Spelling Bee Fail

Call me a spelling Nazi. Yes, I am the first to admit that sometimes I misspell a word, either because I've forgotten how many s's or t's go into it, or because I don't stop to check for typographical errors. But incorrect spellings are one of my bête-noirs. I swear my eyes bleed when I see some of the misspellings that have become so common lately. It doesn't matter whether it's in English or Spanish. A simple error can be excusable. An axe murder of a word is not.

I suppose the habit that was created when trying to cram as many words as possible into one message is to blame. Back when it cost money to send a message, space was at a premium. "Que" was substituted by "k", "por" by "x" and so on. The habit continued into the world of free message apps, probably in order to write a message much more quickly. Unfortunately the habit has extended to other writing environments. When they leave school, most people never bother to write again except in message apps or Facebook. And then we have beauties to contemplate, like "balla" for "vaya", "alkiler" for "alquiler", etc. Common English names don't fare very well, either. In a town near here a café was being renovated by a new owner. It was to be called "John Martin's" and the name was incrusted into the mosaic floor at the entrance. It was obvious the worker must only have finished basic schooling with a minimum of English. And the foreman must not have done much better. Into perpetuity now is etched "Jhon Martin's" in the doorway. 

Spanish has its bug-a-boos, just like English. In English there's "their," "they're" and "there." In Spanish it's "hay," "ahí" and "ay." There first is "there is," the second is "there" in the sense of "over there." The third is a complaint, like "ouch." Then there are the rules that govern "b" and "v". Those two letters sound almost the same in Spanish and there are specific rules in how to use them, which I don't know because I never studied Spanish grammar here. The problem is those who have studied, usually forget them right after their last day of school. In Spanish the "h" is also silent, so you have to know in which words it goes and where. One of the biggest problems is the verb "haber". It is used in the present and past perfects, like "have" in English. For example, "ha comprado" is sometimes written as "a comprado." From "has bought" we go to "to bought." No, I don't know what that means, either. But the person who wrote it seems to have an idea. 

The worst isn't when a twenty-year old misspells or misuses a word. The worst is when an adult woman, who has been working over twenty years in the city hall of Valencia, her last four as the person in charge of Culture, explains her resignation on Facebook in a paragraph that makes no sense.

From eldiario.es, 14/6/2015.

In this image it has been corrected by a language teacher. Impressive. In a crying-and-banging-my-head kind of sense. 

But what else to expect when even people who have studied Journalism at a university make mistakes. One would think that one of the obligatory classes would be remedial spelling for those who need it. Especially when we have beheaded people being transported to a pilgrimage festival and it's not a story about the Walking Dead, for instance.

From 233grados.lainformacion.com 28/4/2014.

Someone mistook "decapitados" (beheaded) for "discapacitados" (handicapped). It's not the handicapped who have lost their heads.

How about some scattered worries? Most people try to avoid them, but when we have them falling out of the sky, we better open the umbrellas, just in case.

From 233grados.lainformacion.com 28/14/2014.

 From "precipitación" (precipitation) we have travelled to "preocupación" (worry). Rain is not quite as worrying. 

And then students complain when one of our high school teachers deducts points for misspellings and misuse of punctuation. So much that quite a few have failed exams simply because of their disregard for spelling. I'm afraid that teacher is fighting a losing battle.