Correcting people's grammar - acceptable?

Jagraf

In answer to the question - it is only acceptable if the recipient accepts it. So if you want to take that chance with friendships and acquaintances (relevant work colleagues excepted) then go ahead.

To me it's condescending so if a friend pulled me up on my grammar in a social context it would affect the friendship.

Jagraf

jellyhead wrote: »

I wonder why it's socially acceptable to be irked by somebody's SPAG but not their poor maths skills?

This is a really good point actually, although it could be said about anything from driving to pottery.

missbiggles1

Arthog wrote: »

Is it acceptable to correct the grammar in the words of pop songs?


When I hear Do Wa Diddy Diddy Dum Diddy Dum, I remind the group that it is 'were' not 'was'.
Elvis, and the Pet Shop Boys have to be reminded that it is 'well' not 'good' in 'You were always on my Mind'


No matter how often I yell at them, they never correct it!

"There she was just walking down the street" IIRC. What's wrong with that?

Blackpool_Saver

I didn't want to be accused of been tight, so I brought one from the shop. I hope you don't need a lay down after reading that. I can go to collage if you think it will help.

Seriously, this drives me up the wall, I don't understand how people can not know basic words. Usually foreign people can spell better that our own people.

NotBothered

Spare a thought . . . . .
I am somebody who took great pride (and a touch of smugness) in my understanding and use of correct English and Grammar. I was also extremely proud of my exceptional touch-typing speed.

Unfortunately, due to MS, my brain has suffered a small amount of damage and I find myself struggling to find words on a more regular basis. The other, probably more upsetting, symptom is the fact that I can write an entire paragraph and then proof read it and see absolutely no mistakes, only to read it back an hour later to see that I replaced a word with something different. Sometimes the replacement is so far removed from the intended word that I have absolutely no idea how my brain got THERE! Sometimes it is just a small mistake and I can see clearly how my brain got THEIR!.

It's embarrassing and in my job not really acceptable.

Fortunately I have a strong team around me that do not feel it necessary to make a drama over a mistake and will either correct it themselves or ask me to make the change and laugh with me over the funnier incidents.

Please believe me when I say that I die a little bit more on the inside when I am mocked, ridiculed or assumed stupid because of this.

Pollycat

Sorry to hear that, NotBothered.

You're not the first poster to mention an illness that causes problems with writing & S/G/P.

For that reason alone - bearing in mind that there is no way that it's possible to tell what causes a poster to have issues with S/G/P AND In my opinion there should not be a way to tell - nobody should take it upon themselves to correct someone on a public forum in case it causes unnecessary distress

Jagraf

Pollycat wrote: »

Sorry to hear that, NotBothered.

You're not the first poster to mention an illness that causes problems with writing & S/G/P.

For that reason alone - bearing in mind that there is no way that it's possible to tell what causes a poster to have issues with S/G/P AND In my opinion there should not be a way to tell - nobody should take it upon themselves to correct someone on a public forum in case it causes unnecessary distress

I quite agree Pollycat. The ignorance associated with correcting people's grammar is much more damaging than any spelling error.

pollypenny

I've just been to the dentist. While in the waiting room I browsed through Countryfile magazine.

After a section on Coastal Walks there was a page entitled Costal Cafes!

I kid you not!

jellyhead

pollypenny wrote: »

I've just been to the dentist. While in the waiting room I browsed through Countryfile magazine.

After a section on Coastal Walks there was a page entitled Costal Cafes!

I kid you not!

Was it a pun on Costa coffee?

jellyhead

I work in a college, and many learners seem to feel ashamed if their literacy is poor, even if their maths is at a worse level. There's not the same stigma around maths, and as maman says people will proclaim to the rooftops that they are rubbish at algebra, etc. and they are not ridiculed.

I have found some of the new maths topics that weren't around when I took my GCSE (back in the days when the highest grade was an A) quite tricky to learn, but we all laugh at ourselves when it's circle theorem, for example. Mention spellings in an english lesson though, and people look uncomfortable and don't want to say aloud what they struggle with.