The huge increase in online communication since lockdown has highlighted how low standards have fallen in our spelling, grammar and general use of the language. It seems to be spread across all age groups and cannot be blamed on the often fractured style of the young. So what is the root cause of this linguistic deterioration?

Perhaps the written (and spoken) word has become less of a priority in our education system with drills in spelling and grammar a thing of the past. Or maybe digitisation is the key to the problem. People rarely write letters or see their words on a piece of paper and restrict their written communication to hastily typed emails or social media comments. Although always there to be found on the internet, making a quick comment online seems so much more ephemeral and maybe people feel it therefore doesn’t matter?

I am not sure if autocorrect makes things worse or better. It seems to jump in with some very strange suggestions which are a mile away from the text you are trying to create. Also, despite device software offering a UK English version, I find US spellings usually prevail. 

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Has our language gone into free fall?

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Common problems

Many people don’t seem to bother with punctuation or capital letters and just steam on through an endlessly long sentence. More specifically, I saw an online ad for a repair business asking ‘Has someone scraped your car and drove off or are your wheels kurbed?’  Someone selling a vehicle proudly announced it had ‘4 new tyers’. A customer waiting to go into a restaurant explained, ‘he stud outside for 10 minutes’. 

How to use an apostrophe with an S seems to defeat most of us to the point where we are adding them in odd places: ‘1000’s of miles’ or ‘the dog’s were very good today’. The difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ also appears to baffle many.

Particular thorns in my side include the misuse of done – ‘she done it last week’; referring to a company or other collective nouns in the plural; and excessive or inappropriate use of that, especially when related to people – ‘several women that joined the club’.

So does it matter if our language is constantly butchered? Well I certainly think it does. Of course, it has to evolve but in a positive way which reflects well on brands, products or services – it can only be detrimental if a debased version starts to creep into marketing communications.

Keyboard invests in really understanding every client’s business, delivering a flexible, high quality service at realistic prices. It offers the benefits and confidentiality of in-house support but with the financial advantages of an external resource.  Contact Sue Mather to find out how your content and the way you present your business can be transformed.

The huge increase in online communication since lockdown has highlighted how low standards have fallen in our spelling, grammar and general use of the language. It seems to be spread across all age groups and cannot be blamed on the often fractured style of the young. So what is the root cause of this linguistic deterioration?

Perhaps the written (and spoken) word has become less of a priority in our education system with drills in spelling and grammar a thing of the past. Or maybe digitisation is the key to the problem. People rarely write letters or see their words on a piece of paper and restrict their written communication to hastily typed emails or social media comments. Although always there to be found on the internet, making a quick comment online seems so much more ephemeral and maybe people feel it therefore doesn’t matter?

I am not sure if autocorrect makes things worse or better. It seems to jump in with some very strange suggestions which are a mile away from the text you are trying to create. Also, despite device software offering a UK English version, I find US spellings usually prevail. 

Common problems

Many people don’t seem to bother with punctuation or capital letters and just steam on through an endlessly long sentence. More specifically, I saw an online ad for a repair business asking ‘Has someone scraped your car and drove off or are your wheels kurbed?’  Someone selling a vehicle proudly announced it had ‘4 new tyers’. A customer waiting to go into a restaurant explained, ‘he stud outside for 10 minutes’. 

How to use an apostrophe with an S seems to defeat most of us to the point where we are adding them in odd places: ‘1000’s of miles’ or ‘the dog’s were very good today’. The difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ also appears to baffle many.

Particular thorns in my side include the misuse of done – ‘she done it last week’; referring to a company or other collective nouns in the plural; and excessive or inappropriate use of that, especially when related to people – ‘several women that joined the club’.

So does it matter if our language is constantly butchered? Well I certainly think it does. Of course, it has to evolve but in a positive way which reflects well on brands, products or services – it can only be detrimental if a debased version starts to creep into marketing communications.

Keyboard invests in really understanding every client’s business, delivering a flexible, high quality service at realistic prices. It offers the benefits and confidentiality of in-house support but with the financial advantages of an external resource.  Contact Sue Mather to find out how your content and the way you present your business can be transformed.

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