I'm beginning to wonder...

Roxie, the answer to your question is 73.89%.
Now, to address some of the comments in the slowly drifting subject matter---
In 1980, my world was confined to a small fraction of the Midwest, apart from occasional attempts at deciphering Chemiche Berichte or Monatshefte fur Chemie. These days, it is rare that an hour goes by that I don't talk to or correspond in writing to someone whose native language is German, Mandarin, or French. It is not hard for me to give them a pass on idiomatic mistakes. I am somewhat less forgiving of native English speakers for their idiotic mistakes.
When I correspond with ESL communicators, It is almost universally true that their English is better than my German, and I wouldn’t even attempt any other language.
I get sloppy sometimes with my AG posts. this typically happens at 6AM when I can’t find my reading glasses and I am still half asleep. That doesn’t mean I am an idiot. Sometimes, quick and dirty is good enough. However, in general, if one wants to be taken seriously, one should take a little care in proofing one’s post. Deep insight can in fact be obscured by poor communication.
Roxy is right. There are questions asked that are so poorly articulated that I just don’t take the time required to decipher them.

Mapman,
What you say is true, but this isn't a teen blog. On this site, there is no excuse for being so lazy.

Schubert,
Were you trying to say that proper and concise forms of expression are an inefficient waste of time? If that is what you meant, then I disagree.

Most portable devices used by many these days are slow and clunky to use for large amounts of typing. That puts a premium on being short and concise. Also on finding ways to abbreviate messages appropriately. Some may be more appropriate than others, but reality dictates the need for older norms of communication to change and adapt accordingly.

I use an Ipod and even a Windows mobile device sometimes to post. Pain in the butt compared to conventional keyboards! Some shortcuts there are more in order.

I think it bothers some people wayyyy more than most ! Everyone has pet peaves I recon .I think some of the human spellcheckers on this site should relax .Life is too short .This is supposed to be fun! English is my first language.

To you, I imagine not.

Schubert,
Your response makes no sense in the context of what I said.

Nonsense, efficent use of time is much wiser.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

My grammar is I lot better than I bother to use on the internet.
In any event its how well you think not how well you write on this forum.

Roxie called me out because of my poor grammar,what I lack in grammar I Have degrees in Audio application and system synergy. With over 35 years in the field audio engineer in Electrostatic voicing ,owned a Hifi store in
Europe.i was mearly making a point on a digital converter if it is state of the art it should have a matching Femyo clock vs the older Picosecond clocks
In 2014,buy today's technologies not older cheaper parts. That was my only point I was trying to make.if you are that anal on grammar
Roxie you have over 700 posts. You maybe or should get out more ,stop
Judging others ,unless you are perfect .

Clever Albert!

This whole line of discussion is beginning to sound homophonic!

Tell me how you really Fpeel

This whole line of discussion is beginning to sound homophonic!

Rodman99999, sorry, I didn't know you're a Xylophone player. :)

FLUSSSSSSSSSSH!

Xylophone?

Leave my dictaphone out of this man!

Would you rather I call you a Dictaphone? (You know, a phone addict)

There, I got it right that time.

Would you rather call you a Dictaphone? (You know, a phone addict)

Who you callin' a homophone?!!

Now, we all need to break out in a Chorus of "I Wonder as I Wander"! :)

But that would be in violation of the Geneva Convention.

Now, we all need to break out in a Chorus of "I Wonder as I Wander"! :)

This thread should have been titled

"I'm beginning to wander."

Dis wuz a simble poost on spellin end know itz outta controllll.

Roxy54
This is a good general thread and people should try harder to be understood. I use a spell checker as often as possible.
Stay with it. It’s getting very interesting.

I tried to start a thread about where people are from and the languages they speak and it never showed up.
Go figure.

Fpeel, Not surprising at all; I could surmise from your writing that you take care in your thought process, which is why it would have been an uncharacteristic error. It certainly would have been ironic to point out the importance of one's vocabulary, while tripping on a simple homophone.

I'll not treat your humor so lightly in the future! ;)

Fpeel, and here I thought you were being religious, IE

"Oh heavens, parish the thought :^)".

Douglas_schroeder, the misuse of "parish" was intentional. I was trying to be funny, hence the smiley. Oh, well, guess I'll just have to keep my day job...

Hey Roxy 54,

While I'm at it, one more gripe. Posts that read like this:
"Opinions wanted on using X231/J with 455XP".

How can I have an opinion when I don't even know what these two components are?

Consider, maybe it's part of the vetting process, if you don't know what X231/J or 455XP are, the poster probably doesn't want your opinion about them. Of course, everyone else knows those two suck when used together, unless there is a clever little clock in the room, in which case they will transform your system into a live band :?)

Roxy54,
No problem here. I was just sounding off. There have been a few threads criticizing peoples spelling and grammar when asking or responding to threads here on Audiogon. I think people should take it easy. These threads should be look at as more like text messaging than anything. People now do lots of texting and if you understand a text message for the most part these forums should be easy, u no. IMHO.

Hevac1,
I will let this be my final post on this thread which I initiated, because I never really got any feedback on the question that I was asking. I really wanted to know what percentage of our members were posting from overseas, since some of the english was so incredibly unreadable. I did not, and certainly do not mean any offense to people who make small grammatical and spelling errors in a post, which I do all of the time. I also did not mean to offend persons with dyslexia. I wasn't even talking about them. I don't want anyone to stop posting for fear of criticism; I was only asking a question.
Thanks

A better question is how many Audiogoners who live in America consider English to be their 1st language. For me it is third. So sorry for my occasional misspellings and awkward grammar!

Roxy54,
Are you talking about English or American. There is a big differance. True English speaking people don't speak American.
Are you going to alienate people, young or old that don't meet your standards or people like myself. I and many others are Dyslexic or have other learning disabilities. Like this reply, it takes me a while to reread a few times, just minimize mistakes.
You could of course just put them down like others have through out thier lives so they will not participate in forums like this one. It took a long tome for me to want to partcipate in these forums for this very reason. Telling something to someone one on one is much better than insulting them in type so everyone can see it. Hope you never make mistakes and someone embarasses you in public.

Tennis, once again I (technically) agree with you (comments by themselves aren't much help), HOWEVER Tennis, again, in my opinion, I think it perfectly alright to ask people to help improve the quality of communication so we all benefit, if at the same time one offers ways to help others in doing that. And in one's own efforts, to follow the golden rule -- don't write anything you wouldn't want to read!

I think the OP was simply trying to raise awareness (yes, Roxy54?) Not everyone will respond. Hell, not everyone will read this thread! But if we are going to (try and) communicate with each other (especially about technical stuff like audio) I think a little precision in communication couldn't hurt?

Anyway, I disagree that mentioning such things is a waste of time! In fact, I think it should be mentioned regularly just so folks remember that someone is in fact reading your post and trying to understand what you mean.
.

one can chose to comment or ignore or accept that which may be annoying. why not forgive and let it pass instead of commenting on it ? there are priorities in life. grammar, diction and communication on this form should be left alone. there is no need to comment. comments probably won't do anything. it is just letting off steam and a waste of time.

Al, you're quite right of course -- there is just no substitute for human proof-reading ;-)

Nsgarch -- good points, very well put, especially your observations about those for whom English is not their first language.

But I would qualify the statement about "free programs that can fix it all for you ...." to reflect the fact that the programs may leave a lot un-fixed, and can sometimes inspire false confidence which fosters carelessness -- see my previous post in this thread for an amusing example :)

Best,
-- Al

does anyone dispute that the subjects of diction, spelling and grammar does not belong on this forum ?

Frankly Tennis, it's a shame the issue has to be raised at all - so in that regard, I (technically) agree with you. HOWEVER Tennis, in my opinion, the value of (any kind of) forum lay first in the accuracy with which the participants communicate their ideas/information/questions. If a person feels they have something important/interesting to share, why wouldn't they respect their own ideas by delivering them as clearly as possible,

It is the people for whom English is not their first language, who I find usually make the biggest effort to be clear, and apologize for their mistakes beforehand ;-) While native English speakers seem to care less about butchering their mother tongue.

With free programs that can fix it all for you with the click of a mouse, I think there is simply no excuse for sloppy spelling, typos, and grammar. They are the medium through which we communicate here, and deserve to be as clean, clear, and "noise-free" as we demand in our audio signals. Otherwise, why listen to them?

Mr t this is an open forum that usually leans toward audio but also interacts on tangential subjects such as posting about audio.

Grammar, spelling, syntax, vocabulary, country of origin and inability to capitalize letters all have a place here if a member posts it.

Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci and W.B. Yeats - notoriously crummy spellers, all.

So you can spell?....what else can you do?

Would you correct a person's poor speech habits if you were face-to-face with them?
I'd consider it presumptuous and rude.

"We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language".

Oscar Wilde

Back when British Caledonian was still flying, my wife and I were waiting to depart an afternoon flight on one of their Boeing 707 from DFW (Dallas) to Heathrow.

I purchased a magazine in the departure lounge and read it completely during the long flight. The pretty British stewardess who took care of us was friendly, so I teased with her each time she came and spoke with us.

During her final pass through the cabin I offered her the magazine as I had completely exhausted it's contents. She looked at me and smiled as I held it up and said, "Give it to another passenger if you have no interest, after all it is in English."

Her face brightened and in her beautiful British accent replied, "I beg your pardon, but it's written in American."

I'll never forget that, still laugh to this day, wish I could hug her for making the trip so memorable.

Perish, not parish. The phrase is, "Adapt, or perish."

Grammar is only half the battle; vocabulary is the other.

Well i do not think The USA is the place you go to hear English being spoken at its best....Shall we start with George W. Bush?

What's a DQ10 or an MC275? Are they American things? I'm one of those foreigners not in the U.S., although I did visit the U.S. once in 1983. The border guard asked me why I was entering the country. I said it was because the guy driving the car woudn't stop to let me out before we reached the border. Boy, was that the wrong thing to say. Those U.S. border guards don't have much of a sense of humour. I was so traumatized by what they did to me I haven't tried to go back since. My native language is English by the way. I spell words wrong sometimes.

Obviously I do.

Of course you are right Viridian. All that I am saying is that if someone like myself, who spends way too much time reading about all of this stuff can't make sense of the numbers, it's almost like telling an inside joke to a friend in front of other people who have no idea of what you are talking about.