Spelling and written English police - is this weird or what?

[5Foot5]

Someone I work with insists on using the word "below" in a sentence in the same way as he would "above".

For example, you might write

"In the above diagram"

But he would also write:

"In the below diagram"

Is it me or is that a weird usage? To make matters worse he consistently misspells "below" as "bellow". This is about the 99th time I have come across it in one of his documents and it is really starting to grate.

Oh and before anyone asks English is his first language.

[CoteDAzur]

English is not my first language but it seems to me that the second phrase should be "in the diagram below". Actually, the correct way to formulate the first phrase would probably be "in the diagram above", as well.

Imho, YANBU to get worked about this and vent on MN, though.

[StealthPolarBear]

well they are exactly the same type of word, I agree one sounds better than the other but not sure why. I think he's right to use it like that, but not to spell it wrong!

[Deliaskis]

OK, 'bellow' completely wrong and irritating.

Below used as per your post, also irritating and awkward sounding, but not sure if it's technically wrong, as surely it should be used the same as above. Perhaps this usage of above is in fact not technically correct, although we see it a lot - we wouldn't talk about 'the overleaf diagram' or 'the opposite diagram' etc.

In any case, 'the below diagram' is awkward writing and it would be better to say 'in the diagram below'.

D

[5DollarShake]

I'm fairly pedantic myself, but don't see the issue if that is, in fact, where the diagram is, i.e. below.

However - I do agree with Cote - 'in the diagram below' is much better.

Bellow: He does know what this word means, right?

[5Foot5]

MammRuby - I like that suggestion!

I have pointed out the spelling before, accused him of shouting and so on. He just grins and shrugs and says "Oh I always get that wrong" - but he just keeps on getting it wrong!

I haven't mentioned the awkward phrasing before because I wasn't really sure if that was just me. TBH I would prefer "in the diagram above" but can live with it the other way around.

[BarkisIsWilling]

I've seen that too, as in "in the below email". It grates and does sound so awkward.

[MidniteScribbler]

Oh FFS, did you really have to bump a whole lot of zombie threads just to point out several times about your stupid names?

[Janethegirl]

You here too kanyutt. Not wishing to be rude, but your kids will name change as soon as they can. Poor little buggers

[kandyutt]

First time here and actually I teach my lids to be individuals they love there names..

[Mehitabel6]

I am sure that there are more interesting things to comment on that all these old threads - zombie

[DuchessDisaster]

I think your post is about syntax rather than spelling.
The word order you document sounds more German than English.