How come Americans are so bad at spelling and grammar?

I visit gift shops all over america and one of the things that stops me dead in my tracks is one of the T-shirts that has the following text written on it, quote: I've been drinking all night and "your" still ugly. I don't know how many are printed like that and how many people actually buy the shirts. The people that placed the order, the buyers (not sending them back) the printers, the buyers. How does a mistake like that get that far. By the way, the right way to say that is either "you're" or "you are."

Pragmatism rules supreme.

It may be because of how elementary and high schools are funded. If I understand correctly, a school is funded by the neighborhood it's in. So if a school is in a poor neighborhood, it's poorly funded. Since most Americans are struggling (70% live paycheck to paycheck), it's reasonable to assume that most schools are underfunded.

This question is four years old.
If the Americans were that bad in spelling and speaking and writing how come that USA has more high ranking universities than the European Union.
I think there are more Nobel Prize winners from USA than from the European Union. But has to check into that.

Bad?

No we set the bar, misspellings are not actually misspellings. That is how we decide it should be spelt.

if you look carefully, the screening done on tees at gift shops are usually done in places like Indonesia.
Ive seen many tees that are laughably spelt (not done purpously Id wager). many times phrases RE JUST RIDICULOUS,& INCOMPREHENSIBLE. but, THE SHOP OWNERS keep em in stock.

they done it on purpous

great name fer a fur ball

like don t is a great name fer a merkin leader

I meant porpoise , it was done on porpoise.

I doan use spelczech as offen as I shud. Sew I mais hev a fiew errs hier n their

Same thing happens over here with Chinese characters.

The general population is bad at spelling, speaking, and writing, hopefully not academics.

Now last I heard universities are ranked according to how much money they spend on research. Given the amount of private donations the Ivy League schools receive, it's no wonder they rank as the best in the world. Most Ivy League students come from wealthy families and attended private prep schools, so they too should know how to write.

For a long time the US invested more in research than anywhere else, so it's no wonder they probably have most of the Nobel Prize winners. It all boils down to $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. The US also has more Olympic medals than anyone else. Again, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

There are more students on the USA colleges universities from what we in Europe would call "a worker´s family" than there are in Germany.
USA students get a lot of scolarships.
Even though it is cheaper to study in Germany it is often a question of "class" difference.
The colleges and universities have much more programs with sports than in Europe.
Everything is not about money, but about support and trying to give a young
person a good start in life.

Perhaps because more employers in the US require higher education and because good-paying manufacturing jobs for people with no more than high school went to China. In Germany you still have a lot of manufacturing. So Americans need to get higher education if they want a good-paying job.

In Germany university is free, also for foreigners. Germany does give outstanding support and a good start in life to its citizens, unlike the US.

Yeah, that. Don't forget their admission standards. With the number of applicants they have to choose from, the ones actually selected would make Podunk U. look like one of the world's greatest schools.

I've said this before on a2k - my good university was free when I went there. I think first semester fees were $19.00 and the next semester cost me $26.00.
Buying books nearly killed me though. This was UCLA, but the whole UC system had similar. Then came Reagan..

In my case, I would have been out of luck, since I transferred there because we couldn't afford the little catholic college I went to the first year (looking back, not that expensive).

I tried for a scholarship at that first one. My family's finances had gone from bad to worse for about ten years. I did qualify for a California State scholarship, but because my dad got one good job for one month in a whole year, he earned too much; he never earned like that again, nothin' in the other eleven months, and so on. After I transferred to the UC system, I worked c. 32 hrs. a week, and took a lot of buses between jobs. I didn't just need money for school, I needed money for my parents. School wasn't easy, but I loved it there. I remember thinking there was nothing I could not learn at that campus. Later in life I worked there, once a large number of years in science, and once in landscape architecture, years apart.
I would never have had such enjoyment had there been tuition.
Naive re nothing I couldn't learn, but I did learn a lot.

You are comparing two completely different university systems.

May I ask you where you think the money comes from to run a university in Germany?
From above with God`s help?
No, tax money. Every citizen helps to pay for the universities so an elite can study. I find it perfectly ok that way. But when you figure out the money invovled a European probably pays more money for university over a lifetime than an American for his time to study. This is deducting food and bording and books etc.


With a statement like that you have had to study and or lived both in USA and Germany.
Plus the fact the different states in USA are different in many ways just like the countries in EU.
Compare USA with the European Union and live in a couple of the countries or at least speak a few of the languages and get to know a country.
Sweden is supposed to be the country which best takes care of its citizens.

You are comparing two completely different university systems.

You were the one who brought up European universities.

May I ask you where you think the money comes from to run a university in Germany?

Yes, from taxes. A person with higher education who gets a good-paying job will pay much more taxes back to the government over his lifetime than what he cost the government to receive higher education. Higher education is a great investment for the individual, for the government, and consequently and most importantly, for society.

Sweden is supposed to be the country which best takes care of its citizens.

Yes, the Scandinavian countries and other socialist democracies. It's no wonder they have the happiest people on Earth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report

I've said this before on a2k - my good university was free when I went there. I think first semester fees were $19.00 and the next semester cost me $26.00.
Buying books nearly killed me though. This was UCLA, but the whole UC system had similar. Then came Reagan..

Yep, Reagan and his policies are destroying the American and world's middle class, economy, budget, jobs, people's health, the environment, etc.

The happiest used to be Denmark - now Norway.
Sweden is number 10. So people are not that happy and content.
According to you USA is really not very good to live in - still it is number 14
Your praised Germany is number 16.

According to you USA is really not very good to live in - still it is number 14
Your praised Germany is number 16.

It's their GDP per capita, which is a lot higher than Germany's, but wealth in the US is very concentrated, in Germany it's much better distributed. Of all first world countries, the US is by far the worst place to live: no work benefits or rights, no universal healthcare, no free higher education, no job security, insanely arbitrary laws, infrastructure falling apart, very little public transportation, and the list goes on and on.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

First you tell it is best to live in Germany and show a list of happy countries
Then it turns out Germany is less happy than USA you come with a list of GDP.
What you want to do is just to declare USA as the worst first world country.
You sound like one of those Germans who always complain about USA.
As a rule a lot of Germans do not know anything but have a lot of opinions.