I , for one , have always placed spaces between words and punctuation marks ( with the exception of apostrophes used to indicate abbreviation or possession ) : that being the way we were taught at school , and having had it drummed into us by our tutor that it was one of the hallmarks of a professional typist .
These days it would seem that poor spelling , bad or no punctuation and that grammar is an abbreviation for grandmother all seem commonplace ! Perhaps this is in some way due to the computer age with many becoming reliant on software to correct their errors ; being Scottish it does sometimes mildly irk me when software corrects my correct British English spelling into American English , which is sometimes different .
While I try to spell and punctuate my own scribblings to a reasonable standard , I tend not to go around picking on the writing of others , unless it is a post written entirely in ' txt spk ' or otherwise so poorly punctuated or misspelled that it is very difficult or tiring to read ; even then I tend to pause to consider whether the writer is a non native speaker or might have learning difficulties .
As we say here in Scotland : Wha's like us ?
