"Intelligent" conversation? venting!

I don't know what has caused the recent (last 2 or 3 years) lack of communication. We get emails such as:

(1) i hav a holly carb on my 1937 henway do u hav a kit

Holley is incorrectly spelled.
There is no punctuation.
Everything is in lower case.
There is no identification number for the carburetor.
"You" has been replaced by "u".

And this is one of the more understandable. We get some that the only possible answer is: ?????

Then we get a fairly normal email, answer the question; and then get an automated response: "I apologize for this inconvenience, but you are not in my list of authorized contacts. Please click on the link below to place you in my list of authorized contacts.".

Doesn't it seem prudent that when asking for information one would place the person/company being questioned in "authorized contacts", at least temporarily?

And then we get the email from the "Rhodes scholar". This email is written with perfect grammer, is several paragraphs in length, and asks enough questions to require at least a week of research!!!

I am beginning to understand why many companies have no email address on their website!

We simply will not answer emails such as the first other than ?????. Emails from overseas where the writer is not really proficient in English but attempts to use English WILL be answered. Its the writers that are too lazy to attempt a reasonable sentence that are not answered.

As for the second type of email; we have a policy of NEVER opening a link received in an email.

And the third type (requesting the book) are simply given our shop telephone number.

OK, venting over, back to work.

Jon.

 

I think phone texting is partly responsible for #1.

Spam filter #2 is because a lot of people don't really understand how email works.

#3 send them a bill, then the answer?

Welcome to the modern age. What do you expect, anyways, running a carb store in the fuel injection era? But hang in there, someone needs to do it, and you definitely have the expertise. Maybe you need a vacation

 

I completely agree with you carbking.. I absolutely hate when someone sends 'text' style emails with no commas, periods, hyphens and the other silly things that the English language is made up of! I'm 26 and I have several friends that talk using abbreviations instead of saying the whole word.. As I want to slap them, I make myself believe it's todays electronics that have made this form of communication okay.. It will always be jibberish and childish to me but as far as an 18 y/o is concerned I am old and my opinion dosent matter haha.. Someone older that speaks this way is just a plain *****!!

James

 

I see it too. or should i say; i c it 2. F-that! Sad part is they vote, drive cars, and breed.

 

Being articulate in your speech or writing isn't a crime although a certain element seems to think it is.

I went to my best friend's grandson's graduation party yesterday and was damned proud of him as he answered some questions his buddies were asking in a very articulate manner with no slang or short cuts. In my work I run across too many supposedly educated adults who can't seem to comprehend words with more than one Sybille when you speak to them.

The text thing has ruined regular writing for a large number of the population as we see that here on the HAMB daily along with the lack of the ability to spell. There is no excuse for the spelling as there are too many spell check systems out there and if you use Firefox it's automatic (that is what that little red underline thing means guys) .

 

And they walk a**** us........"OMG".......

 

I use punctuation and spell out words even when I text but I guess I'm becoming an old fart..

 

You know they said rock n roll would ruin our children.

 

Vacation??? I took one in 1981, another in 1995, and a third in 2003; how often is one supposed to take a vacation?

 

So......do u hav that holly kit i askd u bout?


Seriously though, thanks for answering my Carter AFB questions on here. Your a big help, don't let the few "rocket scientist " beat you down.

 

U r right!

 

Yesterdays electronics too OM at least at this QTH if you're a CW guy. OK I'm QRT here 73 to you

 

I agree with squirrel, its the new age of texting. It is ruining the English language. I have to read things three times now to try to figure out what they are trying to say. It doesn't take that much longer to just write out the words. I went to school when they actually taught you to read and write and held you accountable for learning it. But I still find myself misspelling words so I have spell check on everything I type.
But some people just don't give a rats *** and put it upon the reader to try to figure out their mistakes and shortcomings.
BTW, good rant.....

 

The reasons listed, and also a basic disrespect for another's time and efforts. Yet they won't spend the time to make themselves understood. Gimme, gimme, gimme.

I've recieved out-of-state text messages concerning cars I've had for sale, saying only, "Does it run?"

WTF? Which car? Who are you? What the hell do you want?

Oh well...I ***ume they're not really serious, and I delete the message. If they really wanna do business, they'll be back.

 

I think of it as a lack of respect. If they can't ask proper then you are under no obligation to answer. If you do you justify thier approach.

 

My 12 year old nephew just gave me **** about this the other day! I agree 100%, so much of the meaning of what is said is culled from the inflection of how it is written. No punctuation, no inflection, no meaning.

 

I carry an old flip phone for work. When I get a text from someone I just call them. They act shocked when they answer. I still can't figure out why. They want to communicate with me so what the hell is the problem. Talking to them is much easier then trying to text them back.

I have some stuff on craigslist this weekend. The responses I am getting are down right comical. Where do these people come from anyway.

 

Wasn't this the gal in one of Jack Nickelson's Horror films?

 

I'm a greybeard and do not text therefore I don't understand what some of these people are asking,,I just skip to the next subject. HRP

 

If I get a message or read a post that is hardly legible and hard to read, I just don't answer it. If everyone did this, maybe the grammar would improve.

 

Happens here all the time. I try and figure out what's being said, then go to the next post.

 

So where are all the "who cares if they can't spell or use basic grammar" police? Usually they come out of the woodwork for a thread like this.

 

I text for work all the time. I use proper spelling and puntcuation. Its not that hard. Nothing bad has ever happened from being professional.

 

I don't mind the abbreviations as long as they are properly used and I can understand the message. I expect typos from people who didn't grow up with a keyboard at their fingertips. I don't expect Hot Rodders and Car Guys in general to be pulitzer prize winning authors.

What troubles me is the misuse of grammar and the murder of the english language which tells a lot about our society today.

I have a higher education and I use written language as a tool of my trade. Other guys, not so much, and I respect that. My father and his father never graduated high school and worked with their hands all their lives, but they could read and write very well. They called it "Grammar School" for a reason.

Everyone with a third grade education should know the difference between:

There, their, and they're
To, two, and too
Brakes and breaks
Discs and disks

You don't add an apostrophe everytime you add an "s" to a word.

And what the **** do "prolly" and "walla" mean?

 

No Country For Old Men

 

I still would rather talk to a person directly then text. I told my wife that if God wanted me to type with my thumbs, then I would have a telegraph!
Sometimes technology makes us dumber. We used to have to do math, then we got calculators. We used to have to spell, then we got spell check. Now we text and it has become socially acceptable to spell words wrong, for convenience sake! We used to have to present ourselves with our best foot forward, at a job interview. Now we can apply on line while drinking a beer in our underwear! What the Hell! ... thanks for the vent session... I feel better now.

 

Whine, whine, whine, this isn't Dr. Phil

 

raising a daughter with dyslexia, I came to understand some of the spelling I see on these 'posts" you are talking about (although some are not). She has since learned how to use spell check and does well. It seems that some of you have never walked in some one elses shoes... just sayin.....

 

Differant Gal, but hate to talk to

 

Sounds like a HAMB HAM
(So as not to confuse anyone, the Q code is used by amateur (HAM) radio operators when utilizing Morse Code). Sorry, I just couldn't resist !