The INQUIRER Guide to spelLing

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way. Mark Twain

"...we'd have enough cash to go off and so something more uselful." rules of spelling: i think you meant "do something" not "so something"

I'm glad to see the Inq doesn't go for the new "standard" where abbreviations and acronyms are expected to be capital first letter and lower case for the rest, i.e. IBM should be Ibm. Or PC Plod should be Pc Plod. Drives me mad when I see that done. They do it on the BBC news webshite which annoys me no end.

Problem this e Stuff is not writing, actually. No More than Script is indication of Artist Voice. Quoteth ShekSher. This is PHYSICIAN Stuff, Per Orale. However, all trade control speeling, o0Ps-SPELLINGS change with each Model. No One can say Ati will actually change its name to DAMMIT, let alone logos cost. Just be warned: COMMENTOS are PHONITICIANS of Craft FAR Beyond Mortal Writer. Signed:PhysicianTHOMAS STEWART von Drashek MD

Agree with almost all your remarks, except IBM isn't an acronym. It's an initialism. An acronym is a special class of initialism that can be pronounced as a word for example RADAR. Many common acronyms become so well known that they become words and then follow normal rules, eg radar. Some bodies that start off with an acronym, eg the European Computer Manufacturers Association like to convert it to a word because their PR muppet thinks it sounds better. The former ECMA now likes to call itself Ecma International

Whiners usually have crappy lives in the first place. Ignore em! They'll just spread their influence onto us if we pay attention. This is where discrimination becomes righteousness!! Discriminate against those horrid Whiners!! BOO, YOU INFIDELS!! (Sidenotes: Don't take me seriously) ~The Dude

"we'd have enough cash to go off and so something more uselful" should be "we'd have enough cash to go off and do something more uselful"

You spelled [Insert correctly spelled/punctuated word here] wrong! Go back to school and learn some proper English! It's spelled [Insert incorrect spelling/punctuation of previous word here]. Pointing out the mistakes of idiots is just too fun. Loved this article

I applaud your attitude towards correcting the spelling crimes of the evil marketing droids, but perhaps you could apply the same standards to the scribblings of your own scribes? The sheer volume of spelling and grammar errors in your articles has almost driven me away from the hallowed pages of the INQ. But enough moaning, it's the weekend and I'm off to "so something more useful".

Take a look at your capitalisations in the piece entitled "TeraHertz tips up in a really tiny way":- TeraHertz; Terahertz; terahertz, THz Hmmm... Well I spose Its you're Web Site and yorll sPell how yoo wantto

out loud

You've got a mistake in that last sentence there - per Steve Jobs, the correct spelling is now iRony.

Good, you explained why you guys/gals don't spell right. Now explain why you don't proof-read and all will be well. I must ask, however, if that bizarre concept that you have spoken of, has crept into our comments...

Now it's only to hope that the trolls read the article, and see how long it takes them to go back to "u dun nuw hw 2 spill!!!1!!oneone". ;-)

I thought it was. Or is it just short for Viacom or something then.

you mean iRony (R)(c)(TM), this is the IT dept of Rony, Railroads of new york...or not.

This article is a great way of defining the INQUIRER. I will back them up and agree with it 100%.

Yes, this is totally right!! Ipod all the way i hate stupid names which have capitals in the middle!!! and everyone jumping on a online english exam type bandwagon!! "NOOOO you spell it like this iPod"... Care? whats that all about! good read! =] Ken Gorton

Thank you for the clarification about the misspellings. All this time I thought that the feedback refering to missplelled words was about actual misspelled words that I had never noticed. Now I find out it's about "marketing misspelling". It all makes sense now... Now, if someone would be so kind as to explain the made up words such as Vole, Chipzilla, etc., I would be a happy man. Ok, I'm just kidding about that. No need to explain anything. Just keep using those made up words and misspelling the other ones and I'll keep reading them. It's why I come to this site - that, and for the news. Disclaimer - any misspelling in this comment is purely intentional (or maybe not). I don't have my misspelling checker turned on at the moment. Thanks for a great eRag (or would that be erag?). teD (put the cap where ever you like, I do)

Correct me if I am wrong (and I'm no style guru) but IBM is not an acronym but an abbreviation. An acronym is where the abbreviation is pronounced as a word such as scuba, laser, radar, etc. Of course, there are hybrids such as jpeg and MS-Dos. I hate to be pedantic...but I just like showing off!

Don't you mean iRony? *ducks* :) AT adds: Shut it, stripy.

Here here!

Glenda Nice try thinning down ye'olde inbox. But it just will not work. Makes for a nice spleen venting though. I enjoyed it! Do what I do toss a filter on the stuff from people you like and /dev/null the inbox occasionally to deal with the rest. Works great for me. Cheers Verification "pauisvl" ???? nice.

The reasons Shakespeare might be rolling in his grave from the writing on this site is not from the spelling of proper nouns, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. But if you are, you might as well hire an editor: http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/01/19/iphone-uk-sales-disappoint http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2005/06/29/new-podcast-software-unleashed http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2005/09/15/rokr-hits-europe http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/01/09/apple-iphone-finally-makes-debut http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/01/09/microsoft-warns-apple-about-iphone http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2006/12/19/cisco-beats-apple-to-releasing-iphone http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2006/12/12/apple-rumoured-to-delay-rumoured-iphone http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2006/12/06/iphone-runs-into-trademark-problems http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2006/12/04/iphone-specs-leak http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2006/12/01/apple-patent-brings-iphone-closer http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2006/11/22/apple-plots-two-iphones http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2006/11/16/apple-orders-12-million-iphones http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2006/05/15/apple-iphone-is-a-go http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2006/04/02/apple-struggles-with-iphone-chip

I like the way you spell. I like the way you write. Charlie Demerjian RULES! I like most of you articles. I like the way you give new names according to their behavior/function. (My favorite: "the broken OS") Keep up the good work!

"Very Innovative Architecture" apparently. Unbelievably. But definitely an acronym - which IBM isn't, strictly speaking. The funniest example I saw on the Inquirer had three or four different mis-spellings of Mozzarella. Dammit, if you're going to be oh-so-clever with your plays on words, at least be consistent ;-)

I agree with you. There's really no value in capitalizing the letters in Via. I do wish that the mistakes would be caught, though. I think that a good spellchecking would be nice before an article is published. You may find it "uselful".

i liKe tHis arTicle.

I don't know about others, but to me messing around with companies names or being "clever" with the english language is fine. So is calling an "iPod" an Ipod (as it should be) or even and eyepod/sack/ball for all I care. Though, those things aren't the problem with the spelling by the INQUIRER's authors (or whatever) it's just plain bad spelling, typos, bad gramma and being to damned lazy to read something before submitting it. You clearly like to think of yourselves as professionals, yet you rarely show it in anything you say. I'm starting to wonder how many countries there still are that speak english, the Americans sure as hell don't and the more I see from the Brits (the INQUIRER especially), well, you're barely any better. My spelling and gramma generally suck, but not when compared to anything on the INQUIRER. "You done good"

I BE LUVIN DA INQ <3

"...uselful." Such a lovely article for this almost-a-word to appear in.... AT adds: So you didn't look up 'irony' then?

VIA stands for "Very Innovative Architecture". LoL.

tHe VIA->comicercial dePARTment iSJUstfUNNy ComparedToThe __dUng thatIs cOMing ou_T ofTheAverage (C++*)&Java pROgRAmmer. *Really++

A search for color returns 327 hits. A Search for colour returns 900 hits. Thats shows some confusion, but your going in the right direction :-) - Paddy.

Yeah so what's the news here eh! Nuthin' that's what!! Yo guys are a bunch of thunderheaded nincompoofs! So, you wanna make all the typos yo want without complaints eh! Reminds me of this one SysOp whose BBS I used to call with my MoDem. When I finished my 'bloggin' on his machine, I'd just hang up. He said nah, that duznt show respect for mah machine -- its MAH machine I'll dictate the terms how yo use it and yo must Log Off sucka, each and evry time. Gess what! I stopt calling his damn BBS! Where is it today eh!! Its GONE!

Hi there, If you do it, then do it right as you made a typo: The INQUIRER is wrong, it should be: THE INQUIRER! :-)

Who ever is looking for mistakes in an article is a god damn fool. People that type in the address WWW.THEINQUIRER.NET are here to get most of the latest tech news not to look for spelling mistakes. As the INQ said it has their money and it spends it on what ever it wants to. These types of websites are created for tech info and news and NOT for people who comment on stupid mistakes. Open your web browser type in the address WWW.THE INQUIRER.NET ....... read the news....... close web browser. EASY GO THE INQ. :-)

Don't worry about what a few people from the spelling police have to say. The way your group writes articles is just fine. Things being misspelled either by accident or on purpose is of no consequence and if a select few cannot find the humor there then they have bigger problems within themselves to deal with. Just keep doing what you do and keep in mind that most of us here are reading and laughing... And that makes it a good day.

Hey! Leave the old lady alone. This article was about spelling. It's none of your business if somebody at the iNq has a "bad gramma".

See how many comments and reads this story got you Inq team ?? Wicked eh... Hey ... help me out here will you. We (3 of us Aussies at Toms Hardware Guide in the US) are trying to get a THG mirror site setup in Australia ... Can you chuck a little story up please and mention our forum post so we can get some Brit support in the forumz? Yes Toms has a UK site already. C'mon Charlie ... help me out. Cheers, http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/20733-9-aussie-toms-hardware-site#t485447

I would like one question answered if that is possible. Why on Earth do people care about spelling so much? Surely the main point of an article is that you understand whatever point it is trying to get across. Don't waste time out of your day to complain about spelling. I justify wasting time out of my day, complaining about complaining about spelling in the hope that somehow this post causes people to realise they are foolish for caring and hopefully the sum of the saved time minus the time they spent reading this is greater than that which i spent writing this in which case it would have been worthwhile. When it comes down to it: The INQUIRER = epix <3 kthnx

Let us not deceive (i before e, 'cept after c) ourselves, sir. These are the implements of marketing and sales; the last argument to which ceo's relate.... ook! ook! leaperman

This article is hilarious and reminded me of when Cisco Systems was actually spelled "cisco Systems" back in the 80's.

Damn apple and their ipods...dont even know why they're called that anyway, they're just apple branded mp3/media players...which cost a bucket load more than a regular mp3/media player

Will this Drashek guy crawl under a rock and die a horrible death already?!? And if you AT by any chance think his spurts (literally!) are funny and creative then you are an idiot as well for not banning him already.

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell his name one way. Samuel Clemens

I blame the Americans for the bastardization of the English language. i.e Color - Lazy American way of spelling the word colour. And as far as the "out of respect for the language of Shakespeare, Dickens, Chaucer and Magee." line - please stop it it hurts already, and why do you have to print this when you know i have a cup of coffee in my hands ?

Oh, hell, what can be said that hasn't been said already? Only English teachers and other hyper-anal types care if you spell eacih and every word correctly. Oh, and those who can't "read between the lines" as it were. The point of the whole shebang is to prod, poke, and otherwise make fun of the silliness called "marketing" that accompanies the introduction of dubiously useful "products" from companies that lack "imagination" and "creativity". Which companies? You pick 'em, they're all pretty much the same. Even the fruity ones. As for von Drashek, I figure that's a program running on AT's 'puter. No human could have such random, unconnected thoughts. Not even Charlie. (winks)

I'm very happy that the INQ doesn't follow the abominable practice of the BBC to capitalize acronyms like proper names when they "sound like" something. The worst example of this was when they called the acronym for the US Environmental Protection Agency "Epa"--proving that some morons pronounce it "eh-puh". They do the same with AIDS and other acronyms, further evidence of their declining English standards.

IBM is neither an "initialism" nor a acronym (although it may be an anacronism). It no longer stands for anything, so to speak. Just as Apple Computer changed its name to Apple Inc, and Federal Express changed its name to FedEx [sic], International Business Machines changed its name to just IBM years ago. So I suppose to follow your own guidelines, you'll need to call it Ibm now.

Intrepid-One, vous etes un moroun (thy be a moron); The 'British' spelling of colour is spelled as such to mimick the (Old)-French pronounciation. Even early Brits used the spelling 'color' in the 15th century but this was overpowered during the sell-out to the French. The superlative of 'lazy' is 'borrowing your spelling from the French pronounciation'. Lies, damn lies and Britistics

AT adds: Very little to most articles on which his retorts appear

Is this the place? K.D. Lang K.D. Lang K.D. Lang Ahhhhh...