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fitzontherocks
Jan 15, 2004, 4:20 PM
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RAPPEL. Just like a piece of gear, if you're gonna use it, use it right. It's spelled r-a-p-p-e-l. I rappel, you rappel, we rappel. Past tense is rappelled. Gerund form is rappelling. Abbreviated form is rap.
Repel is "to drive back, ward off or keep away."
Just couldn't help myself; it's the English major in me.
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usmc_2tothetop
Jan 15, 2004, 4:28 PM
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Apparently so. :o
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tradman
Jan 15, 2004, 4:32 PM
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That had to be said.
Could you give everyone an update on "absailing" while you're there?
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plund
Jan 15, 2004, 4:32 PM
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It seems that spelling, grammar & punctuation are no longer seen as very important. I for one view this phenomenon as (another) sign of the decline of our society. Scoff if you will, but spelling is one of those areas where most of the time (ie. color / colour) there is only one correct answer. "A for effort" just doesn't cut it! Some typos are inevitable, especially when frenetically hammering away at a keyboard, but there are far too many heinous errors, and far too little attention paid. I am especially dismayed when I see misspellings / grammar errors on advertising / public announcements. IMHO, it makes the advertiser look really dumb to have paid good money & have their name plastered next to a spelling error. Whew, Fitz, thanks for the venting opportunity...didn't mean to get carried away!!
Not an English major, just a concerned citizen...
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beyond_gravity
Jan 15, 2004, 4:32 PM
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mis-spelling it can get you in trouble.
"I went sport raping"
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climbersoze
Jan 15, 2004, 4:53 PM
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In reply to: mis-spelling it can get you in trouble. "I went sport raping"
HAHAHAHAHAHAH
This rappel thread is repulsing and I find myself, being a republican, repelled from reposting a rebuttal.... uhhh.... now I am gonna go listen to some rap music....
I got nuthin :?
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vertical_reality
Jan 15, 2004, 4:55 PM
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U peple. shoud chil out,
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jv
Jan 15, 2004, 4:55 PM
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Fitz, I feel your pain. Here's another common error: lead (a heavy metal) is not the past tense of lead. It's _led_.
Today I lead. Yesterday I led.
JV
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hangdoggypound
Jan 15, 2004, 5:24 PM
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In reply to: RAPPEL...Just couldn't help myself; it's the English major in me.
This is funny. While you are right, those who make the spelling mistakes do not realize that they make them, particularly with words such as "rappel." So I think you are merely 'preaching to the choir'. Furthermore, postings on an online BB are not final-draft English papers, nor are they for sale as any type of manuscript. It's not that big of a deal. I have my degree in English as well, but I don't get worked up over mis-spelled words in an online forum. Everyone mis-spells words sometimes. Although I get a good chuckle when I see "probly." :lol:
Oh yeah, if you're in the middle of a several-pitch route and must rappel down due to bad weather, knowing how to spell it correctly will not keep you alive.
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lollipopchic
Jan 15, 2004, 5:38 PM
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In reply to: Scoff if you will, but spelling is one of those areas where most of the time (ie. color / colour) there is only one correct answer.
Nope color/colour doesn't have one correct spelling (the US is not the whole world!!). Its spelt colour, here in Oz. :D
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mike_ok
Jan 15, 2004, 5:51 PM
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He was using colour as an example of one that doesn't fit the "Most of the time" rule.
As to the claim that "the decline in spelling is paradigmatic of the decline of society in general," I think I'd have to disagree. We're witnessing the gradual shift from a print/written society to an oral/media society. This is a shift to be sure, but I'm not sure we're at a place to call it a decline...
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scubasnyder
Jan 15, 2004, 6:00 PM
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i think that we got the picture from that
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fitzontherocks
Jan 15, 2004, 6:03 PM
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Absail/Abseil... good one, Tradman!
Ironically, Europeans who speak English are often better spellers or writers than the Americans who post here.
Hangdoggypound, you're right. Good grammar won't save your butt on a multi-pitch. But (flamethrowers on) it IS important. Me, I'm a writer. It's what I do for a living. So, admittedly, it's more important to me than the average bear. And I'm not "worked up" about it. I just get a brain ache when I read all this crap on this online BB. Bad spelling or misuse of words just makes the poster look... well, let's be charitable and just say not so bright.
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tweek
Jan 15, 2004, 6:07 PM
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Ya I hate that because when someone writes rapel I always am like ... "but there is no car to drive back, and what are they warding off or keeping away from?"
Or I realize what they are saying and really don't care.
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coldclimb
Jan 15, 2004, 6:09 PM
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lol, I always have to laugh at my friends when chatting online. Seems like nobody my age ever bothers to use full words, punctuation, or capitalization anymore. I type like I talk, so a lot of the time I'll leave words out, but I try to at least appear literate in my writing. :lol: :lol:
And for those of you who may enjoy this: http://ssshotaru.homestead.com/files/aolertranslator.html
:lol: :lol:
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j_ung
Jan 15, 2004, 6:44 PM
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I agree to a point. I'm also a writer, but I think it makes me a little more understanding of the mistakes I see hereabouts (especially my own).
However, there's big fat line between an honest error or two and the butchery that often occurs. Take for example (not a real quote):
"heh i here that alot !!!!!11 and It really makes mad to think that they think there opinion is so geea ands tuff."
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brutusofwyde
Jan 15, 2004, 7:17 PM
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In reply to: Absail/Abseil... good one, Tradman!
Yes. He beet me too the punch. "Hoist the Absails! All Hands on Deck!"
In reply to: Bad spelling or misuse of words just makes the poster look... well, let's be charitable and just say not so bright.
Aye, awl whey's ewes spill cheque.
Tubrus
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cracklover
Jan 15, 2004, 7:30 PM
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In reply to: Scoff if you will, but spelling is one of those areas where most of the time (ie. color / colour) there is only one correct answer. Not an English major, just a concerned citizen...
I'm glad you're not an English major. Perhaps you were thinking of "e.g."? Even e.g. would be incorrect, as color/colour is an exception, rather than an example, of the rule you were trying to illustrate.
Fact is, people are *constantly* misunderstanding each other on this site. Misspelling and poor grammar certainly don't make things any easier, but the fact is that crystallizing an idea and then conveying it in a clear fashion is not easy, and good reading skills are far from universal. But that's fine by me... some threads provide a good laugh that way (in a perverse anthropological way).
GO
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rope_burn
Jan 15, 2004, 7:44 PM
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I can't spell for beens, and honestly I don't care. They have that little spell check thing at the bottom of the post and thats what I rely on. If the person reading what I wrote gets my point then thats all that matters to me. Don't be so #&%!'n picky.
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hangdoggypound
Jan 15, 2004, 7:48 PM
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In reply to: Fact is, people are *constantly* misunderstanding each other on this site. Misspelling and poor grammar certainly don't make things any easier, but the fact is that crystallizing an idea and then conveying it in a clear fashion is not easy, and good reading skills are far from universal. But that's fine by me... some threads provide a good laugh that way (in a perverse anthropological way). GO
Remeber the word "RITUAL?" Many use that now in this sense, "My ritual every morning is to brush my teeth after my shower." But the original meaning of the word was more along the lines of a religious 'thing' to do for penance, not habit or system. Sort of on the same lines, anyway.
In reply to: As to the claim that "the decline in spelling is paradigmatic of the decline of society in general," I think I'd have to disagree. We're witnessing the gradual shift from a print/written society to an oral/media society. This is a shift to be sure, but I'm not sure we're at a place to call it a decline...
Anyway, cheers.
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brutusofwyde
Jan 15, 2004, 7:53 PM
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In reply to: Perhaps you were thinking of "e.g."? Even e.g. would be incorrect, as color/colour is an exception, rather than an example, of the rule you were trying to illustrate.
I thought e.g. would be incorrect because of its lack of italics, id est: "e.g.", "e.g." being an abbreviation of exempli gratis
Calcium Hypochlorite,
(i.e. HTH),
Brutus, not to mention punctuation:
"That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is"
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fitzontherocks
Jan 15, 2004, 8:31 PM
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Didn't realize what a can of worms I'd open with a simple spelling tip.
Hangdoggypound, "ritual" is from "rite," which is a prescribed or customary form for conducting a religious or other ceremony. So you're right (not rite) about that. But it's also something that is repeated. A ritual can be sacred or secular. The point is that "correctness" or clarity is important ESPECIALLY as communication, e.g. (exempli gratis or "for example"), with other countries, increases. A "ritual" to you may be brushing your teeth (and I hope it is). While to a Masai, it may be drinking the blood of a cow. Yes, language changes. Ten years ago, you couldn't find the word "online" in a dictionary. But today you can. So use the latest standards to communicate. "What is correct spelling?" you ask. It's what's accepted as the standard by the recognized authorities, not just what's commonly used (and abused). The word rappel has not changed. There are no alternate correct spellings. I was just saying "learn to spell one of the words we in the climbing community use on a regular basis." Not to you, of course. You seem to have a clue.
Maybe we should talk about something else. Like climbing.
Or, as the AOLer Translator says:
MAYB WE SHUD TOK ABOUT SOMETHNG ELS31!!!!!1 OMG WTF LOL LIEK CLIMBNG1!!1 WTF
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hangdoggypound
Jan 15, 2004, 8:43 PM
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In reply to: Didn't realize what a can of worms I'd open with a simple spelling tip... "What is correct spelling?" you ask. It's what's accepted as the standard by the recognized authorities, not just what's commonly used (and abused). The word rappel has not changed. There are no alternate correct spellings. I was just saying "learn to spell one of the words we in the climbing community use on a regular basis."
Cheers.
M
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styndall
Jan 15, 2004, 8:59 PM
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In reply to: I thought e.g. would be incorrect because of its lack of italics, id est: " e.g.", " e.g." being an abbreviation of exempli gratis
It's actually exempli gratia. Also, the second a in gratia should have a long mark, as it's an ablative noun, not a nominative.
Really, in idiotic formats, writing things like e.g. in italics might be important, but even in academic writing, most everyone ignores that kind of thing for less pedantic squabbling. Hell, that MLA format we've all been taught to use for bibliographies is hardly necessary. Essentially everyone who reads a paper just requires that there be sufficient information to look up the source. Who cares if it's a comma rather than a period? The info is there. For much of formal academia, that's fine.
Spelling is important, but an instance of "repell" is hardly a thing to get worked up over.
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