Plea for more paragraphs in posts and a space between paragraphs

Paragraphs!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeYxkULH-tQ
0:20 to 1:00

Don't forget capitalization, commas and periods too.

Hitting the like button!

Totally agree!

No argument from me!

Seriously?

Free help.

On travel.

And there are rules.

Which are requested.

Perhaps.

Trip Advisor should be visited.

More often.

I believe.

The end.

Id be hpy if ppl wd jst wrt complt sntncs usg actl wrds. Prolly 2 mch 2 xpct frm thos wh us thr thmbs to cmmnct.

another vote in the plus column

• And no abbreviations, especially ones you made up yourself.
• And spell place names correctly, if you misspell them you will have problems searching on the Internet, as well as confusing us here.
• And use the full place name, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Aix en Provence etc. The extra bits are needed to distinguish from other Rothenburg's and Aix'es.
• And don't say xxxx, France or yyyy, Germany. It is usually obvious from the name which country they are in. If the places are not commonly known, say "xxxx, a small town north of Marseille", or "yyyy in the Bavarian Alps".
• And don't say $ without saying which kind of $ you mean. Even better, quote the actual price in the currency of the country, €, £, DKK etc. Do not convert.

{End of my rant for today}☺
Are bullet points acceptable as paragraphs?

I’m just happy with quality free advice from fellow Travel Forum posters.

Picky, picky, picky --- BUT, unfortunately -- accurate.

Yes! Another vote for readability and understandable language (spelling, obscure acronyms, punctuation). Free doesn't really come into it...

I guess my feeling is that if you can't read it, move on.

I frequent a couple of different forums and find that, universally, some people have trouble writing a coherent sentence. If it gets too difficult to slog my way through a poorly written, run-on mess, I just skip it. Not worth my time or brain damage.

Just to add one more complaint -- I've chided a poster or two for failing to include the basic "please" and "thank you". Don't make me do all your work for you when you can't even ask nicely!

I agree with Op that run on paragraphs are hard to read ,so wish folks would try and use them . So that’s a “ like “ from me .

I disagree with another poster who complains about places being spelt correctly , for goodness sake that IS nitpicking ! Sometimes people have heard of a place and are just spelling it as they have heard it ! The point of these types of forums is to be helpful , if it’s too annoying then don’t bother coming on the forum !

Yes, please! Even on a phone you can do paragraphs and spell check!

Chris, bullet points are terrific!

Nancy, I do what you do when the lack of formatting gets in the way.

Also, English is not necessarily the first language for all of the posters, so a little forbearance is in order if the spelling and syntax is not up to the Queen's standards.

Absolutely.
(Who on this forum corrects errors in library books, hmm??….in pencil, of course.....)

Also, instead of using three letter abbreviations for airports (TSF for Treviso is an example) use the actual names.

I agree big time with OP, Chris F and morrowbabette!!

Good one, David! (Or maybe "gd 1")

It's best to try to endure the peons, Nancy. Here on RS Forum we be sophisticates. Try this from today"s TripAdvisor Italy forum.

"Be ready for the chaos and noise of Rome traffic, even as a pedistrian. Cross streets with a group of people. Don't be polite if someone is agressive, say no loudly. (I had read RS advice on pickpockets, etc and sure enough, a group of ruffians targeted me at Trevi Fountain, by surrounding me with open newspapers. I just yelled get away and they left. Biggest upset was to my ego; they seem to target older American women and I fit that demographic.) Our 1st time in Rome, I was ready to get back on the train within 15 minutes, but quickly adjusted and had a wonderful time. Rome is a magical city. Enjoy."

I completely agree! Bad spelling (e.g. Cinque Terra, Sienna), abbreviations known only to the poster, and run-on sentences are my pet peeves.

For those complaining about obscure abbreviations, I completely agree, even though I use them myself.

But, obscurity is in the eye of the beholder and it took me a while to work out why so many people posting here came from unknown countries (?), airports (?), or prisons (?) such as CO, FL and OH. I'm still not certain where IA might be, but apparently it is near Chicago, which I have heard of.

David, too funny. My English and journalism teachers/professors would have flunked me.

We all make typos and auto-correct is both a help and a hindrance, but please try not to use abbreviations. I have to read some of the posts using Google's interpretations or just skip them.

If I see “Cinque Terra” or “Sienna”, I take it as a clue that the poster is very unfamiliar with Italy or hasn’t traveled beyond the Top 3. It’s helpful to provide a more thorough explanation to their question, and I just make sure to place the correct wording of the town within the answer for their future reference in planning lodging, etc.

I'm still not certain where IA might be, but apparently it is near Chicago, which I have heard of.

Don't get it mixed up with IAD, which is the airport code for Dulles International Airport, which is the Washington (District of Columbia) international airport. And it is Washington DC, the capital city of the USA, not the state all the way at the other end of the country.

BTW, I thought Cartegena was in Columbia, the South American country (not the District of Columbia). I take it Murcia is some kind of district of Spain.

@Chris F... Bullets are awesome!

Gee, I never expected to have so many replies --- maybe just one saying "Don't be so picky" and another one saying "Yes, good idea."

I posted just BECAUSE I found myself skipping questions and replies that had more than about 8 lines without a break, and I hated to be doing that. What if I could answer someone or learn something?

As for spelling and the other issues, I find that some of the smartest, most knowledgeable, most interesting people I know are wretched with grammar and can't spell worth a darn. Foreign words and names are particularly challenging for people. So, I figure that anybody who is asking for information or providing information shouldn't have to jump through TOO many hoops to get their posts read.

Yes, bullet points and lists are great!

Thanks,

Nancy

Op, we’re all different... your pet peeve is long text with no paragraphs, mine is the correct spelling of a place where a poster is going and is asking about or they have already been to. It is easy to Google and find the correct spelling... : )

As far as auto-correct goes, it would help if people proof-read their text before posting, or after they post, then edit. Typos are jarring to read, and if there are too many, I stop reading and move on.

Sam, it's CartAgena, and it's in ColOmbia, not ColUmbia...

FL = Fürstentum Liechtenstein, the official name of the country, as shown on signs and car number plates (see this photo).

And people who don't post enough context, assume you know what their plans are. Posted under France: "How to do I get from the airport to my hotel?" - which airport? which city? which hotel? When?

Mizspellings, the bane of my existence.

And don't say xxxx, France or yyyy, Germany. It is usually obvious
from the name which country they are in

Like

• London, ON, Canada
• Copenhagen, ON, Canada
• Denmark, WI, US
• Paris, TX/TN/IL, USA
• Paris, Denmark

You would assume that the category ("England", "Denmark") would give the reader a hint :-)

No no, the grammar is all wrong.

It isn't "Copenhagen ON Canada", it is "Copenhagen IN Canada". hmmph

Nigel, I beg to differ.
"ON" is denoting ONTARIO in Canada.
(Though as far as I know, there's no Copenhagen in Ontario!)

Why specify? Everyone knows Naples, Verona, Palermo, and Sorrento are in ME (for the acronym-challenged that's the state of Maine). As well as Paris, Denmark, Sweden, Mexico, Belfast, Calais, China, Poland, Norway, Vienna, and Moscow.

"I take it Murcia is some kind of district of Spain."

Yes, that's pretty much right. Thankfully, we're a small and unknown "kind of district" which is largely ignored by the rest of the world (and, indeed, generally by most of Spain). Nobody here complains about tourists or how they ask their questions, because there aren't that many of them.

Murcia sounds exactly like my kind of place and will be on next year's itinerary. I think, though, that it's not quite as obscure as Teruel, for which the slogan "Teruel Exists" was coined. Stunning place, just a bit challenging to get to.

The thing that makes me wince is when someone responds to a question with sarcasm or in a demeaning way. Fellow travelers are sincerely wanting to have help, but there is an occasional snarky reply that certainly must make the OP feel like a fool for asking. I don't think anyone should be made to feel sorry they came on this forum.

Barb, I cannot agree with you more. I just don't get it. Misspelled words, grammatical errors and poor sentence structure can be annoying but folks come here with travel questions and for help. When I read one of those snarky posts I say a silent prayer in hopes that the individual writing the reply is not a classroom teacher! ( Or in any position of instructing for that matter...)

S Jackson: You might be right. I just got the information from: https://roadsidethoughts.com/on/copenhagen-profile.htm.

It also says

there are 8 communities that are also named Copenhagen - they are
located in Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North
Carolina, Texas and Vermont.