What makes you think it is your place to correct someone else's spelling or grammatical errors in others?

Question

To Solange: I NEVER would dream of correcting anyone else's spelling. It is rude and demeaning.

To Humberto and Smoove: I composed what I did on purpose to see how you self-righteous morons would respond.

To Doobie:

I'm not trying to correct anyone, otherwise I would have made a statement and not asked a question.

To everyone:

Take into consideration that for many, English isn't a native language and such people need to be cut some slack. Otherwise you all will come across as culturalist and racist morons. Yes, I may be correcting here, but in the end, it is a taste of your own medicine. You don't like it? Don't do it to others, period.

To Victory:

Read any etiquette book, and it will tell you that it is rude to correct others, unless you're their teacher or they're underage. Once a person reaches a certain age, it is absurd to treat them like children (and correcting someone else is doing just that, btw). In other words, with those exceptions aside, it isn't your place to correct anyone on anything.

To Tom D:

Giving a taste of another's medicine is the exception to that rule, as it is the most effective way to show them that it isn't that pleasant to be on the receiving end of the same thing they're dishing out.

To Tiss:

Because I'm sick of seeing people being gratuitously humiliated over it on the boards, most specially when they do have a good point the offender cannot effectively refute.

Answer 1

I'm with you on that. While I am appalled at the poor spelling and grammar of seemingly native speakers, this is not the place to address it. I get the sense when people do that, they are being petty because they don't like the question or the answer, or they just like to feel superior. There are a lot of non-native speakers on here who are writing in a second language. The people who get uppity about their use of the language probably couldn't write one word in another language.

I am an English teacher and I correct spelling and grammar all the time, but that is the time and place to do it. It is also okay for parents and friends, and even for bosses to do this, but for me, it is sort of like a person with a lot of money making fun of a person who can't afford designer clothes. It is rude to flaunt your education just as it is rude to flaunt your wealth.

Having said that, I do wish young people would put a little more value in using the language correctly. There does seem to be an attitude out there that it simply doesn't matter how badly you butcher the language and anyone who thinks using proper English is important is a stick in the mud. We will all regret it someday that people don't take grammar more seriously.

Answer 2

Self-righteous morons? What would Emily Post say about such name calling? In all seriousness though, there is no excuse for calling anyone a self-righteous moron: by doing so, you are exhibiting the same rudeness and judgemental attitude that you so despise in others. Also, does your absolutist statement that we never correct another adult about anything mean that we never challenge someone who has made a statement that is factually in error? You make a good point about treating others with courtesy and respect, but that point might be better received if it were made with less, excuse the word, shrillness.

Answer 3

Well judging by your sentance structure, you could use a correction from time to time. Here is the deal, information on such basic subjects is readily available via Google, or Yahoo! as well as thousands of other places where you can check your own grammar. When you bypass these means, you leave yourself open to correction. For instance, your question makes sense, but just barely. You say, "...correct someone else's spelling & grammatical errors in others?" You see, "someone else's" and "in others" refer to the same people and therefore makes no sense.

Answer 4

Heh. The phrasing of your question is quite clever, under the circumstances. Anyway, as someone in posession of a teaching degree and above average education, it is in my ability to correct others, but I tend not to do so in casual circumstances like these. Really, in message boards and in this format, it is unreasonable to expect anyone to treat what they're writing as if it is a term paper. I'm not going to spell check this, and I know I'm not perfect.

I will, at times, take someone to task for being intentionally opaque, or using excessive (that is to say any) net speak. Why? Because then it is clearly not a case of English as a second language, and I feel that the intentional muddying of language is a crime against that language. It's also extremely rude to people for whom English is not second nature. Say you're already translating this in your head, how will you fare if suddenly you have to translate the puns and numerals as words, also?

In daily conversation, if someone speaks to me using incorrect language, I will respond in a grammatical way, hoping it'll be correction enough. If someone is in a position to have to listen to me, or if they're a good friend and won't be upset, I may outright correct them, and I'll even do it kindly unless they used a word like "irregardless" or "conversate".

Answer 5

I sometimes correct others depending on the situation. If they are saying they're writing a letter, for example, then I'm going to tell them. Otherwise, I let them continue to be dumb on their own. LOL. Just kidding... but I think good grammar is one thing we should all strive to master if English is our first language. I mean...come on, really! Is there any reason that you should not know the difference between 'their', 'they're' and 'there' when you're 30 freaking years old? Really, now.

Answer 6

As an EFL teacher (retired!), I feel well prepared to tell the difference between an educated person who is unfamiliar with English, and an uneduacated native speaker who can't be bothered to make the slightest effort.

Do I always correct grammar/spelling/syntax, etc...? Of course not; I'd be here all day, if I did.

When do I do it...? When the writer invites me, or when it is indespensible to do so.

Btw, I noticed that your English was excellent; you should be proud of your skill, and allow others to develop the same ability. To let others off the hook, you see, implies that they are too stupid to improve!

Answer 7

i have battled with this question myself. should i risk offending someone or try to help them out.

it drives me up a wall when people speak with such horrible grammar. i often try not to correct someone's grammar if i dont know them, but if i know them, or i they work for me, i do it. i do not correct someone in order to make me look superior, or to embarrass the other person.

i do it so that the person can better themselves and wont sound so ignorant. it might help people better understand the person correcting them if they realized they truly sound uneducated and we are just trying to help. if you care about how other people view you (even a little bit!), you should WANT someone to correct you, AS LONG AS IT IS DONE TACTFULLY.

if you noticed a lady coming out of the bathroom with her dressed tucked in the back of her pantyhose, would you politely inform her, or let her be laughed at (whether openly or behind her back). if i was that lady, I WOULD WANT SOMEONE TO TELL ME!

my grammar is by no means perfect. i get corrected every now and again, AND I ALWAYS THANK THEM so that next time i will say it correctly and not embarass myself.

Answer 8

I never correct people on their spelling or gramatical errors unless they ask for help like for a paper or something... It is rude to be corrected unless you know the person. I see that most people in the internet mispell a lot of words but I do not know if it is intentional or they don't know the proper spelling so I ignore it.

Answer 9

I don't know about most people ,but I always thought it was my place to help make the world better . Correcting someone is a small way of doing this -it probably comes from having brothers and sisters who needed correction from time to time. I would never do it to offend someone.

Answer 10

To communicate your spelling and grammar have to be at a level to be understood. Some of "spelling and grammatical errors" have reached a level that they are incomprehensible. So I guess people feel the same as you when insisting on proper usage of the English language they attempt to correct just as you are attempting to correct with your question.