English A Short Guide

I have noticed that people have quite varied levels of literacy and education, ranging from elementary school and Leetspeak (1337) to highly intellectual college graduates with a complete mastery of the English language.

On the Forums, and especially in-game, players tend to not care how they spell and how good their grammar is, often resulting in jumbled, hard-to-understand sentences and words misspelled so badly it becomes an effort to decipher them. While in-game slip-ups are understandable, it is my strong opinion that all posts made on the Forums should be high quality. It is not only for the good of the players as a whole (readability and communication), but also for each one of us personally.

When faced on the one hand with the choice of typing sloppy internet-speak, misspelling words, and ignoring the rules of grammar, and on the other, a much more eloquent (and quite easy to master) style which conveys to the reader that we are educated, we often chose the first option for simplicity. Ironically, what may be simple to type will most times end up having the opposite effect on the reader. This is a problem with a very straight-forward solution: we must all learn to express ourselves clearly on the Internet as well as in life.

It is in this spirit that I write this guide, in the hopes that many will read and enjoy my humble tidbits of advice for those of us who are venturing out into the Forums, into English class, and ultimately, into life.

Over the years the Internet has existed, typists have found a good many shortcuts to writing on the computer. One of these is Leet, also known as Leetspeak, 1337, or Hacker. I believe we are all familiar with it; the idea is to substitute numbers or characters for letters as you type. This comes across as childish and fails to get a clear message across. My opinion is that it should not be used, with the possible exception of a hurried conversation in-game. On the Forums, it merely makes the reader’s life more difficult.

Internet shorthand is a milder form of 1337, with the difference that it does not necessarily involve numbers or characters. Most of us use it, especially in-game. Simply put, it is the process of writing words shorter than they are, skipping grammar, etc. Internet shorthand is appropriate to a point, but again, should only be used in-game. Here are some examples of decent shorthand and sloppy shorthand:

Decent – hey wanna come barrowing?
sure, ill come in a bit
kk, cya there
Sloppy – d00d kom 2 brrws
j4h whn
r1ght n0w
k i brng stof w3ps p0ts
cya th3r3

NOTE: In conversation, using abbreviations such as “cya” “g2g”, “lol” and so on is acceptable as long as they are used in conjunction with good language.

Although slightly exaggerated, the sloppy example represents what many consider to be their standard of typing. Even the decent example is lacking in many aspects, and would look abominable if utilized on a bigger scale, such as a page of posting on the Forums. By removing Internet shorthand and 1337, we are already on the road to better typing and use of language.

Spelling

One of the most neglected aspects of good language on RuneScape is spelling. Because of our own haste, and in many cases, either ignorance or indifference to the subject causes us to become lazy typers. This highly decreases the quality of the work we produce and sends out a message to the world that we are insecure about our writing and that we don’t bother to do anything about it.

To this end, it is imperative that while on the Forums, we take the few extra seconds to spell words correctly. It is a simple improvement, but one that will greatly increase the potential of our work. Take, for example, a Locations question:

With sloppy spelling: Hey. I ned 2 find wher th plce is thas betwen the Undrgoun Pas an the Tiras Camp. Theres sposed 2 be a track ther and I ned 2 tlak 2 him.

With correct spelling: Hey. I need to find where the place is that’s between the Underground Pass and the Tyras Camp. There’s supposed to be a tracker there and I need to talk to him..

Those who skim over these sentences will find that they are worlds apart. Spelling is essential for good writing.

Grammar

The second major flaw in our writing is lack of grammatical correctness. Grammar may be slightly harder than correct spelling, but when mastered, it provides us with the opportunity to polish our writing and make it look professional.

The main thing we forget is punctuation, mainly commas and apostrophes. Merely adding marks in the correct places can do wonders for our writing. A clear, properly punctuated phrase is a pleasure to the eye.

Another sloppy habit we have formed is the failure to capitalize words. The main things to capitalize are:

- The first word in a sentence
- Days of the week/month
- Proper nouns (including places in RuneScape, names)
- Skills and monsters in RuneScape

Sentence structure is also a cause of concern. Often times we use fragments, and sometimes, run-on sentences. An example of a fragment, and its correct counterpart, a run-on, and it’s correct counterpart:

Fragment: where Port Phasmatys
Correct: Where is Port Phasmatys?

Run-on: Where is Port Phasmatys I can’t find it I’ve been looking for a long time because I want to do Ghosts Ahoy please where is it?
Correct: Where is Port Phasmatys? I can’t find it even though I’ve been looking a long time. I need to know because I want to do Ghosts Ahoy. Can someone tell me, please?

Although somewhat long-winded, the “correct” version of the run-on is far more desirable than the original.

With spelling and grammar under control, we will find ourselves becoming fine writers, with little left to amend in order to hone our skill to perfection.

Word Choice and Style

Each of us writes with a personal style. This style is indicative of our personalities, and each one is unique. However, in order to perfect our styles, we must learn to use semi-advanced language, and language that will communicate our points clearly, effectively, and understandably while adhering to the high standards we would do well to set for ourselves.

When posting, we should do our best to use the higher end of our vocabulary rather than commonplace informal words. It heightens the atmosphere of a conversation when people use carefully chosen language rather than whatever conversational phrase happens to come to mind.

Using vocabulary to express our ideas is the main element of good writing. Alongside spelling and grammar, it creates the air of sophistication towards which we should strive.

Smileys

Ah, smileys! We all know them, we all love them. What many of us may overlook is the fact that they are essential for any communication on the Forums as well as in-game. While they may seem like nothing more than a common embellishment to sentences, they serve the purpose of purveying to the reader the feeling with which the writer wrote them. When we type on the Internet, we can’t see who we’re talking to, and neither can we hear them; thus, without some sort of indication of emotion we can never know if they are joking, being serious, sarcastic, or a slew of other things. This is why smileys are so common; virtually any sentence which is part of a conversation has feelings behind it, and that is where smileys prove their worth.

Consider the following examples:

Without smileys – (in response to another player) Wow, great job.
With smileys – Wow, good job.

The first one could quite easily have been sarcastic. Note that another good way of conveying emotion is the use of punctuation at the end of phrases, as well as “lol”.

Without smileys – You are such an idiot.
With smileys – You are such an idiot.

Here, the statement could easily be taken maliciously if the smiley was not present, indicating that it was intended as a light-hearted, friendly comment.

In conclusion: Smileys are certainly NOT bad to use; in fact I strongly recommend that you use them, though only when they are needed.

 

Holy shit. An English lesson from josh, lol. I only read about half of it, but it looks like a pretty decent lesson.

Whate'er.

 

It's a good guide but, I don't think someone who always uses 1337 speech is going to use correct grammar just because you put this guide up.

 

Here's one tip.You forgot about gramatical errors such as good and well.
incorrect way: Wow, you did very good.
correct way: Wow, you did very well.
This is a major mistake many people make. Thought u might want to add this

 

Amazing! A+ for relevance.

 

Great guide, but seriously who here with bad english will actually read all of that? They arent familiar with regular english so reading it for them will be confusing. They will continue their bad habits because they think its cool and its faster, but they are all just losers and failures.

 

This is more related to internet, and forum chat. However, real English is a much different story. The issue of Smilie faces and spelling is not important. Enunciation is. How well you speak and which words you use while speaking is the true importance. English is not what is written, English is what is spoken, Grammar is what is written.


However, it is a rather good lesson on correctly sounding your written words.

 

Quite nice guide.
This sort of helped me prepare for my English class tomorrow.
ThAnKs

 

This should be definitely stickied! I completely agree with you, man. I see dozens of posts that are ill-constructed, as if the typer was actually wearing a blindfold (and was not fluent with the positions of letters on the keyboard).

Hahahaha.... For trying to give him advice on grammar,... you substituted "you" with "u."

One of the most common grammar mistakes would be "effect and affect" (yes, this does get confusing and sometimes while typing/writing things, i have to think about which one is right)

I don't know the exact rules, but i know when they are supposed to be used.
but here are some examples of where they SHOULD be used

1.It's a critical hit! It's super effective!
2.I am not affected by your insults.
3.The heat of the fire doesn't effect him.
4.I'm not sure if my probes will affect the way it will operate.
5.The effect the [BLANK] had on the [BLANK] was not a positive one.

being as i do not know the rules, i am sure i did one of those wrong

 

Why do you assume that, that is the most common Grammatical error? If you must know, the most common grammatical errors pertain to the different forms of "They", of "You", and the "To" and "Too" usage.

 

I think #3 is wrong, should be affect just like the other sentences.

 

thnkz josh, m3by ill try it s0m3 d4y

 

I hate misspelled words. And the grammar from some players just tears me apart. Advice; Stay in school and become a master of the language

 

Thanks for support

 

Thank you, i was sure number 3 or 4 was wrong, just didn't know which one

 

I don't think "kk, cya there" is decent grammar. Is "okay I'll see you there" really too long for you to type out?

 

ye i totally agree wit ya.. ppl cnt rite propaly 4 shit dese days init. den again i cudnt rly give a shit. if u cnt read it den learn fool. eng langwage make no sense n e wayz.

 

Yay I really liked it as my main language is french. Let's war against 1337
14N6U4G3.

 

Nigga, what? Diden't bother reading it all, but what i read seems like good stuff,
GG, Josh

 

Thanks