Hi cee-dee. Ebay is rife with illiteracy and personally I think it shows people up and I'm always tempted to get in touch with the individuals and correct their mistakes. Favourites of mine are 'to, two and too', so many people cannot differentiate the difference and know which one to use for the right context. I had a friend once who was a professor and he had no idea which of these to use correctly. Other common examples are 'there and their' and 'here and hear'. I've just come across one on Ebay today as it happens, where someone is explaining the condition of an item "...there not to bad"!

When one of my daughters went to primary school, I remember her coming back one afternoon with her homework book with corrections having been made by her teacher and marked up in red. The teacher herself could not spell either so I hastily wrote a note (in red) correcting her spelling and signed it. I never heard anything else on the matter!

Another bug bear of mine is when people write as they speak, in essence dropping their 'H's' like many people do from certain areas of the UK - 'ere is the ouse I am selling', get my drift? I truly believe that they speak like that and have no idea of the correct context or spelling of the words!

When I was at school, times tables were drummed into us like there was no tomorrow. We used to think "why on earth do we need these in the onward life after school", but they have become one of the most useful things I have ever learned and mental arithmetic comes second nature thanks to them. The youth of today cannot for the life of them work simple sums out in their heads.

I agree what you say about typefaces. Times New Roman was actually designed specifically for the Times newspaper as it is easier to read. However, in most cases, it's just lower case that is easier to read irrespective of the fount - note the correct spelling of 'fount', not 'font' as it seems to be used these days! Take signage on roads, airports, railway stations etc., all in lower case because it is easier to read. There is someone on Ebay that continually writes all their descriptions in capitals with no full stops at all and they are a nightmare to read. I contacted them once and asked why they did it in such a way only to be told that it was to help people who have difficulty with their sight! I rest my case!