Correcting people's grammar - acceptable?

Pollycat

I think this is an example of when someone should be told of their mistake - title of an email sent to me:

? Our new brocure is out now ? Charlie at Mercury Holidays [newsletter@mercurydirect.com]

Oh dear, Charlie - if you can't even spell 'brochure' properly (or more likely, can't be bothered to check an email before it's sent to lots of prospective customers) should I really trust you to organise my next holiday?

Murphybear

Sometimes the spelling/typing errors are just funny.

I have been house hunting on Rightmove recently and couldn't help smiling at the following "converted diary" instead of "converted dairy" :rotfl:

Tiddlywinks

Murphybear wrote: »

Sometimes the spelling/typing errors are just funny.

I have been house hunting on Rightmove recently and couldn't help smiling at the following "converted diary" instead of "converted dairy" :rotfl:

I don't think it's worthy of resurrecting an 11 month old thread though....

Marvel1

Seeing DS, DD, DH, GDD etc - just type the full word, took me ages to understand what they were talking about.

SailorSam

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

I don't think it's worthy of resurrecting an 11 month old thread though....

We're in that quiet period between Christmas and New Year, and whether you think it's right or wrong to correct spelling / grammar, you must agree that, some of the mistakes, especially by those that should know better, like Rightmove, are amusing. Or maybe you think Murphybear is milking it, by pointing out a dairy conversion.

AylesburyDuck

Newlyboughthouse wrote: »

Everywhere I look, I see terrible spelling and grammar. It is shocking. Check out the post in Pets and Pet Care titled 'out of hours vet', for example.

Question: is it acceptable to correct perpetrators? I feel that I can't without fear of being accused of being the grammar police or a grammar nazi. So I just seethe on the inside.

However, I can see the population getting dumb, and feel such corrections should be made. Otherwise, eventually, 'to' will be accepted as 'too', or 'loose' will be accepted as 'lose' etc.

Thoughts on a postcard...

A little of an OTT reaction though surely!:rotfl:

Primrose

I!m afraid I'm another grammar Czar and really flinch when I see poor grammar and spelling. When I was working I was shocked at the number of CVs and job application letters which came into our company prepared by university graduates who made mistakes I would not have made as a 10 year old.

When I went to an evening class to learn a new foreign language and the tutor was explaining various grammar points I was appalled at the number of students who didn't understand what an adverb or adjective was, let alone a conditional tense of a verb in their own language, let alone trying to apply any relative rules in a foreign language.

I think you just have to keep quiet and seethe. People can't easily correct their mistakes when they genuinely don' t know they're in the wrong but it does raise a very genuine question about the way English grammar is taught in our schools.

Question: Do you think poor grammar and spelling makes a person appear unprofessional and unqualified?
Extreme example perhaps, but if you needed brain surgery, who would you trust most to perform the procedure ? A surgeon who wrote you a letter outlining the details of your intended operation in a well composed letter with correct spelling and grammar, or a surgeon whose poorly written letter was full of inaccurate grammar and spelling mistakes ? When you're trying to judge professional competence you need to check every clue in the book !

AylesburyDuck

Primrose wrote: »

I!m afraid I'm another grammar Czar and really flinch when I see poor grammar and spelling. When I was working I was shocked at the number of CVs and job application letters which came into our company prepared by university graduates who made mistakes I would not have made as a 10 year old.

When I went to an evening class to learn a new foreign language and the tutor was explaining various grammar points I was appalled at the number of students who didn't understand what an adverb or adjective was, let alone a conditional tense of a verb in their own language, let alone trying to apply any relative rules in a foreign language.

I think you just have to keep quiet and seethe. People can't easily correct their mistakes when they genuinely don' t know they're in the wrong but it does raise a very genuine question about the way English grammar is taught in our schools.

Question: Do you think poor grammar and spelling makes a person appear unprofessional and unqualified?
Extreme example perhaps, but if you needed brain surgery, who would you trust most to perform the procedure ? A surgeon who wrote you a letter outlining the details of your intended operation in a well composed letter with correct spelling and grammar, or a surgeon whose poorly written letter was full of inaccurate grammar and spelling mistakes ? When you're trying to judge professional competence you need to check every clue in the book !

Neither would come into it, i'd be looking at the surgeon with the lowest death rate and the highest recovery rate, even if that guy couldnt spell!

Primrose

AylesburyDuck wrote: »

Neither would come into it, i'd be looking at the surgeon with the lowest death rate and the highest recovery rate, even if that guy couldnt spell!

Yes of course that would be the prime driver, but can you deny that a first impression would not have made an immediate impact on you ? If somebody doesn't have a mastery of some of the basics, would you really feel confident in their ability to handle the more complicated stuff?

SailorSam

Primrose wrote: »

I!m afraid I'm another grammar Czar and really flinch when I see poor grammar and spelling. When I was working I was shocked at the number of CVs and job application letters which came into our company prepared by university graduates who made mistakes I would not have made as a 10 year old.

There's no excuse for it now, all our computers have SpellCheck, and even GrammarCheck, but many people are to lazy to even try and write correctly. I try to remind myself that this is 'only' a forum and let most things go. Writing a CV without getting it correct is another thing though. It should never happen. The only time i get annoyed on here is when someone comes along asking for help, with a long long thread without a single capital letter; full stop, or a break for a new paragraph. You just can't understand them.