Hi Linda, ======================== "P.S. Know any others that get skewed often or that drive you up the wall?" ======================== This was just too (vs to vs two) tailor-made for me to step up to the plate at the very first opportunity. Now that Winston has made a post, I've come back. I know you are waiting for it... so here it is. IT'S vs ITS heh...heh... I didn't disappoint you, did I? Gary Simpson (PhD in Pedantic English)

Linda, You are so right here. Sometimes I make a quick post and fail to check for spelling errors. Usually that is a big mistake. I do have problems with grammar, but I don't claim to have a PHD. :) Beyond posts here, what amuses me is people offering reports and ebooks for sale and the spelling and punctuation, etc. is awful. How do they expect us to want their product and do they really expect us to forward these to others or to promote their product? It is also important when posting on the internet to make your paragraphs short. Break up the thoughts with spaces. This makes it much easier to read.

Hi Linda, I agree with you that it is irksome when there are grammar mistakes on a website, and they do lose credibility, in my opinion. However, on public forums such as AdLand, we need to be much more tolerant as many forumites do not have english as their native tongue. What really bothers me is websites that have been sloppily translated from the original english into a barely passable second language. I see it quite often with french sites, and I'm sure it's equally as atrocious in other languages. It just smacks of unprofessionalism or apathy or laziness. Salut, a bientôt. Bob

Hey Bob; =========================================== ...on public forums such as AdLand, we need to be much more tolerant as many forumites do not have english as their native tongue. =========================================== True indeed. Even with websites, if I *know* that the owner does not have English as a first language, I often find myself chuckling at the way they butcher idioms. (often as badly as I do... lol) =========================================== What really bothers me is websites that have been sloppily translated from the original english into a barely passable second language. I see it quite often with french sites, and I'm sure it's equally as atrocious in other languages. =========================================== I think that's largely due to 'software' translations such as those done by Alta Vista's Babelfish and similar software. There's tons of software out there that will "translate" a site - most of them VERY poorly. Proper translation really does need to be done by a human being that speaks the language. That's the fault of marketing, though. I see the same thing in website design. Software makers say "you don't need to learn html" and don't tell people their software does a sloppy job of generating code, and it's often not browser compatible. Same thing. Software manufacturers say people are 'missing the boat' on commerce in other languages and promote their software as the solution, but don't happen to mention that the translations are sloppy and barely passable. ; ) Linda