[euge]

That's the theg I do the most, BTW. I always type ";" when I mean to type "'". Just can't hep mysef.

On my laptop I always ; when I want to ' so from now on I'm letting it ride. If it happens it happens. My text messages are grammatically correct with a few acronyms salted into the sentences.

I like auto-correct up to a point, but obviously my phone doesn;t know me at all- even after nearly two years. The predictive text will sub out my correctly spelled words for ones that have little relation to the subject.

[tschmidlin]

Wow, long thread for one day.

I am a fan of the Oxford comma, and double space after my periods.  It's just the right thing to do.

I know a lot of ESL people in my work, and get a lot in the classes I teach.  My second favorite feedback ever from a student was:

"He correct my grammar all time, but his grammar not good"

Just to be clear, I didn't correct her speaking grammar but her written lab reports where grammar mattered.  Hilarious.  I suggested she should go to the school's writing center where she could get writing help for free.  She didn't listen.

[redbeerman]

That's why I don't hire anyone whose resume and/or interview doesn't reflect the ability to form cogent thoughts.  If you're lazy with your words, you're lazy with everything else--so there's no place for you here.

I like this guy!   I think it may have something to do with a lot of people in our country with advanced degrees having English as a second language.  I will not rant, I will not rant.

Just to be clear:  That's your opinion, and not mine. 

Generally speaking, a highly-educated individual is not lazy.  In my experience, Americans are often worse than highly-educated foreigners for whom English is a second language.  With regards to highly-educated foreigners, I often find their grammar and syntax to be quite good, although the occasional word juxtaposition and unusual delivery/pronunciation can be amusing.  With regards to conversational English, the foreign accents do make it extremely difficult to understand at times.

Point taken.  Just to be clear, I have found that my european collegues write in English with better grammar than my asian colleagues.  This is just an observation on my part.  It does not mean that I think they are less intelligent or lazy, I know they are neither.