Correcting others’ grammar/spelling mistakes

In full agreement Maryeliza54. I posted this on another thread on this very issue.

Just picked up on the thread about people 'declaring' their disabilities, in this case and it seems at other times people have 'declared' dyslexia.

What is wrong here, in my view, is that anyone who is willing to share their views, debate and yes, even argue using the written word, should have to even think about their dyslexia. To point out grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors is just un kind, and to use those things to undermine confidence in the argument being made or the veracity of the knowledge says more about the "marker" than the producer of the work.

No one should feel that they have to 'declare' their 'disability'. Their ability is in what they think, and their willingness to stand up for what they believe in, on line and in writing, how brave is that.

I should have added that it is just pomposity to correct others spelling, grammar and punctuation. My feeling is that people who do this sort of thing do it just "because they can".
It benefits know one in these circumstances and only serves to shut out people with intelligence and good things to say, by publicly embarrassing them.

Jalima

I have trouble spelling , been corrected many times. The funniest was typing erotic instead of exotic ?

Live and Learn!

Me neither Grannyknot

If anyone wants to correct my spelling and grammar, please feel free to do so.

However, Be Warned! I do enjoy using split infinitives so if you boldly go and soundly reprimand me I will happily ignore you.

? good for you Grannyknot.

I must have the thickest skin on the planet. I couldn't care a fiddler's fart whether people correct my grammar or spelling and I hardly ever notice it when people make an oops spelling or grammar wise. In the grand scheme of things ...

It is often the case that some people on Gransnet are quite critical of other posters’ point of view, not just their grammar and spelling. I have not been here very long, but I am often surprised. I don’t know people’s names well enough to know who to fear, but there are enough unfriendly posters to worry me, at times. And lots of lovely ones too.

My Mother always said that the worst possible manners was to point out what others were doing wrong, be it spelling, speaking or using the wrong cutlery. How right she was - there may be people suffering with all sorts of problems like dyslexia, poor eyesight and so on, but joining in on a discussion is a great thing to do and must help many lonely people. I am the world's worst typist, totally untrained, fast and wildly inaccurate, and often have to go back and correct my typos. Let's all give each other a break!

It’s just rude as anyone with any sense knows. This is a chat forum and not an English exam.
I guess you can take the teacher out of the classroom etc.......

Wholeheartedly agree Grandma70s. It’s lack of manners that gets to me, not language usage. Posters on Pedants’ Corner talk about cringing when they see bad grammar. I admit I notice it, but I certainly don’t cringe. Bad manners, deliberate rudeness, that’s really something to cringe about.
And I was taught early on that it was discourteous to misspell someone’s name, so I do try to get thst right.

It is not just education, upbringing or even the dreaded auto correct that affects our posts. I post when I have the energy and check as much as I am able but if I was to wait until I think I could do it perfectly you would never hear from me at all. I know my grammar has gone down the swanny as DH tells me so because he is a pedant. That is ok because I can get my revenge later! If anyone else did I would consider it rude and unacceptable. Post stroke and with ME/CFS I am much more fragile than before so it can take much more out of me than you could imagine unless you are similarly affected. I would encourage more kindness and forgiveness.

Surely Pedants' Corner offers sanctuary to those of us who really can't bear bad grammar or spelling. With us, it's a bit OCD, we can't just 'let it go'. While correcting people's posts directly, is bound to be hurtful, a whinge on Pedants' Corner seems to go some way to solving the urge to reach for the red pen.

I have just read on another thread a totally misspelt post, but she seems such a lovely lady. Sweetness caps grammar any day.

Must report seeing a first the other day: 'atmisfear' - not on GN. Fab! {smile]

Looked at my post this morning as I'm more awake (lol).

Now I'm kicking myself, I wrote :-

"I'm Not in good company" Of course what I ment was

I AM in good company. Oh Hum

I agree. It's very bad form.

I'm glad this post started. I too have dyslexia and even with a spell checker I can and do get the letters in the wrong place.

Parsley3 I do love the Winnie the Pooh quote :-)

Also my grammar isn't as good as I'd like it to be but I do my best as I'm sure others do their best.

I kick myself when I see a mistake after I've posted and reading these post I'm not in good company there too.

Like many others I'm more interested in what people have to say.

I do understand how irritating it can be for those who see mistakes but shaming people who are looking for a community, support, help and so on won't help those people.

So well done all of you lovely people who can see our mistakes and move right on past without correcting us. I for one thank you.

DH seems to get hit by spelling and grammar mistakes without even trying and he now asks if I want help or I ask him when I need help.

As for not liking others spelling our name wrong, it isn't nice but I don't think anyone sets out to spell anything wrong. I've had that much of my life too but I can't say I get too much out of shape about it.

Worse case of spelling a name wrong was a Professor I studied with, he also had dyslexia, to the point he would spell his own name wrong at times. He said that book signings could be a trial if the person who's book he'd signed pointed out he's spelt his name wrong.

So far not a problem I've had to deal with lol

Anyway thank you for starting this post and for some of the lovely responses. It's what makes GN a site I keep coming back to,

My whole instinct is to reach for my red pen, although I believe those are frowned upon in schools these days. However, I would not dream of correcting a fellow poster on G'net. Nobody posts here in expectation of an English lesson so why should I, or anyone else, presume to administer one?

For goodness sake Farmor15 We are adults not school children surely there is no need to run to the teacher. I'm sure we can get our own points across.

I’ve a suggestion- if a poster corrects another’s spelling or grammar, especially if you’ve noticed that it’s something that poster has done previously, report to Gransnet and let them deal with it. (No need to post “reported” ).

I have difficulty with spelling but thought that my grammar was reasonably ok until someone once (not on GN) corrected me in public. The person concerned was very apologetic after but I then found it knocked my confidence in myself so much that I was constantly re wording things to avoid making the same mistake again.

It’s quite common for when someone sees a typo etc to post a correction but that’s predicated on knowing it’s a mistake - the poster may not. Also it depends how quickly the ?‍? gets in with the correction - they can be well speedy

Well I agree that it's one thing to make a general comment on Pedant's Corner and quite another to criticise someone personally which is rude and unnecessary (if you understand what he/she means.)

I agree that it's rude, but I have done it once. In reply to someone who pulled me up on a typo, and missed an apostrophe in her own post while doing so.

Slainte Mhath--Monica+

Just noticed a couple of posts saying kind things about me. Thank you.