Why are so many people here so incapable of writing?

<p>Look at the EC's people post in the chance-me forum. Look at their grades, their SAT scores, their AP's, and SAT II's. Now look at virtually any post here. Why is it that so many people with such mind-blowingly overachieving records are so incapable of forming a coherent sentence, let alone a paragraph?</p>

<p>By all estimations, this is the cream of the crop, and yet everyone here still sounds like the just came out of 7th grade English class. I can't be the only one that's noticed this.</p>

<p>^ I think that you mean you "can't be the only one WHO has noticed this." Remember that phrase about people who live in glass houses?</p>

<p>WOW, gbesq, you're right! The fact that I am using conversational English rather than perfectly grammatically correct formal English means that I am hypocrite! Nice catch! In the future, I'll also make sure never to start a sentence with a conjunction, use a contraction, or split an infinitive.</p>

<p>Dude, lighten up. My point, and I think it was a fair one, is that if you're going to criticize the writing skills of other CC posters, you might want to start with yourself.</p>

<p>"Look at the EC's" = "Look at the ECs" (sans apostrophe)
"Look at their grades, their SAT scores, their AP's, and SAT II's" = "Look at their grades, their SAT scores, their APs (sans apostrophe), and THEIR (parallel structure) SAT IIs (sans apostrophe)"
As mentioned by gbesq, "I can't be the only one that's noticed this" = "I can't be the only one WHO HAS noticed this."</p>

<p>^ Has anyone seen that story on the news about massive outbreaks of culinary wars reportedly caused by pots calling kettles black? </p>

<p>But seriously: it's the Internet, dude. That's how people write on the Internet.</p>

<p>It's not so much grammatical errors. It's prevalence of dull, humorless, uninformative writing that gets to me; I have to comb through pages and pages just to find a handful of posts that are funny and/or insightful.</p>

<p>karajanhra, you may want to review your obnoxious ninth-grade prescriptivist grammar textbook, because the proper pluralization of acronyms and initialisms involves an apostrophe.</p>

<p>Easy has the right idea.</p>

<p>lol go sip some tea in England</p>

<p>2 strict and judgmental 4 ur own good</p>

<p>Just because you're a stickler for grammar (whether it be perfect or conversational) doesn't mean that everyone posting on an informal forum has to abide to your preferences.</p>

<p>Why do you care? People will do what they want to do. You can't change them.</p>

<p>Are you new to the internet or something?</p>

<p>Forums are generally informal conversation and therefore there is no need for punctuation, capitalization, and/or insightful posts.</p>

<p>Here, you are nitpicking on grammatical nuances whereas I thought you were generally concerned about peoples' inability to express themselves.</p>

<p>someone needs to get laid.</p>

<p>Find better things to do with your time, buddy. It's summer now, btw.</p>

<p>Grammar doesn't bother me...it's the people who type like this...with no actual periods between their sentences...so you're not quite sure where one sentence begins...or where they are just holding space...and then they type in really long paragraphs...and you're not sure where one idea begins and ends...and then you go cross-eyed...trying to make sense of it. Lol. Sorry, I'm done.</p>

<p>Oh, god. Some moron just sent me an insulting PM with that sort of ellipse nonsense. Is that the stigmata of fools or what?</p>

<p>
[quote]
In the future, I'll also make sure never to start a sentence with a conjunction, use a contraction, or split an infinitive.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>ain't that there a split infinitive?</p>

<p>Lol, sorry - I had to conform.</p>

<p>"Stigmata? Is that like fermata? I think I heard that in middle school music class once..."</p>

<p>"mind-blowingly overachieving records"</p>

<p>I'm just pleased to see the 'ly', it sounds correct. I have a thing about putting that 'ly' on adverbs.</p>

<p>I think all the professor-types who normally post are on vacation, and hence the more mundane phrasing.</p>

<p>You think this is bad? This place is like the Oxford English dept. compared to some other forums out there.</p>