Re: language on the Forum.


Graff

Graff

Airbrush artist
I saw that it had been some sort of debacle regarding what way that you should write on the Forum, and I can whole-heartedly agree that all that is written on a Forum should be written without slang, twittertext or other infernal ways of communication....
I can say that I read the post in question, and as I´m Swedish I couldn´t understand anything of it...... And that is sort of the point of it, all members that´s on the Forum should be able to partake in the discussions, regardless of age and nationality.
The language written here is English (wich i can almost handle...), but if I wrote in my native tongue, not many would understand it, just like the post in the other thread was hard to understand, eller hur? :D
Best regards from Sweden!
 
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If you have a question on what something means, just ask. Each forum I'm on has slightly different slang due to the different people on them. Sure, peoplewhotipelikdis are difficult to understand, but I've found that they usually don't have much to say. :)
 
I try to take into consideration what is being posted, and where it is being posted from. Many of us have mobile devices, such as iPhones and touchscreen tablets, and I personally have found those items tend to encourage "initialeze" (typing only a few initials or letters to get the point across). Some people type like they talk, a scary thought, and some don't proofread before they post.
There is a form of internet and text shorthand, which is simply initials meant to convey the idea. Usually, asking for a translation helps.
As with everything, YMMV. (that's internet for Your Mileage May Vary, meaning it may not always be the case).
 
With reference to the closed thread,and after considering it all, in hindsight I did not handle that incident as I should have. I apologise for that. What I should have done was advise the poster that texting was not an allowable form of communication on these forums, ask him to change to an accepted form of communication then all the negativism could have been avoided. That is what I will do in the future should texting occur, as I'm sure it will.
Yes spelling sometimes can be atrocious, but we have learned to accept that if the post itself is readable enough to understand. Spelling checkers are great, but if you do not know how to spell, then the suggestions by the checker then become a multiple choice question, (pick an answer and hope fopr the best). For persons whose mother tongue is other than English, phrasing, word placement, tense (past, present and future) also can distort the meaning. We try to understand and accept all that when the poster is doing their best to be understood in a language difficult to them.
So in closing the main reason Texting is out is because we are an International world type community, with members from across each continent. Texting would for the most part exclude from the discussion those who speak a language other than English as their primary language.
I would also like to point out that no one was truly censored or banned, because of that thread. I would also like to point out that a moderator on these forums is just another member who helps the administrator and all other members in keeping the forums civil and to help members to be respectfull of each other.
This forum is family orientated, we do have young members who attend grade school, we also have lady members so language and respect must be considered when commenting in a post. Keep it rated General and respectful.
Keep in mind that it's your forum, your discussions, and that it's also your duty to police and report what you think is not acceptable.

Cheers to all
Willis
 
Overall I find this forum gets a lot less posts with texting "shorthand" than many of the others. Some messages on other forums require a secret decoder ring or enigma machine to decipher. I truly respect and admire the forum members for whom English is a second or even third language and understand their frustration and confusion when viewing a post that looks like an explosion in an alphabet soup factory.

Misspelling and incorrect synonyms are easy enough to figure out. Short novels in 148 characters or less are not.
 
For the human aspect of moderation, it is important to remember the moderators here and on many other forums are volunteers that do their best to help keep the load to a reasonable level on the forum owners and administrators. Sometimes they have to act without being able to consult the forum owners to see what they want to do. In that case, it is a best guess, and most of the time they guess correctly. Sometimes, they guess incorrectly, and it seems those times the problem rises up and bites them where the Sun don't shine. I wish all my guesses were right, but they aren't, and nobody elses' are, either.
Now that things have been explained as to how and why they happen, and how and why this particular incident happened, we can move forward, and get back to enjoying model railroading.
 
techtalk

I have recently entered into the blog world :p armchairmodeling.blogspot.com and quickly realized how global the internet is. As I blog about modeling and some of my personal thoughts, I see the need to refrain from political and religious topics. I also see how using straight forward American English will help foreign readers understand most of what I say, except maybe some of my sarcastic jabs. While offense is in the eye of the beholder, civil discourse will get us together more often than not. Armchair :)
 
Model railroad discussions quite often end up as "technical" discussions. There is a huge amount of trouble getting people to understand the plain English. Speaking in Twitter would make it even more confusing than it is now.

On a couple forums there are some ex-dispatchers that talk in dispatcher "code". It is very challenging to understand them.
 
It is a matter of tolerance and restriction of range. Some people are outward-oriented with good will, and they are willing to work harder to make others comfortable with what those others do. Some people are more inwardly oriented, and are much less tolerant of what they feel is non-normative behaviour. The trouble is, norms change constantly, and the rate of change is accelerating.

An old Latin proverb goes, "Qui non proficit deficit." Who does not advance falls behind. Just like the main racing body in the Tour de France, all it takes is for a couple of riders to jump up on the pace, and suddenly the tempo forces the main cohesive peloton, the main gaggle of riders, to split, sometimes into two, sometimes into three and four groups, each struggling to overcome the new disparities between them. The same thing is happening in our reactions to technology...some adapt, some are incapable. T'was ever thus.
 
Willis;

Regarding your handling of the matter, I don't feel there is any need for you to apologize. In fact, I think the OP of that thread should be the one to do so, even though it looks like he's no longer going to grace us.

I do have to agree that plain English is first and foremost the primary communication standard on this forum. We do have too many people from different walks of life, ages, and Nationalities to try to use anything other than plain English, or anything close to it, to express our opinions, questions and comments.

I was a Registered Nurse for 30 years, and I'm sure that if I used the medical "Nurse speak" that we used at the hospital, that almost no one outside would understand. Ex, ER ptrep LOLC, 85, CO SOBNLTA/L, HR 80, BP 100/70, R-26 S, 110#, PN, Esy Brs. PNENERAL,LTPD, Rt cart bruie. exp. poss RCVA.

Translated into plain English, this is what it said,"Emergency Room Patient Triage report. Little old lady, caucasian, 85 years old, Complaining of shortness of breath, Numbness in Lt Arm /Leg Heart rate 80, Blood pressure 100/70 respiratory rate 26 and shallow, WT 110 pounds, poor nutrition, easily bruised, Pupils Not equal, Not equally react to light, Lt pupil dialated. Right carotid bruie heard on exam.
Expidite- Possible Rt. Cerebral Vascular Accident.


If everyone talked, in their own professional codes, tech speak, twitter, or text, how much would really be understood?
 
One thing I've preached over the years to friends, and family alike, is proper spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and composition. I might not be an English major (far from it), but it frustrates me to have to interpret someone's laziness.

Spell checkers are not all knowing (so native born English speakers, learn your language!), and SMS lanuage is just plain lazy (especially when you have a full keyboard at hand). Even when I send a text to a friend, I RARELY use what is coined as SMS language ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_language ).
 
Sheesh! they even have a name and purpose for it. SMS Short message Service, for mobile phone text messaging. Thanks for the link Josh. Well in that casetryinh to keep the air time low it has a purpose for existing. However messages on the internet can be as long as you want so there is no reason for using SMS on the forums.
Hi Carey, in a way the apology was necessary, I used the members to prove the point, and that it's the members don't want SMS used here the Admin agrees with them and so do I. I have dificulty enough dealing with the onset of glaucoma where parts of words are smudges or out of focus. As Carey points out there are reasons and need for short messaging (be it voice or text) when time is of importance in terms of emergency services or financial savings.
Cheers
Willis
 
I frequent a total of six forums covering a variety of topics and I haven't seen anything remotely as 'coded' as the referenced post in question. My experience has been quite the opposite actually. Most are written relatively well. The main issues would be in the spelling department; especially things such as using 'there' instead of 'their', 'your' instead of 'you're', etc.
 
I feel like im bumping a bit of an old thread here, but id like to share my opinions on this.

Im 15 and send over 4000 text messages a month. I use "SMS" when i text, and i use relatively proper english while using forums. I feel that if im 15 and i can send thousands of short worded messages and then switch back and type properly worded posts, than i really feel that others should be able to as well.

Dont take this the wrong way, but i feel that this is especially important on a forum like this, where the majority of the population are older than the "texting crowd". This matters because if the majority dont text (and/or understand SMS), and therefore dont understand the form of the text, than its really pointless for both the poster and the viewer of the thread. The poster will be wasting his time because those who may have information to share cannot share it, and the viewer will waste their time because they wont understand what the topic is about.

I am by no means a grammar expert, as im sure youve noticed several mistakes above. I feel that as long as the post is clearly written, than forgiveness should be given for an occasional grammar slip-up.

Alright, theres my 2c, take it for what it is.
 
Nice to hear some well articulated words of wisdom that make sense from a 15 year old like Littlefoot 14. Also nice to have some young blood interested in model railroading. There's still hope for the future.
 
I'm with those who feel we should post in clear and plain English, however, for those Seniors present who want to try to learn the texting language, I offer this directory as a study guide to help get you started.

ATD: At The Doctor's

BTW: Bring The Wheelchair

BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth

CBM: Covered By Medicare

CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center

DWI: Driving While Incontinent

FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers

FWIW: Forgot Where I Was

FYI: Found Your Insulin

GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!

GHA: Got Heartburn Again

HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement

IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?

LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out

LOL: Living On Lipitor

LWO: Lawrence Welk's On

OMMR: On My Massage Recliner

OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.

ROFL... CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing... And Can't Get Up

SGGP: Sorry, Gotta Go Poop

TTYL: Talk To You Louder

WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?

WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again

WTP: Where's The Prunes?

WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil
 
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