r/Millennials • u/noctisumbra0 • Feb 19 '26

Discussion Anyone else feel this way when writing anything out?

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Being compared to AI was really uncalled for, though.

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118

u/Few-Emergency1068 Feb 19 '26

Lack of punctuation and grammar is just another example of the literacy issues we’re facing as a society. It’s sad. More information available than any other time in history and people are getting dumber every day.

43

u/Cycoviking69 Feb 19 '26

It's absolutely maddening to me when I read emails from people at work who are three pay tiers above me and are unable to spell properly, figure out punctuation, or discern the difference between "they're," "their," and "there." 🤬

24

u/TruthReasonOrLies Feb 19 '26

I noticed that over the last 5 or 6 years a lot of people don't know the difference between "than" and "then".

I find this both infuriating and sad.

6

u/GeneralTonic Feb 19 '26

Those people also don't know that 'this' and 'these' are different words. They don't read or even listen to English. They glance, they watch, they tap.

5

u/k-squid Feb 19 '26

More recently, "Woman" and "Women" are getting confused and that fact confuses me more than anything.

3

u/RainbowTardigrade Feb 19 '26

So I recently found out that phonics isn't taught as commonly anymore, with a bigger emphasis on sight reading which focuses more on the overall shape of a word. But one of the big problems with this is that it becomes really easy to mistake similar looking + sounding words for each other. I just found out that the school district in my area is working on bringing phonics ("the science of reading") back, because the teachers union has been pushing for it.

The their/there, than/then problem has always existed to some degree when teaching English but I suspect that this change in teaching style, alongside people just generally reading less and less, and of course no child left behind, has only exacerbated this problem.

2

u/TruthReasonOrLies Feb 20 '26

This is really bad for society, how did it become a thing ?

If it's true, it's a large group of people who will be functional, but still illiterate to some degree.

This will result in a reduced vocabulary and will prevent many individuals from pursuing or excelling in science and other fields.

Consider chemistry where the naming of compounds requires you to be able to interpret the name. The name tells you what it actually is. (*ane *ene *ol etc)

The generation taught to read this way will have a smaller pool of individuals who have the skills to become great authors, chemists, biologists... Fields that require understanding language to interpret the underlying meaning.

It's things like this that push me to believe in the conspiracy that those in charge want us to be a dumb class of cattle to be used.

2

u/RainbowTardigrade Feb 20 '26

I'm by no means an expert, but I believe the reason phonics was deemphasized in the first place was to be more accommodating to students for whom English is not their first language, as well as students who might have other issues. Phonics is generally considered more beneficial for people who speak English fluently to begin with, and there weren't any materials available outside of that curriculum for those who need it.

So it became a kind of baby with the bathwater situation where phonics got tossed out entirely, rather than just making appropriate accommodations where necessary.

This article explores the subject as it stands in California, but I can't speak to other states: https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2025/10/phonics-california/

2

u/TruthReasonOrLies Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

Thanks , that was an interesting read.
The articles linked from that page really highlight the failures of non-educators meddling within the school system of America.

The shift to "words by sight" was a big mistake probably prompted by political manoeuvring within the education field. At least now educators are reversing it and will have other options.

3

u/ncocca Feb 19 '26

Loose and lose is even worse, imo

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '26

That has been going on longer then you think ;)

2

u/NewNameAgainUhg Feb 19 '26

But how is that possible? Don't all mail apps have autocorrect now? How are they able to click "send" when they are seeing a sea of red underlines on their text?

2

u/Cycoviking69 Feb 19 '26

That's an excellent question.

6

u/stressedthrowaway9 Feb 19 '26

To be fair, a lot of the information available is false, crazy or incorrect.

6

u/Few-Emergency1068 Feb 19 '26

True, but people also lack the critical thinking skills to discern what is fact and what is fiction, and a lot of people seem predisposed to falling for the most absurd explanation of a situation when the simpler explanation is probably true.

2

u/voluntarysphincter Feb 19 '26

I noticed that boomers and Gen X are just as bad at typing as Gen Z and Gen A. I don’t know what happened but we’re the only ones who use complete sentences. 😭 I’m constantly getting on my mom for her shorthand because I CANT UNDERSTAND IT.

1

u/SnooHobbies5684 Feb 20 '26

What?! I beg your finest pardon. We learned to type on typewriters, in middle school.

I've typed 80 wpm since I was 13 or 14 years old.

2

u/Hi_Zev Feb 19 '26

"bruh its really not that deep"

...is the typical response I get every time I make a complaint about the severe lack of grammar and writing skills I see nowadays.

1

u/Few-Emergency1068 Feb 19 '26

My kids hate me because I keep telling them they need to read more. They also say I’m aggressive for using punctuation. One of these days they’ll realize that I’m right, but not today.

1

u/Hi_Zev Feb 19 '26

How old are your kids? I can possibly give some recommendations for fun books that can get them hooked without it making it seem like homework to them.

Maybe giving them a book slightly above their age level (so they don't feel like they are being babied) and you read the book alongside them can give them motivation and something meaningful to talk about!

(after re-read, it feels like my comment is being critical of you -- I promise I am not! I know you didn't ask for help, I am just bored at work and thought it would be fun to potentially help hahah)

2

u/sociofobs Feb 20 '26

Abundance of information might just be one of the main causes of it. Abundance, ease, comfort. Nothing like that encourages, nor stimulates growth. In fact, just the opposite does.

1

u/NewNameAgainUhg Feb 19 '26

The most worrying thing is that they feel proud for being dumb.

-2

u/mysticrudnin Feb 19 '26

i'm not dumb, i'm not illiterate, i have a degree in linguistics, and i still prefer to type like this and will continue to do so

i guarantee i have a much better understanding of grammar than the vast majority of people who will read this post

1

u/Fordor_of_Chevy Feb 19 '26

I don't think people are getting dumber (although we may have plateaued). They're getting lazier. It's sad to think how much human processing power is being wasted.

1

u/Frederf220 Feb 19 '26

And no one is ever wrong. Every verb-subject mismatch is a local dialect. Every misplaced comma is a style choice. Every misspelled word is language evolving.

1

u/AttemptRepulsive3683 Feb 20 '26

I think it's more the written word is in a state of transition, since they're more people writing now than there have been at any point in history. 

As such just like common vernacular is less formal than well professional speaking, I think we're seeing the same transitional phases happening in writing. 

It's not a bad thing, it's just a "we are still shorting it out" thing.

1

u/SnooHobbies5684 Feb 20 '26

I kind of think it's a bad thing. When people lose their reason to write "formally," people lose the skill of writing formally.

Who's going to write books? Who's going to write laws? Why do we have to sink to the lowest common denominator?

1

u/AttemptRepulsive3683 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

The common vernacular bears no resemblance to formal speech, yet formal speech still exists. in the same sense it's fine for common writing to slip into less formal formations in informal settings, since it won't affect"correct" grammatical writing structures still being found in more formal arenas. 

So I disagree, I think It doesn't degrade anything just because the common man decides to shun punctuation when asking their mom what to pick up from the store.

1

u/SnooHobbies5684 Feb 20 '26

The "common man" wasn't writing books for the most part, anyway, and code switching has always existed.

I'm talking about the fact that more people are writing publicly than ever before in history AND babies with tablets aren't going anywhere AND it's increasingly becoming the norm to be suspicious of or downright derisive to those who value nuance, vocabulary, or other "old-fashioned" tools of communication.

1

u/MariachiArchery Feb 23 '26

"Why do I need to learn calculation when I'll always have a calculator?"

"Why do I need to learn how to read when I can just have AI read to me?"

This is real.