spelling and selling (sorta botin )

Madhatter

Madhatter

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I am at a loss as to how people expect to sell their boat (or anything else for that matter) using such atrocious English and spelling :-
" this is a 21ft seamaster it is an on going project bran new kichen fited we have ever thing to finish it a lovly 4 bed when done engine orgernal and wheel but we have all new good to go with it if wanted selling has got a new hobbie new home to do up xxx must have own trailer can use to get to desternation but must b bought back xxx "
I am far from an academic but for "Christ sake !" ain't they heard of a spell checker !!!!!!
Also a £50,000.00 boat using 1 fuzzy picture and a one sentence description ??
:confused::rolleyes::D
 
Madhatter said:
I am at a loss as to how people expect to sell their boat (or anything else for that matter) using such atrocious English and spelling :-
" this is a 21ft seamaster it is an on going project bran new kichen fited we have ever thing to finish it a lovly 4 bed when done engine orgernal and wheel but we have all new good to go with it if wanted selling has got a new hobbie new home to do up xxx must have own trailer can use to get to desternation but must b bought back xxx "
I am far from an academic but for "Christ sake !" ain't they heard of a spell checker !!!!!!
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They probably don't think one is necessary. It's well established that stupid people tend to overestimate their own competence.
 
awol said:
But is the corollary true?
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Kruger and Dunning's definitive paper on this, from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is available online here. Accessible, and well worth a read. It's actually quite relevant to boating - it explains, for example, why the various Captain Calamities the tabloids report rarely see any problem in what they're doing.
 
Ubergeekian said:
Kruger and Dunning's definitive paper on this, from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is available online here. Accessible, and well worth a read. It's actually quite relevant to boating - it explains, for example, why the various Captain Calamities the tabloids report rarely see any problem in what they're doing.
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I thought K&D's findings did not generalise to non-Americans. As I recall, the effect was weaker in Europeans and reversed in Asians.
 
Madhatter said:
I am at a loss as to how people expect to sell their boat (or anything else for that matter) using such atrocious English and spelling :-
" this is a 21ft seamaster it is an on going project bran new kichen fited we have ever thing to finish it a lovly 4 bed when done engine orgernal and wheel but we have all new good to go with it if wanted selling has got a new hobbie new home to do up xxx must have own trailer can use to get to desternation but must b bought back xxx "
I am far from an academic but for "Christ sake !" ain't they heard of a spell checker !!!!!!
Also a £50,000.00 boat using 1 fuzzy picture and a one sentence description ??
:confused::rolleyes::D
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Um, i know some otherwise bright people who are shockingly bad writers. If you want that sort of boat, the rubbish english will reduce the competition!?
 
tcm said:
Um, i know some otherwise bright people who are shockingly bad writers. If you want that sort of boat, the rubbish english will reduce the competition!?
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Quite. I don't care if the person selling me a boat is shakespear, or a foreigner with only a few words of English. It's the boat I'd be buying, not the owner.
 
sighmoon said:
Quite. I don't care if the person selling me a boat is shakespear, or a foreigner with only a few words of English. It's the boat I'd be buying, not the owner.
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True, of course, but an assessment (by whatever means) of the character of the previous owner can indicate how well he has looked after the boat, and tell you things not easily otherwise discovered. It is a gross generalisation but people who are lazy with language may well be lazy in other respects too.
 
Touchwood said:
True, of course, but an assessment (by whatever means) of the character of the previous owner can indicate how well he has looked after the boat, and tell you things not easily otherwise discovered. It is a gross generalisation but people who are lazy with language may well be lazy in other respects too.
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Then again,one can be a lazy ,idle, good-for-nothing b'stard---like me---and STIL be able to spel, punchurate and aply gramaticle rules!:p
 
Spelling is NO indication of a person's abilities, attitude or intelligence.

I know someone who is widely regarded as one of the best engineers - in the true sense, hands-on & design - who ever worked for British Aerospace, his exploits are near legendary in some circles; he can't spell for toffee.

At about 50, he has only just been diagnosed as Dyslexic.

This apparently now counts as an official disability.

So I would judge the boat, not the spelling...
 
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Seajet said:
Spelling is NO indication of a person's abilities, attitude or intelligence.
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I'm afraid I disagree entirely. Spelling (or poor written language skills) isn't PROOF of anything, of course, any more than the many other means by which we judge a person's "abilities, attitude or intelligence" - but it certainly can be an indication. I too know a very intelligent and capable person who has atrocious spelling, in her case due to poor visual memory rather than dyslexia, and I certainly wouldn't judge anyone on this element alone - but I insist it CAN be an indication when taken along with other factors.
 
Well I won awards at school for my English, and I can assure you that while I'm a good chap, you'd much rather employ my dyslexic chum !

The 'other factors' are perhaps more significant here.
 
sighmoon said:
Quite. I don't care if the person selling me a boat is shakespear, or a foreigner with only a few words of English. It's the boat I'd be buying, not the owner.
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I think you have homed in in on the wrong element of the advert.
it is not the correctness of the spelling or grammar that rings alarm bells, but the off-handedness of the boat description.
He obviously doesn't care for it, or even understand it. It is just an asset to sell and make a few quid.
I have been to see many boats at the cheap end of the market offered by drudges who have absolutely no boating knowledge. Their refurbishments were that of a poorly skilled DIY homemaker and certainly not of nautical standard. Once a bodger gets their hands on a rough boat it is doomed.
 
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