Has DH got another think coming or have I got another thing coming???

Swop is how an eight year old would spell it in 1986 Swap is correct I think but swop is very English and particularly schoolyardy - I think it was used in some products e.g. football card swop.

Dumdedum - could is the past tense of can so could and can are the same word. When you're saying "Could I...?" I believe you are in fact using the subjunctive mood (a better known example of this tense is "if I were a rich man, I'd...) to soften the request, which because it is using "can" is asking about ability rather than permission. Think about the difference between "I could help you move house" and "I can help you move house". Can is more definite and we use it to make offers, whereas could implies that you have the ability but you haven't really made up your mind yet whether you will.
learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/modal-verbs/can-or-could

Yes I feel a physical response when I see a spelling or grammar mistake. This is because I tend to "read" text out loud in my head, and the punctuation and grammar really affects the "voice" or tone of what is being written. When I see someone writing without any punctuation at all, I tend to "read" it in a monotone which makes it more difficult to understand. I once read somebody describe "feeling" grammar/spelling mistakes as being like hearing somebody play a bum note in an orchestra and that is exactly how it feels to me. Or like driving over an unexpected bump. It is jarring, it stands out and if I'm in the wrong mood it can set me on edge, even though there is no reason for it to do that. I also find it more tiring to read text which contains a lot of errors or e.g. is written in US English, especially if it contains a lot of phrasing which I couldn't imagine ever using. I do sometimes find myself retorting mentally "No, it's the staff are helpful, not is. Are, are, are." which has absolutely zero usefulness because, of course, the sentence is perfectly correct to the person who wrote it.

When I come back to reading UK English text it's relaxing, like slipping into a warm bath But the calibre of UK English online, especially away from MN is irritating in its lack of punctuation and the propensity to punctuate with lol and kisses. You don't tend to find the same of US English online. People might make errors but they tend to at least try to use rules of writing, rather than just placing words in a line with nothing to indicate the tone behind them. (Perhaps that's why they kiss, as I've been told in forums where x-ing is normal that to omit the kiss is seen as unfriendly.)

Perhaps the thread could be moved to Pedant's corner if people want it to stay? I don't think it's funny enough for classics but wouldn't mind it being kept. Though it's not the first of its kind, and it won't be the last.

No, I wouldn't say I feel a visceral response to seeing a mistake (I probably see so many of them it would be no good for my blood pressure if I did). I do feel irritated when errors are justified by appeals to the idea that it doesn't matter, or that the error isn't an error anyway (or both). Or if they underline that it is. not. wrong. when it is (especially as I don't know how to underline).

Part of the reason this has become an intermittently vexed conversation is the difference between what posters consider 'evidence', too, I suppose.

Unless you think this is a candidate for Classics - 700+ posts in three days must say something about the excitement this topic has caused!

Well swop is in the English dictionary alongside swap.
I googled it to check as I was very unsure.
And there it was.

This thread is in Chat so will vapourise in a few weeks. Make sure to hang on to your ire and outrage ready for when the topic rolls around again!

Those thingers are a determined lot.

Well, that's why I'm trying to take a step back on the way I (and others) react in the heat of the moment. Actually, it's understandable to get angry at arrogance, where someone asserts something that we know not to be true especially when they ignore evidence in front of them.

I suppose I am more curious about our reaction to someone just getting something wrong in language (maybe out of ignorance or purely as a slip). Why is that so upsetting? Am I really projecting - does no-one else feel that moment of tension or threat even though it will make no difference to my life if say a stranger uses an apostrophe incorrectly? I've read people on MN talking about shuddering or cringing when they hear someone make a grammar or spelling mistake, a very visceral response.

I have enjoyed this thread more than anythink I've ever read in my 13 yrs of MN lurking. I thought 'thing' was a typo in the title and couldn't believe the first few posts. My faith has been restored by the next 700 and I have laughed for the last half hour catching up.

But I am mourning the loss of my toothcomb, whatever I thought that was!

I've only ever seen 'swop' on MN but the OED has obviously heard of it so I'll take their word for it.

It's 'swap'. You've suffered from poor phonics teaching . Think was, wash, swan, wasp, watch, want, wander, swat, etc.

Swap is the usual spelling, but according to the OED "swop" is an allowable variant. I've never seen it, but I suppose it's fair enough.

Swop is to Swap as Woz is to Was.

Umm - I was the one biting my own arm off (yes, it should have been chewing, I now remember!) at thing, and all I can say is, I accidentally missed out the self-mocking emoticon!

This thread is blowing my mind.
Now I can use swop as well as swap.
The world is my oyster!

I always write swap. Swop doesn't look right.

Eeek!

'are' correct!

(wrong thread for a typo)

'Swop' looks may shades of wrong to me but I believe both or correct.

Can I ask: Is it 'swap' or 'swop'?? I always spell it with an a but have increasingly seen it spelt with an o recently

I will make a confession: I do get some amusement from those who get very wound up about language errors - but it's not to mock those who take grammar and spelling seriously (I like to think I take it seriously too).

It's more about getting a bit of perspective on a tendency I see in myself too, that when someone's English is wrong, or they argue for a usage I can't agree with, that feeling of tension, almost of threat. Why do we feel that? Why do we think the world is going to end because another person has written "I would of told him..."? If you open a published book or a newspaper, these errors are rare (so we notice them when they do slip through), so I think it's one of those perception biases to feel no-one speaks proper English any more. I'm genuinely curious at the way people react, and wouldn't want to patronise those who feel differently from me.

Oh yes - I was struck by the unusual tone of that post, too!

Please don't think I'm trying to make a personal attack or tell you how to post: I've just noticed a fair bit of this - clearly unintentional - hyperbole in posts about posters' opinions on this matter. Thanks for taking it on board.

Sorry - it was meant to be light-hearted. I just see the humour: you get lengthy, thoughtful discussion about the topic, then someone pops up 500 posts in with "It's definitely thing" then disappears again, leaving others talking about banging their head or chewing their arm off!

It just struck me as such a rare contrast for someone to come on and say they'd read the thread and changed their mind, it tickled me, and I tried to express that in an entertaining way.

I really take on board that it might be patronising - not my intention.

Agreed, SeekEvery.

DadDadDad - you keep talking about 'rage' and 'fevered brows' and 'getting upset': I'm sure it isn't meant to, but it comes over as a rather patronizing tone, as though you're enjoying the thought of posters being really rather crosser than they are, and I'm not sure why.

I am now completely ed by 'learning by rope'.