Forum Pet Peeves

Alright, I am sure this has probably been brought up before (and hey, repeat posts may be your pet peeve :)), but mine is people who don’t use periods in their posts. C’mon people, we learned to use periods in what, 3rd grade? It’s really not a hard concept, when your sentence ends, use a period. I just can’t stand those 8 line run-on sentence posts.

I have a pet peeve about posts regarding pet peeves.

Don’t misunderstand, I appreciate good spelling and grammar. However, my personal pet peeve is that people with valid points get dissed not on merit, but on spelling, grammar, or punctuation. This is a forum for T-man and T-vixens. I doubt few (current) English teachers fit that description.

Hmm…let’s see: one must be an english teacher to be able to use proper language? I doubt it. My peeve is people who make spelling mistakes when typing common words(ie. alright ;0)

I used to rant about this all the time. Started a few threads on it actually offering advice about the different forms of “you’re” etc. I was just shocked about how many bodybuilders seemed to be doing their best to fit that meathead stereotype through their writing. You’ll always get the “but this ain’t English class!” response. But I’ll say it again, if you make too many mistakes, people will not pay attention to your post because they’ll think you’re dumb, lazy, or a 12 year old. A few mistakes and type-o’s are fine, I make them myself, but purposefully writing “u” instead of “you” and “ur” instead of “your” is just lazy, plus it’s really hard to read a post full of those abbreviations. I tend to just skip them.

If people want their questions answered, or if they want their opinions read, they must at least try to make their posts readable by using periods, caps, etc. The “this ain’t English class!” types can argue all they want, but you are judged by your words. Fair or not, it’s true. So if you don’t want look like a lazy 12 year old retard, then double check your posts.

Oh yeah, and try that “this ain’t English class” line on your next job application. See how well it works. Or perhaps you don’t mind looking (here we go again) lazy, stupid, or pre-teen?

“alright” is a common word. It is not a standard word, but it is quite common. Just having fun.

I don’t have a huge problem with the mispellings and the abbreviations. But when someone writes a 10 line paragraph that has no periods at all, it is impossible to read.

Get a life! Can you say anal?

Maybe english teachers as a profession have are the biggest T-Men. Were not TC and Chris Shugart both english teachers, well teachers at least.

Well, I for one will continue to make a case for having this forum remain literate to the degree possible. And I’d like to second some of what TEK wrote above:


First, no matter what anyone says, what you write here is the only representation of who you are. If you don’t want to appear silly/stupid/ignorant/etc., then you should make an effort to present yourself that way. It’s pretty simple.


Second, there are a lot of us here who simply have given up on trying to make any kind of sense out of some of the posts that have been submitted. Sometimes, you honestly can’t tell WTF the person is trying to say.


Third, if someone wants me to take the time to give him/her some advice, that person will have a MUCH better chance of receiving a meaningful response if s/he takes the time to proof the post before sending it. There are people who post semi-regularly on this forum whose posts I just skip, because I know that it’s going to be a hassle to try to read through them. (This in addition to just plain pissing me off from laziness.) I’m not the be-all and end-all of bodybuilding wisdom or anything, but I’ve been around a while and often can offer constructive advice. If your post is illiterate, you will not receive the benefit of that advice (whatever it might be), because I simply won’t bother to write a response. And there are others (lots of others) like me on this forum. So you only hurt yourself by not proofing.


Since this objection always comes up, I’ll head it off right here: NO ONE CARES ABOUT A TYPO OR TWO. That’s not what I’m talking about. It’s the blatently ridiculous stuff, the stuff that makes the poster, and by extension, all of us, look stupid that should (and can) be avoided.

  1. People who don’t know the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’, ‘there’ and ‘their’.

2. People who use public toilets, and decide to wipe bogies (sp?) on the wall. That pisses me off. On an even lower level, are people who wipe shit on the wall, but fortunately this doesn't happen too often. I doubt that this happens in female bogs, but some males like spreading their shite.

You misspelled “misspell”.

TEK and char-dawg, well said.

You’re right, I did misspell it. But hey, misspelling isn’t one of my pet peeves on here, the lack of periods are :). I know I misspell words from time to time, and I can live with it when others do. I just can’t stand people who post with no periods, they are impossible to read.

Ok, at he risk of hijacking this thread, How the heck do you get an apostrophe to show? I know the difference between your and you’re but there is that damm question mark where my apostrophe is supposed to be. Grrrrrr

What the Hell? Now it doesn’t show up? I give up.

That question mark thing happens on a lot of sites. I think it comes from cutting and pasting, like if you use Word or cut from another site.

No one is asking anyone to be an English major. But simply writing at the level of a highschool graduate (or what a highschool grad. should be capable of) would suffice.

If you have a long response, please separate your ideas/statements with paragraphs.

Get to the point. Don't say more than you have to or most people wont read it.

If you are going to post a workout or your results, etc. and would like someone to actually respond, please make it readable (i.e. seperate paragraphs, numerical data, etc.)

If you have nothing constructive to add; shut up.

If you have not done your homework; shut up.

If you are not competent on a subject, inquire, do not "tell."

Become familiar with T-mag before you post on their message board.

If you never posted a message on the T/N, steroid, or OT forums, don't post your picture on the photo forum unless you want someone to analyze something, are posting your results from a T-mag diet or training program, etc. Just posting a picture saying "here is a picture of me" (with the exception that you have been posting on the boards and people can identify with who you are) is of no value.

If you are an idiot; shut up.

If your English is choppy and incoherent and English is not your first language, please state that in your post.

If your English is choppy and incoherent and English is your first language; shut up.

If you dont agree with someone's views; please give an explanation as to "why" they are incorrect. If you cannot do this; shut up.

If your only reason for being "right" is that you can lift more, are bigger, older, or have a higher level of formal education than the person you disagree with; shut up.

If you are an arrogant, close-minded ass; shut up.

If you can't disagree with someone without personally attacking them; shut up.

If you are a newbie (someone who is new to training, nutrition, etc.) please read the FAQ's before offering advice and/or posting general questions that are answered there. A link is on the T-mag homepage.

Don't post a question if you are never going to check for the responses. You are wasting everyone's valuable time.

Participate in the threads you start.

If people take the time to respond in depth to your question, say "thank you." It isn't anyone's obligation to be here.

Read the poster's name. If the original poster is someone who has been around a while and is obviously competent; don't give them an newbie answer or post a link to an article that they have already read. Just answer the question at hand.

If your post has nothing to do with Training or Nutrition; don't post it on the T/N board.

If your post is completely fictional and satirical; post it on the off topic board, regardless of the subject matter. No one on the T/N board wants to hear about your fictional person eating M&M's and pizza and wondering why he or she is fat.

If you think you have some revolutionary idea/concept that goes against common BB knowledge that has been accepted for years (i.e. BB need to consume more protein); you don't.

Happy posting.

Joel

To Paul: That makes alot of sense as I usually spell check my posts in word and then cut and paste into the forum, thanks for clearing that up!

To Joel: I agree, well stated, and since I have no other insightful thing to add at this time - I’ll just Shut up.