True, we don’t read the single letters but the whole word. That is, if one reads in it’s native language or at least knows good enough to be able to ‘think’ in that language.
But that’s only syntax. There also is a thing as grammar, and it’s a lot harder to analyse the construction of a sentence if the attention is dragged away – by piss-poor spelling, lack of interpunction or just layout annoyances. It’s not necessarily the spelling which makes a text impossible to read (like Futurshox clearly demonstrated: while it is one big letter-hussle, it is still reads as ‘proper English’), it is a combination of spelling, grammar and layout. It’s the three things combined which determine how easy a text can be read. The same thing with Alastair’s Glaswegian blabbering above: while the way words are written is absolutely horrible and hardly looks like the English which i was taught in school, reading it phonetically makes it easy to understand.
But a poorly spelled text, without interpunction or caps except for the occasional … or !!!!????, where everything lighthearted is supported by lol, where every sequence of thought during the writing process is symbolised by oki… nope, there is nothing in there which compensates for the rest. The whole package combined makes it impossible to read.
Oh, and there is one thing i found extremely annoying as a non-native English speaker. Some people seem to write ‘theirs’ when they mean ‘there is’, or ‘would of’ in stead of ‘would have.’ Terrible. It makes the sentence look like there is no verb, and a sentence without a verb somewhere is extremely odd at best, and (again) impossible to understand at worst. Non-native speakers recognise “would of” or “theirs” as proper English words, but not in the way they are presented in such sentences.
My sincere apologies for a rant that wasn’t just long, but i guess incredibly boring as well. Sorry.
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