Pet Peeve #38: People who refuse to use the resources literally at their fingertips

So, I freely admit this might be elitist of me, but it really burns my hide when people are posting online and misspell something, then put (sp) after it.

By doing that, the poster signals to anyone who reads it that he knows he spelled the word wrong, but he hasn’t got the inclination to look up the spelling.

While he’s posting on the internet.

Which has no end of electronic, easily-accessible dictionaries, wikis, and fan pages.

You’re accessing the single biggest collection of knowledge our race has ever created–and you can’t be bothered to look up how to spell the word? Seriously?

If I’m missing something, feel free to let me know.

Published by Michael R. Johnston

Father of an eighth grader, high school English teacher, writer. Fifty years old and feeling almost every bit of it on some days, and not a bit of it on others. Based in Sacramento, California, USA

One thought on “Pet Peeve #38: People who refuse to use the resources literally at their fingertips

  1. Not to be pedantic, but I have done this in a very specific case: when I am discussing books I have listened to, where I don’t know the spelling of the character’s name, but don’t want to look it up because that would expose me to spoilers.

    This is clearly not the case you mean.

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