The problem with pedantry (light-hearted)

I had a very formal English education, where correct spelling, vocabulary and punctuation was essential, especially in exams. It seems schools are more relaxed now, and with two dyslexic grandchildren, it’s probably just as well. On the other hand, I am also irritated by errors in print, particularly the incorrect use of apostrophe’s. (Joke!)

Today I typed in sanitiser and it change it as I typed to sanitizer then put red dots under it to tell me I was wrong.

What you have to do in such circumstances is be very brave and tell it to b*gger off.

Or change your spell check from US to UK English.

Or just add your spelling to the spellcheck's dictionary..

Well, I know perfectly well how to spell and punctuate (I think) but as I write a lot of stuff on my phone I often press the wrong key (fat finger syndrome) and also because I’m in a hurry (or lazy) I don’t always remember to check. It’s also a pain to keep changing the keyboard for punctuation and capitals, which is why a few ‘i’s slip through instead of ‘I‘. Finally, like others I find that my phone changes words just as I press send- it thinks it knows better!

My spelling confidence has diminished over the years but I do try to be accurate. Wobbly spelling doesn’t bother me though as even Shakespeare was undecided about the spelling of his own name.
Punctuation? Ah there’s the rub. I can’t be bothered with accuracy if the meaning is clear . My standards are most certainly slipping .

I'm exactly the same as you, Newbiegran. Incorrect spelling jars with me, but I don't judge anyone by it. If I know someone is dyslexic, I take that into account, similarly I realise some people simply didn't have it all drummed into them.

I use several languages in everyday life and that helps with spelling and grammar. And I marvel at new words and expressions and accept that some changes will inevitably occur over time, or we would all still be speaking Anglo Saxon or Norman French. Or grunts.

However, I think rules should still be in place. If we let things slip too far, we won't be able to understand each other or - worse still - we will end up in total chaos due to numerous misunderstandings.

Commas are the worst. I am very very annoyed by what I consider to be their overuse in books (not by other grans) but you expect books to be correct. My pet hate is when the author describes someone or something and uses a comma between each descriptive word, such as "He was a young, fit, handsome man.." I would prefer "He was a young fit handsome man." What do others think?

Oh no! Lots of commas... That's what I was taught.
Yes, misspellings jar terribly. I can't bear a van that comes to our small town selling palnts and floral stuff calling itself "plants and Flours" Yuck. If it's a pun, it doesn't work for me.
I remember seeing some tinned tomato advertisement in a national magazine proclaiming that they were "pealed". Oh dear.

helenmabr , as a pedant, the last thing I assume about people who cannot spell is that they lack intelligence. I might be guilty of assuming that some people who make errors don't understand the importance of communicating clearly and effectively, but am well aware that there are those who have difficulties for any number of reasons.

Spellcheck is not to be trusted.
Eye halve a spelling chequer,
It came with my pea, sea.
It plainly marks four my revue
Miss steaks I kin knot sea.

Eye strike a quay and type a word,
And weight four it two say
Weather I am wrong oar write,
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a missed ache is maid
It nose bee four two long,
And eye can put the error rite.
Its rarely ever wrong.

Aye have run this poem threw it
Iamb shore yore pleased too no,
Its letter perfect awl the weigh.
My chequer tolled me sew.

Bazza, I too had a very formal and fierce indoctrination of the 'three rs' at school. Very grateful for it now. I do ashamedly admit to a slight jar when I read something I think is either wrong grammatically or spell-wise. However, I then have a quick check on myself to be sure I'm correct. Huh. Have been wrong sometimes. Unbelievable! What really grates with me are the pedants who are unkind enough to actually comment on subscriber errors without knowing either their educational or medical background. This is a huge deterrent for nervous contributors and so arrogantly rude in my opinion. Happily, I haven't seen so much of it lately. At the end of the day, who cares when all we are trying to do is have a friendly chat?

But this is the whole point about commas, if you are merely stating "he was a young fit handsome man" you don't need the commas.

If, on the other hand, you are emphasising that he was a young, a fit, and a handsome man, you do.

If you read both sentences aloud, you will automaticallly pause at each comma (or you would if you had had my primary school teachers) so there will be a difference between his being a young fit handsome man, and a young, fit, handsome man.

Please don't tell me not to put a comma before and. I grew up with the so-called Oxford comma which was taught in Scotland in the 1950s and swear by it still.

See Eats shoots (,) and leaves The colours of the Union Jack are red, white, and blue versus the colours of the Union Jack are red, white and blue.

Apologies for the poor quality but it was hastily shot through the windscreen with my phone a few years ago (and no, I wasn't driving!) It's always made me smile .

Haha Scribbles! That reminds me of the occasion when my young grandchild was on his first flight. As the plane came in to land there was a loud juddering noise. What’s that noise?’ he asked. Oh it’s just the plane braking he was told. The plane’s breaking?’ He asked, in a horrified voice!

Sometimes when I get carried away with quite a long post, I think 'oh no, I'm going to get told off for forgetting to put paragraphs in'.

My mother (now 90 and in a dementia care home) was a stickler for grammar and punctuation and once went into our local post office to complain about a notice they had in the window: Phone numbers for taxi's.
When asked why it was wrong, she explained that apostrophe + s denotes possession/ownership - and the reply was quite curt: Well that's right then! Because the phone numbers belong to the taxis! The taxis own the phone numbers!"

NoddingGanGan, I love that poem. It makes me laugh and shows how useless spellcheck really can be.
I’m not 100% correct with my grammar but normally I can tell when a word is incorrectly spelled (spelt?). I would say that incorrectly used apostrophes, wrong spelling, and my spellchecker drive me nuts!! ?

I was quite confident with my spelling and grammar until people started showing examples of incorrect use of the comma etc. I then began doubting myself and have now lost complete confidence. I have been known to completely change a sentence around to avoid having to use an apostrophe (or not). Writing a note to school about why my daughter had been absent was a nightmare.
I

My middle son was dyslexic, in the days before it was recognised. We couldn’t understand why an intelligent child who did well in many subjects was put into remedial English. His writing was slow, untidy and he mixed up his p’s and q’s, b’s and d’s, yet could do immaculate drawings and diagrams.
In spite of his problems he has qualified as -a Draughtsman! He is helping to design a nuclear submarine, right now.
It was a ‘lightbulb’ moment when we finally heard about dyslexia.
Computers have made life easier for people who have problems with their spelling and grammar, but it is infuriating when the spellchecker thinks that it knows best. I have an Irish friend named Orla, whom the spellchecker is convinced is a man named Orlando! ?

vampirequeen

Im a pedants nightmare. I forget apostrophes or worse still (for the pedant) misuse them. My ability to use commas leaves a lot to be desired so I have been known to write sentences that are even longer than Thomas Hardy's. On the upside I know the difference between Pacific and specific so I don't upset everyone

I know the difference too vampirequeen but then autocorrect changes words as I press 'post'!

Rumpunch

I was quite confident with my spelling and grammar until people started showing examples of incorrect use of the comma etc. I then began doubting myself and have now lost complete confidence. I have been known to completely change a sentence around to avoid having to use an apostrophe (or not). Writing a note to school about why my daughter had been absent was a nightmare.
I

"Susie (substitute correct name) wass sick" is quite useful, Rumpunch!

Covers a multitude of possibilities.

was
was
was

X 100

dunno wot yer mean like........

Good night last

This