To spell or not to spell?

 

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Posted on 22 Jan 2001 at 09:41

A lot has been made of SMS messaging and how users have come up with their own dictionary of abbreviated spellings. But now a new Web site advocates that we ditch conventional spelling for a "free" version of the Queen's English.

The freespeling.com site has been set up by Richard Lawrence Wade and signposts a campaign to introduce 'freespelling' into modern usage. The site gives guidelines on how to introduce freespelling onto your Web sites and advises when you should and should not use this reduced method of spelling.

Mr Wade, an ex-producer at the BBC, describes his campaign as a silent revolution and also uses the site to encourage potential investors in his site. Mr Wade says of the English language: "English spelling is fossilised, difficult, illogical. Some of us can cope, some can't. Bad spelling is not only a barrier to promotion, it's an uncomfortable stigma and a deterrent to literacy."

Author: Darren Lock