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Electronic Mail

Don't Judge a Person By Their Email

SUMMARY: A person's intelligence is not measured by one's e-mail.

You know the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover"? It applies to email as well. Don't judge a person's intelligence by the email they send. Many times I've sent email to very intelligent email and gotten back responses that would make even E.E. Cummings blush. Why is this?

1) Many people just don't care about using proper grammar; as long as their message gets across, that's ok.

2) The Internet is global. Just because English is your first language doesn't mean it is that of your recipients.

3) Some people get dozens, hundreds, or thousands of emails daily. If they spent all their time grammar proofing and spellchecking email, they wouldn't get anything else done.

When I send email, I try to at least give each message a quick once-over. I'll try to make sure words are spelled correctly and that proper punctuation is used. I do slip up, however, and when I read emails from those that slip-up or don't take the time to proof their emails, I don't think badly of their senders.

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The MalekTips website was created in 1998 by Andrew Malek of Envision Programming. The page's goal is to freely disperse computer-related tips, hints, and informative articles. Tips are organized to be easy to find, and are presented clearly, in easy-to-understand language. MalekTips also provides information and links to public-domain, open source, freeware, shareware, and commercial software available for download. < more >