6 ms·

Its a good point but less relevant to the discussion than some of the other comments here, and currently has 3x the points of all other posts in this thread. D

by slewis 16y ago

Its a good point but less relevant to the discussion than some of the other comments here, and currently has 3x the points of all other posts in this thread. Don't just upvote just because you agree, upvote because a post contributes to the discussion!

_delirium 16y ago
I actually agree, and would probably downvote it if I saw it at +16 and it weren't my comment! (Actually, is there HN etiquette on that? If I think a comment is ok, but doesn't deserve to be as high up as it is, can I strategically downvote it? Or should I up/downvote comments without regard to their present score?)
- cema 16y ago
  No etiquette. There are rules but even they are nit universally followed.
- 6ren 16y ago
  pg supports strategic voting. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2403753 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2403753 You can flag (click the comment's "link" link). Does criticizing a typo gratify one's intellectual curiosity? http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
pemulis 16y ago
I'm not so sure... When a blog post has basic grammatical/spelling errors, it means that the writer didn't bother to do any significant copy-editing. If the author can't take the time to copy-edit their post, why should we take the time to read it? The presence of obvious errors sends a signal that either the author's thoughts are disorganized, or he doesn't take them seriously enough to make sure they're expressed correctly. Disclaimer: I'm an English major, and I mean this as constructive criticism!
- weaksauce 16y ago
  I agree with you; however, it's also possible that English is not the posters original language.
  - vog 16y ago
    In that case, it is even more important to do some basic proofreading. Or ask some fried to do so.
    - hammock 16y ago
      When the same mistake is made multiple times, that's an indication that it's not a proofreading error - instead it points to a poor understanding of English (and maybe other things).
- slewis 16y ago
  I think there are people who have interesting ideas but who can't express them as well as others. The ideas may still be worth discussion. And of course anyone who doesn't want to comment doesn't have to. Its a bit dissonant when a post is upvoted enough to be on the front page but the highest voted comment is about the post's style rather than content. The post upvoters were probably voting on content, not style.
- oscargodson 16y ago
  1. This was a response to a reply from a comment I made on a blog. 2. My grandmother has a Ph.D in linguistics and knows probably a dozen languages. Boy would it be hilarious for you to talk to her. I can't even mention how many times I've talked to her about how spelling and grammar doesn't matter as long as the point and idea is conveyed and UNDERSTOOD. She's even against spelling out of things like "though" and apostrophes altogether. 3. If my blog post put you off this much because I spelled "it's self" instead of "itself" and had grammatical errors when I was in a hurry to write a response to someone, don't read it. 4. Not saying I'm even 1% as smart as him, but saying my thoughts are disorganized is a compliment. Einstein and some of the smartest people of all time have failed at writing/english and always been known as "disorganized": http://25.media.tumblr.com/b9vfl4b63gnm701hGDPaIVP0o1_500.png http://25.media.tumblr.com/b9vfl4b63gnm701hGDPaIVP0o1_500.pn... -- his desk. Organized people bore me to death.
abuzzooz 16y ago
My mother tongue is not English, but such silly errors are inexcusable. It takes a second to google the correct form. In fact, "it's self" put me off completely and I never completed the article. So, IMHO, good spelling and grammar are essential to any discussion.
- oscargodson 16y ago
  Are you kidding me? You use IMHO and correct me on grammar?
  - abuzzooz 16y ago
    what's wrong with IMHO? And how does it somehow make me unworthy of correcting your grammar? You also used "it's" instead of "its" in a couple of places.
- MrMan 16y ago
  Such silly errors are entirely excusable. I would like to know more about all these commenters who are so up in arms about this mistake that they did not deign to complete the article. You would have been very unhappy people before English spelling was standardized. I cannot imaging rejecting the substance of an article due to such cosmetic issues. I guess this is a consequence of the group here considering your postings on HN to be some kind of resume or CV. Colour me unimpressed with the herd.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
oscargodson 16y ago
Thanks! I don't read Hacker News often and when I heard the article was here and 2 of the top comments were about my grammar I thought "and that's why I never read Hacker News". I was actually excited to see some discussion around the subject matter. I was pretty disappointed by all the talk about my "engrish".

by slewis 16y ago

_delirium 16y ago

I actually agree, and would probably downvote it if I saw it at +16 and it weren't my comment! (Actually, is there HN etiquette on that? If I think a comment is ok, but doesn't deserve to be as high up as it is, can I strategically downvote it? Or should I up/downvote comments without regard to their present score?)

cema 16y ago
No etiquette. There are rules but even they are nit universally followed.
6ren 16y ago
pg supports strategic voting. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2403753 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2403753 You can flag (click the comment's "link" link). Does criticizing a typo gratify one's intellectual curiosity? http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

pemulis 16y ago

I'm not so sure... When a blog post has basic grammatical/spelling errors, it means that the writer didn't bother to do any significant copy-editing. If the author can't take the time to copy-edit their post, why should we take the time to read it? The presence of obvious errors sends a signal that either the author's thoughts are disorganized, or he doesn't take them seriously enough to make sure they're expressed correctly. Disclaimer: I'm an English major, and I mean this as constructive criticism!

weaksauce 16y ago
I agree with you; however, it's also possible that English is not the posters original language.
- vog 16y ago
  In that case, it is even more important to do some basic proofreading. Or ask some fried to do so.
  - hammock 16y ago
    When the same mistake is made multiple times, that's an indication that it's not a proofreading error - instead it points to a poor understanding of English (and maybe other things).
slewis 16y ago
I think there are people who have interesting ideas but who can't express them as well as others. The ideas may still be worth discussion. And of course anyone who doesn't want to comment doesn't have to. Its a bit dissonant when a post is upvoted enough to be on the front page but the highest voted comment is about the post's style rather than content. The post upvoters were probably voting on content, not style.
oscargodson 16y ago
1. This was a response to a reply from a comment I made on a blog. 2. My grandmother has a Ph.D in linguistics and knows probably a dozen languages. Boy would it be hilarious for you to talk to her. I can't even mention how many times I've talked to her about how spelling and grammar doesn't matter as long as the point and idea is conveyed and UNDERSTOOD. She's even against spelling out of things like "though" and apostrophes altogether. 3. If my blog post put you off this much because I spelled "it's self" instead of "itself" and had grammatical errors when I was in a hurry to write a response to someone, don't read it. 4. Not saying I'm even 1% as smart as him, but saying my thoughts are disorganized is a compliment. Einstein and some of the smartest people of all time have failed at writing/english and always been known as "disorganized": http://25.media.tumblr.com/b9vfl4b63gnm701hGDPaIVP0o1_500.png http://25.media.tumblr.com/b9vfl4b63gnm701hGDPaIVP0o1_500.pn... -- his desk. Organized people bore me to death.

abuzzooz 16y ago

My mother tongue is not English, but such silly errors are inexcusable. It takes a second to google the correct form. In fact, "it's self" put me off completely and I never completed the article. So, IMHO, good spelling and grammar are essential to any discussion.

oscargodson 16y ago
Are you kidding me? You use IMHO and correct me on grammar?
- abuzzooz 16y ago
  what's wrong with IMHO? And how does it somehow make me unworthy of correcting your grammar? You also used "it's" instead of "its" in a couple of places.
MrMan 16y ago
Such silly errors are entirely excusable. I would like to know more about all these commenters who are so up in arms about this mistake that they did not deign to complete the article. You would have been very unhappy people before English spelling was standardized. I cannot imaging rejecting the substance of an article due to such cosmetic issues. I guess this is a consequence of the group here considering your postings on HN to be some kind of resume or CV. Colour me unimpressed with the herd.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

oscargodson 16y ago

Thanks! I don't read Hacker News often and when I heard the article was here and 2 of the top comments were about my grammar I thought "and that's why I never read Hacker News". I was actually excited to see some discussion around the subject matter. I was pretty disappointed by all the talk about my "engrish".