in sandals, smacking bubble gum.

Just my two cents

And yes, it must have been your browser that butchered my article -- either that your own perception.