4 ms·

Curious as I will sometimes find myself annoyed at a similar email... If it said "When are you going to do this?" would that be acceptable?

tombert 7y ago
Yes, that is fine. I'm obviously not asking for someone to write the next Moby Dick when sending me an email asking for a status update. A short and simple message is totally fine, I just would be prefer that it be (mostly) grammatically correct.
- bluGill 7y ago
  That is easy to say, but it doesn't work that way. Your mind knows what you wanted to say and assumes it said that. Even when you read your writing again you know what you meant to say and you will skip over the bad grammar. Note that this same problem exists in spoken speech. Someone will ask a passenger to "please adjust your window out" which makes no sense. What they really want is adjust the mirror out, but the brain knows rolling down the window is part of the task and confuses all the parts. Even when asked to repeat themselves they will repeat the same nonsense sentence without realizing it isn't doesn't make sense. (this problem was more common 30 years ago before power mirrors where the driver could adjust the mirror himself) The only solution I've found is to sleep on it. Tomorrow I'm sure I will find a some grammar errors in this post, and likely something else that doesn't make sense. I just read over the entire post now though and I don't see anything wrong with it.
  - rat9988 7y ago
    You have taken things out of their context. The syntax he was talking about is "when r u going to do this?", not honest typos. It has nothing to do with what you describe.
  - tombert 7y ago
    I mentioned earlier that I am fairly understanding of typos. Typos are an honest mistake, and since I work with humans, they are going to make mistakes. Even using the wrong version of "its" or "it's" is ok, because at least that is an easy mistake to make. However, when someone writes me an email using a lot of abbreviations and shorthand, like something a 14-year-old would write on AIM, it makes me feel like I'm being treated like a 14-year-old on AIM. Do I mind if a friend does that in a text? Not at all, this is informal. But coworkers aren't inherently friends, they should be (at least in theory) adults that you have some respect for.
    - dboreham 7y ago
      LOL Oh..wait..
Crinus 7y ago
Yes, i can understand if you are trying to save some SMS space on a phone because the longer the SMS the more you pay, but when writing an email you do not have such limitations.
namibj 7y ago
I sometimes use that when I have a low risk of typos and I am limited in my typing speed. It takes significantly more cognitive effort, and often I can just type if 9ut faster than the other way around.

tombert 7y ago

Yes, that is fine. I'm obviously not asking for someone to write the next Moby Dick when sending me an email asking for a status update. A short and simple message is totally fine, I just would be prefer that it be (mostly) grammatically correct.

bluGill 7y ago
That is easy to say, but it doesn't work that way. Your mind knows what you wanted to say and assumes it said that. Even when you read your writing again you know what you meant to say and you will skip over the bad grammar. Note that this same problem exists in spoken speech. Someone will ask a passenger to "please adjust your window out" which makes no sense. What they really want is adjust the mirror out, but the brain knows rolling down the window is part of the task and confuses all the parts. Even when asked to repeat themselves they will repeat the same nonsense sentence without realizing it isn't doesn't make sense. (this problem was more common 30 years ago before power mirrors where the driver could adjust the mirror himself) The only solution I've found is to sleep on it. Tomorrow I'm sure I will find a some grammar errors in this post, and likely something else that doesn't make sense. I just read over the entire post now though and I don't see anything wrong with it.
- rat9988 7y ago
  You have taken things out of their context. The syntax he was talking about is "when r u going to do this?", not honest typos. It has nothing to do with what you describe.
- tombert 7y ago
  I mentioned earlier that I am fairly understanding of typos. Typos are an honest mistake, and since I work with humans, they are going to make mistakes. Even using the wrong version of "its" or "it's" is ok, because at least that is an easy mistake to make. However, when someone writes me an email using a lot of abbreviations and shorthand, like something a 14-year-old would write on AIM, it makes me feel like I'm being treated like a 14-year-old on AIM. Do I mind if a friend does that in a text? Not at all, this is informal. But coworkers aren't inherently friends, they should be (at least in theory) adults that you have some respect for.
  - dboreham 7y ago
    LOL Oh..wait..

Crinus 7y ago

Yes, i can understand if you are trying to save some SMS space on a phone because the longer the SMS the more you pay, but when writing an email you do not have such limitations.

namibj 7y ago

I sometimes use that when I have a low risk of typos and I am limited in my typing speed. It takes significantly more cognitive effort, and often I can just type if 9ut faster than the other way around.