Bad Spelling Pays on eBay

peebeejay writes "People say that as long as they're understood, spelling is unimportant. These people are unwittingly making others a lot of money online, according to this article in the NY Times (DNA sample and clean boxers required). So, aside from clarity and respect for your reader, there's another good reason to either spell correctly or use a spellchecker: get bidders to find your eBay items and give you their money! Or you can go ahead and see how many people bid on your 'labtop computers,' 'camras,' and 'earings.'"

Comments

you mean....

[hatrisc]

to tell me that they aren't called "labtop" computers? ... you could've fooled my dad.

I check for this on purpose

[Space cowboy]

.. whenever I use ebay, I always try "alternative" spellings of words. Of course, being from the UK, I'm used to spelling things like 'color' incorrectly [its a JOKE!] :-)

Simon

Re:I check for this on purpose

[nuffle]

And is Brittish your British word for British?

Re:I check for this on purpose

[dogbowl]

That was one thing I learned while traveling through Europe. We would inevitable end up meeting/talking with British folks (mainly because they spoke the language) and they would always refer to the French or Dutch as "the Europeans"

Like, "The Europeans have this odd tasting candy" or "The Europeans have some odd TV shows".

At first it threw me for a loop .. I didn't know what they were talking about. I mean .. the British are Europeans with funny tasting candy and silly TV shows too. I didn't know they could detect abnormality among their own kind!

Re:I check for this on purpose

[cloudmaster]

(paraphrasing) I'm an American, but I like to write papers in languages other than American English. I'm suprised when this gets me poor grades in English courses that I'm taking in America.

Adding extrae letteres too wourds jusst tou mayik themm moure impressieve oarr coulourfull iss nout ay goud ideea, even if the brits disagree in *their* english. :) Also, note that, thanks to modern transportational advancements, you could visit Europe regardless of where you live - you don't have to already live there!

Mother of Perl???

[Dr. Charles Forbin]

According to the article, Mother of Perl is spelled incorrectly. Shows what they know.

Re:Mother of Perl???

[liquidsin]

Sweet stupid hell! I can buy Larry Wall's wife on ebay?!

Re:Mother of Perl???

[gotem]

I assumed it was his cat, actually. Everyone knows the first perl script was written when she walked across the keyboard one time.

That makes her a script kitty?

Works for personal websites too

[daBass]

A friend of mine (whose website I host) is terrible. But at least his pictures of the "rockafella center" get him on the first page of Google! :)

Google has ruined my spelling

[SpaceRook]

I used to be a good speller, but I use Google A LOT. And it is so forgiving that my skills have declined. I expect all programs to know what I mean when I type "Jva prgfamminh boolks". I just kinda hit the keys that basically represent the words I want.

Re:Google has ruined my spelling

[Walterk]

Yuoor seerch - Jva prgfamminh boolks - deed nut metch uny ducooments. Um gesh dee bork, bork!
Nu peges vere-a fuoond cunteeening "prgfamminh".

Sooggesshuns:

- Meke-a soore-a ell vurds ere-a spelled currectly. Bork bork bork!
- Try deefffferent keyvurds. Um gesh dee bork, bork!
- Try mure-a generel keyvurds. Um gesh dee bork, bork!
- Try fooer keyvurds. Um gesh dee bork, bork!

no wonder they're losing

[plams]

unnix licsene for olny $699!!1!

This, my friends...

[Anonymous Coward]

...is why Microsoft could make the claim that people would go to mikerowesoft.com and get confused.

Because people are that fucking stupid.

Re:Shhh!

[Scarblac]

No need for the shhh!, methinks -- the NYT article describes exactly the same thing

Yeah, but no-one reads the article, it was still a secret...

Re:Old, old trick.

[Yewbert]

Even got a gemstone or two this way.

Yeah, and that great Rolleks watch, too! What a bargain.

*blink*

[Daniel]

experts say the Internet -- with its discussion boards, blogs and self-published articles -- is a treasure trove of bad spelling.

They had to ask experts?

Daniel

Obligatory Simpson's Quote

[servognome]

Homer: "Look at these low, low prices on famous brand name electronics!"
Bart: "Don't be a sap, Dad. These are just crappy knock-offs."
Homer: "I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see it. And look, there's Magnetbox, and Sorny!"

Re:use a search engine spell checker

[mirko]

His answer? "You go to a store called a bookstore, and you buy something called a dictionary."

Why ?

Re:This article is ridiculous

[jazman]

LOL! Priceless - look at the description for http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item =3456315281&category=177

Choice quotes

"I am not lying when I say that this labtop is hands down one of the fastest computers I have ever seen in my entire life. On the other hand, I am also completely clueless when it comes to computers so please bare with me."

Oo-er - are we getting our clothes off together? (It's "BEAR with me")

"keyboard has more buttons than I know what to do with"

"a floppy drive, a CD rom drive, and another drive that I have no clue what to do with"

"And...a rechargable battery"

"some disk that I suppose you'll probably need"

and to top it off "Chances are that you'll probably want to run this computer by a shop and get it cleaned out"

Then he says "if you have any questions email me." Yeah, like he's really going to have a clue amout MHz, GB, serial ports etc. I wouldn't recommend asking anything more difficult than: "What colour is it?"

He also can't spell "I nicked it" - he says "this is not my computer (I'm selling it for a friend)"

Lay off the NYT

[Call Me Black Cloud]

The registration is free and you don't even need a valid e-mail address. What's with the complaints? The 20 seconds you have to spend *once* to input bogus information is certainly a fair price for the online content of the NYT.

Sheesh. People here would complain if you hung them with a new rope.

Re:earings!

[Golias]

No... 'Earings are what they 'ave in the 'Ouse of Commons, guv'nor.

Re:Oh, the irony...

[pboulang]

Obviously adding in your parenthetical expression (which is what the text inside these rounded things is called -- are they referred to as bracket expressions elsewhere? (and they can even be nested for no apparent reason (by the way, that question wasn't rhetorical, I really want to know)) solved the problem of smart-ass replies ;)

To be perfectly serious, there is a language called American English. Thank Daniel Webster for pushing for a distinct variant in spellings (Two countries separated by a common language and all that). And since this is slashdot, it is very American leaning (see here for the editorial opinion). Thus, your pre-emptive strike regarding which came first is really a moot point. You write for your audience. Do you use polysyllabic words when addressing toddlers?

While correct, the word spelt just comes across as pretentious. It isn't wrong, but it sounds funny to the ear and is distracting in conversation. Of course, that's just Dennis Miller's opinion, he could be wrong.