This is a great forum where all of us are welcome to share our mutual love and enjoyment of St. Martin/St. Maarten, along with our knowledge of it, or our persuit of specific island knowledge or information.

But what it's not, IMO, is an English class and most of us will, upon occasion, make a spelling, punctuation or a grammatical error, or a keying misstroke. And as if that isn't enough, there are even times when our "i"whatevers will make corrections where sometimes the end product is light years removed from what we were trying to say in the first place. I've had this happen to me on more than one occasion and sometimes the auto correct is hysterically funny but other times its left me saying, "What the heck?!" And there are also those who aren't as fluent in English as we might be but they still have a point to pose.

This forum is meant to be a friendly place where we can share our knowledge but sometimes we may state something as fact only to discover after the fact we were wrong. It happens......or at least, it has to me. But our intentions are good and well-meant!

What it's not is a place to discuss morals and values, politics and/or religious perspectives or the merit and the value of different lifestyles. It's a place to share our island and our love of same, putting all that other stuff aside.

Sometimes we write things and without rereading, we post them and realize after the fact, perhaps our choice of words wasn't the best or perhaps the tone of our words wasn't the best and maybe it was a little harsh. It happens but it's usually not meant to be taken in a negative light.

Please don't take offense or get our collective backs up about these little mishaps or better yet, misspeaks. It's usually not personal though on the rare occasion it is, there's generally no mistaking the fact. But the truth is, we can always disagree but hopefully without being disagreeable.

Let's continue to keep this a friendly place to share our love of our favorite friendly island..... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Well said!

Bravo Pat!

I agree...unless of course a thread is titled with a political or religious slant....and then it is up to you to open , read and comment

ultimately...there are plenty of moderators to remove or lock threads that are offensive.

I kind of go with the flow...I have been here since the beginning...I have seen people come and go...

Traveltalk is a great place to discuss our favorite place....and we are very very thankful to have it.

thank you Carol and Eric for all you do

Carol, thank you for this post! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Well said, Pat. I don't post here that often, but I have learned a lot from this website. It is very informative about the island and I've felt like a returning visitor ever since I first logged on.
Thanks for all the information everyone!

I never make misteaks.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

Me thinks some do not realize that for a brief period, a poster or commenter can return to the post or comment. They can then enter into the edit mode and edit (or delete) what they see is incorrect or, perhaps, not what they meant.

That edit window ends within a few hours.

But you can't fix when you reply to the wrong person, and then that person gets their panties in a bunch and points it out, when it's obviously not a big deal. People need to chill. If I use there instead of their, and don't go back and fix it, it's really not the end of the world. Or if I decide to not use any punctuation at all and just continue rambling on and on with no comas or periods again the world wont come to an end its just annoying and if you don't like it just don't read it or comment kind of like the FOLKS THAT LIKE TO POST IN ALL CAPS. Annoying and no they are probably not yelling but maybe they can't see well and it helps. People just need to take the information at face value and do with it what you want. I can't imagine anyone here on this board that would point out other people's faults in person, so why the need to do it behind a keyboard??

Where is Kevin when you need him?

^ ha!!!

J.D..... I'm here, I'm here. Oh! Maybe I'm not the the Kevin you are referring to!

Pat ... I so agree with you. Thus is a great forum for exchange of info about our favourite island. Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors are irrelevant. What is important is the sincerity with which the info is dispensed. I don't know you, but I have always admired how you sign off "Respectfully, Pat". A class act.

When you remember (discover) that you replied to the last commenter and if it is recent,...you do have a window of time to delete and reply to the right one... pretty timely and cumbersome I agree... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I was thinking the same thing Kim. After Pat's post I spent the day ruminating on the issue.

Would you interupt someone in person and say, "it's I saw, not I seen".
(Well, nevermind...there are those a**holes who/that/whom? do do that...lol)

And as far as people thinking someone is replying to them, it's merely a case of reading the whole thread and you hit reply to add your comment, and you are chosing the last post....not that its to them. It's a reply to the thread. Sheesh.

Part of the problem with people replying to the wrong person is based on how you read the board, and many people may not be aware that there are different modes to read in. It depends on whether you read in "FLAT" or "THREADED" mode. On the line just above "Reply" "Quote" and "Quick Reply", there is a line of buttons that says "Previous" "Index" "Next" and "Flat" (Or "Threaded") If you click on the Flat or Threaded, it will switch to the other view. This sounds more complicated than it is, but if the button says "Flat", that means that you are currently reading in "threaded" mode, which is what I do 99.99% of the time. If you are replying in Threaded mode and you hit Reply to the exact post you are replying to, you will reply to the correct person, not just at the end of the thread.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

You sure is right Pat! Folks need not worry about diddly little things. Heck, I'm from the deep South and I get heckled enough when I'm somewhere else about my accent, but shucks I don't care. I figure everyone else has the funny accent. When we're in SXM we usually meet up with more folks from up north then down South. But we love meeting new folks just as we love talking to them on line. Now if I've already said something in this post to upset someone, well I ain't a worrying bout it. Just got one thing to say and that is we look forward to seeing everone that's gonna be in SXM from June 7-june 21. Three mo weeks! Ya'll come see us. Ya hear.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Rofl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Well, I *don't* correct people but it sometimes takes all my might to resist. I wish there was a way to *politely* point out to people that they may want to check their grammar. It's kind of like seeing someone with food in their teeth - You want to help them avoid embarrassment but the very act of doing so embarrasses them (and gets you labeled a Grammar Nazi).

Yes, I realize it's a slippery slope from correcting "your" and "you're" (sadly, a battle that I fear is already lost) to arguing over dangling participles but man, some people just aren't trying.

The one that is killing me now is people writing "I must of forgotten...". Really? You are are hearing "must've" and thinking "must of".

To me, there is a difference between typos and laziness.

I'm only commenting here because this isn't directed at anyone or any specific post. Otherwise, I know I'd get the "Nazi" label - the universal Get of of Jail Free card for lazy grammar. But, I know I'll still get skewered...(sigh)

Contractions are the enemy of good grammar.

Sorry, but as a southerner...I find contractions perfectly acceptable.

And it's not must've or must of.......it is must have. No?

I went to a Catholic grade school and got the motherlode of English grammar from the best Irish teacher in the world, or my small world at that time. Got to eighth grade and this wonderful teacher was retiring. She let us in on a good laugh, her college majors were in mathematics and engineering, but the only available position at the school all her children were attending was teaching English. I will never forget Mrs. Murphy, and bless her heart for being such a great teacher. I don't think I ever correct anyone's grammar on this board. I pick up on the spirit of the conversation or question, and that is what is important. I also understand people sometimes reply to the latest post and not to the intended recipient, but find that easy to pick up on without calling notice to it.

Pat, you remind me of that Irish teacher I had. Bless You.

Interestingly, there are a lot of people who don't care that their grammar isn't perfect, and aren't in the least embarrassed when they use improper grammar, spelling, or punctuation. My husband is one of those people. I used to correct his errors for the very reason you mention: to save him embarrassment. After several years of marriage, he finally told me he didn't care, and that he was pretty sure people knew what he meant. So now, while I still cringe at the errors, I just let it go.

This is true! Both times my wife gave birth, she didn't give a hoot about good grammar during the contractions! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

Yeah, I guess it's a good thing when people are not overly concerned with the opinions of others - to a point. In your case, you know how your husband feels. In cases like we are talking about here, you don't know if the person knows and doesn't care, doesn't know and doesn't care, or doesn't know and would be embarrassed if they knew.

I can't help but feel embarrassed for them though. I had a manager who used the term "For all intensive purposes..." in an email that included other high ranking people. Clearly a case where he mis-heard the phrase initially - like a song lyric you've been singing wrong all this time. Innocent enough but it still looked bad in front of his bosses. I suspect he wishes someone would have set him straight previous to this use...

I think we would all agree that what one puts in a professional communication is quite a bit different than what is posted on a simple message board. I often see things posted here that I surely HOPE that the person is just in a hurry and definitely does know better than what they posted, but when all is said and done, it's just a little message board. I think that was all that Pat was trying to say in the original post. Don't sweat the small stuff.. And in the scheme of things, it's all small stuff..

agreed...Carol....it doesn't really matter