Proofreader wanted

It has always amazed me that diagramming sentences went by the boards. Oh well, now we have Twitter! How's that for progress? LOL

PS. In my case though I must admit that diagramming sentences went hand in hand with nuns, which was a truly fearsome combination :-)

Here's an actual reply I received right here on Audiogon when I asked a seller to pack a heavy amp with thick heavy foam (not packing peanuts) all around the amplifier:

"Hire those guys pack and ship I can ship this I will trow it in outher box off mcintosh c2300 I buy one shit pink panter starafon and be ok I ship krell kas200s it is much more hevier amp"

I actually Googled the word "starafon" because it threw me, but I couldn't find an appropriate answer. Then I read it to my wife, and she said that the seller probably meant "Styrofoam," and I realized she was right.

Needless to say, I did not pursue the deal any further.

Plato, I could be wrong, but I suspect English is not the first language of the seller in the example you cite. There are lots of people on Audiogon for whom English is not the first language. That's a different issue than the decline and fall of the English language amongst the U.S. populace, which I think is the point of the OP.

Trelja

Personally, I find plagiarism (one symptom of the outright dishonesty in this industry as a whole) a far more egregious sin. Multiple episodes on this site, where the general forum had no issue with it, caused my participation and overall faith to plummet to almost nothing.

I agree on plagiarism and for me, this carries over to design, style and function. I've been tempted dozens to times to start a rant over stolen automobile styling. Certain automobile companies set high standards of style by spending money and putting in hard work, only to have knock off appear in as little as a year.

I think most people are unaware of this or don't care. For some reason it drives me crazy.

I agree with Rlwainwright, it is laid at the feet of our education systems. I hear kids trying to articulate the English language and it is sad as well as revealing. These kids today have little chance if their errors are not corrected. To quote Jaime Escalante (the teacher in Stand and Deliver) "it's not that they are stupid, they just don't know anything". Our education system along with many other areas of public supported agencies lack "acountability", and there begins the path of deterioration. The other "tool" of this demise of grammer, is the shortcuts kids are taught with texting, and as menioned above, keyboards in lieu of pen and paper. But, get used to it, I think this is as good as it will ever be from here forward. We are a dying generation of people that will ever know the difference.