You can spell things however you want as far as I'm concerned. As long as I can understand what you're saying without straining to read it, it's okay. I guess everyone else is just a lame-ass, huh?

Maybe the people making an issue of spelling are doing so because they don't easily understand non-standard spelling.

Because bad spelling and grammar can lead to confusion and lack of clarity. Anything that stands in the way of clear communication should be avoided. And by the way, spelling standards are not just important here on AB. You'd want to demonstrate them on job applications, for example. +1

Most people feel that textspeak belong on cell phones and not AB. . .this has been discussed to death here in other questions. It seems that the majority of ABers dislike this sort of thing for whatever reason. I'm certainly not fond of it, but that's just me.

Ok...you think "its" stupid.....but many of us find it abhorent to purposely spell like a first grader with a severe head injury. Too each his own......but guess who commands more respect in the "real world"? People who have the full breadth of vocabulary and syntax at their fingertips............or those who are completely incaplable of stringing a coherent sentence together?

A number of reasons... 1) Text-speak goes in chats, messages and handhelds. I usually give them a break if I can translate them (which requires me to go into translate mode for many), but since the vast majority of users here use desk- or lap-tops, they should spell everything out. (If you can't type well, but can text, practice your typing!) 2) Many feel it's being "lazy" not to actually use your brains to spell things out. WHY, if there's room, would you use "u" for "you"... It's not like it takes THAT more more time to type... 3) There is a relatively large group of people on AB who don't text. They know a few acronyms (LOL, LMAO, IMO), but don't knoe, understand, or WANT to learn a new foreign language, which text-speak is to them. 4) AB was founded on asking and answering questions that people on the 'net can then search for. When you search, you use the whole word (or should). If your question doesn't use the whole word, it's most-likely not going to be found on a regular search. This goes against what AB is about. All that said, I understand text-speak if you are using a cell-phone or hand-held to AB... It will save you some time, and therefore money, to abbreviate. BUT, if you are not (as I said, earlier), then you should spell everything out. And, BTW: People don't like being called "stupid" for their beliefs. If you think that, fine, but don't put it in a question if you really expect a number of valid answers, rather than just those that agree with you. (They, ALSO, think that it's stupid to spell stuff this way, and most especially, to call any who oppose it stupid.)

In the context of AB, maybe spelling words wrong isn't like, the end of the world. However, on principle, I think good spelling, or at least making the effort to spell correctly, is an important and fading skill. Around here it may not matter so much, as long as you get your point across, but can you honestly say that you can separate how you spell on AB from how you spell on say, a police/accident report, a resume, a memo, or an email to your college professor? I feel that bad spelling by design (especially people who use things like "tha" or "da" instead of "the") creates a bad habit and definitely will not score you any points for professionalism in the "real" world. I also feel that people tend to take you a lot more seriously, even on AB, if you at least make the effort to use correct English.