Break VS Brake PSA

Cars have BRAKES to slow them down and hold themselves from rolling.

Cars sometimes BREAK because some component failed.

Car BRAKES can BREAK and need repair.

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huh . . .

:thinking:

give me a break! :slight_smile:

The last thing this message board needs is another member to proof read and correct people.

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I guess I was in my 30s when I first noticed that college graduate business men could neither spell or compose literate memos or instructions, making mistakes we would have not gotten away with in 4th grade. I don’t consider myself an English snob. I make many grammatical errors, English was my worst subject in high school, but everyone should be able to put understandable thoughts on paper.

Many people who ask for help om this forum seem to have no idea how to ask a comprehensible question. I was used to that from 5 year olds on my school bus who think that bus drivers know all about their lives, families, teachers and problems, but adults should have grown out of that.

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That’s because they never had Mrs. Vanderwert for Freshman Comp.

I guess I’m with @Nevada_545. I don’t mind it here usually. Sometimes posters don’t know (no) any better and other times they just slip up. I do (due) mind when I see (sea) it in the local or national news though and tend to judge the competence of the reporter accordingly. Happens a lot.

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It bothers me too. I’m not sure whether it’s the reporter, editor, or type setter (if there is such a job these days). I’m sure their word processor has spellcheck. I always check my spelling, at least in work writing. It doesn’t happen often, but some of my words are transformed to something offensive, and I don’t want that published.

The problem is two many people let there computers spell Czech bee they’re proof reader. A lot of it arises from dictating into a smart phone instead of spelling it out yourself using the keypad. The smart phone can’t tell the difference in the pronunciation of too, to, and two, or brake and break.

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Hey, I just fat finger it.

This is Car Talk. Not Grammar Talk. I like using proper English myself, but I also recognize that it’s not always necessary, and really not something to get in a twist about on a site that’s supposed to be helping people with car problems.

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I can say without bragging that my command of grammar and spelling is better than average. Hearing a sitting US Senator use “infer” as a synonym for “suggest” put my teeth on edge. But that’s not the purpose of my presence on this site. If I have to overlook an occasional spelling error, I will.

A new poster will write something like, “My transmission is making a noise,” and the response will be, “That’s not a question! Go away, you stupid cretin, and don’t return until I decide you’re worthy!” In such cases, the question is implied, as in the previous example, where the question is, “What’s wrong with my transmission?” When I post my own reply, I usually try to repair the damage done by the previous poster. Not everyone speaks “mechanic.” Some posters probably don’t speak English as their first language.

There’s more than enough hostility on this site and it takes a thick skin to stay. My first post, about a year ago, was a question about transmission noise. At least one person told me I was hallucinating. More than one person implied that I was mentally deficient. Later, I learned that posters can imply whatever they want as long as they don’t say it explicitly. That experience set the tone of the site for me and I decided to be better than some of the folks who had “welcomed” me. I really don’t want to set a similar tone for anyone else if I can help it.

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How can you say that without bragging ?

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To quote Dizzy Dean (who, incidentally, was paraphrasing Walt Whitman), “It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”

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That’s not your job

You’re not my boss

It may in fact not be bragging if you can back it up, but you still risk sounding like a jerk . . . maybe not to all, but to some/many

A lot of great athletes who said they can do great things . . . and then proceeded to do them . . . still acted like jerks, in my opinion, medals and titles aside

Fair enough but IMHO all of us should feel a responsibility for the general tone of discussion. If I think someone has received a less-than-warm welcome or a nonconstructive response I’ll try to make up for it. Obviously, you’re free to do whatever you want.

As for whether I’m a jerk, the specific reference was to my command of grammar and spelling. I’d like to think they speak for themselves. YMMV.

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I prefer to post from my pc, easier to navigate the keyboard and screen. If I try on my cell phone I struggle, I assume that a lot of the poor posts are from folks with little mechanical knowledge and using a cell phone. They do not know how to communicate a mechanical problem and end up being brief (incomplete) which is typical on a phone

I looked back at Dave’s first post . It was ridiculous as he based the statement that CVT 's made noise on a test drive on one used vehicle . So not many people accepted that non scientific study.

I guess he has appointed himself as ( Forum Ambassador Supreme ) .

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No, I didn’t and this is symptomatic of what I mean. The car I drove had a CVT and the transmission made noise. I got curious and found a boatload of owner complaints and YouTube vids about cars with CVTs that made the same noise. It wasn’t unreasonable to figure it must be a common issue.

Now, however, you’ve made the thread about me instead of about whether we should accept spelling mistakes from new posters. Congratulations on the deflection. In a politically themed forum I visit occasionally it’s known as “Look over there!” I might add, that forum has an “ignore” function and hands out bans for personal attacks. I wish this one did too.

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Be careful what you wish for . . .

I usually am. In this instance I’m not concerned.

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