Should I correct my boss?

[elsa758]

My team emails each other a lot in our line of work and my boss makes spelling or grammar mistakes that annoy me whenever I see them. I know it is my OCD trait but it does make me go ick whenever this happens.

Examples are:
CoVid
Thru instead of through
Pls let me know if questions

Should I mention this to him privately?

These are not mistakes, and no, dont correct him, your way is not better than his way, and it's not up to you how he writes

No , not unless the meaning of the message is unclear

They are not grammatical mistakes.

I
ok to use abbreviated text when writing informally within the team.

I’m a stickler for SPAG at the best of times but aren’t these accepted variations? I regularly write ‘For filing pls’ on emails/documents as shorthand. Thru I wouldn’t use, personally, but ‘Drive Thru’ is an accepted spelling. And I vaguely recall CoVid being used at points during the pandemic.

These don’t seem like mistakes so much as your boss being more casual than you’d like (or using a different style, at least) so I think to ‘correct’ them would make you look a bit silly.

Of course not. They aren't mistakes, they're stylistic abbreviations. The capital V is probably an auto-correct from a word he types often that has a capital V.

Argh, posted accidentally!

What I was trying to type was the your boss is the boss and is setting the example that abbreviated text is ok within the team.

No.

The latter two are just abbreviations. CoVid isn't completely wrong although it should be CoViD if you are doing that.

The V is covid stands for virus and should technically be capitalised, or at least it isn't wrong to capitalise it, or not, just preference.

Do not correct. My boss recently gave me incorrect info. After contacting HR and getting the right info I simply cced her in. Sh didn't get it not I think appreciate it. I'm realising that managers are rarely good at managing. Although above is a slightly different scenario, I would correct on typos - unless it mattered in the role? For example - is it being seen by customers?

His emails are usually an essay long though so hardly using abbreviated text there for its intended purpose. It's not only the word 'pls' and the word 'thru', sometimes he would write let me get2u in a formal work email

No because they're abbreviations rather than mistakes. I've mentioned grammatical mistakes to people when they're dreadful but you'll have to keep your feelings to yourself on these ones.

In general, you should save offering SPaG corrections for situations where you have been explicitly asked, and preferably paid, to provide them.

You really definitely do not "correct" your boss on using fairly standard contractions and short versions in internal emails. It's their prerogative to set the tone in them, not yours.

Do you actually have OCD @elsa758?

Nope. It's up to him what abbreviations he uses in e mails. As long as it is just used in communication with you and the rest of his team it is fine. If it was a communication going out to clients it would probably need to be in more professional language.

Speaking as someone who has always struggled with literacy skills
there is nothing worse than some self righteous superior smug twat pointing out your shortcomings on literacy skills

I wouldn't say anything.

My boss starts his emails to clients with 'I hope your well'.

In a previous job, the one I cringed at was someone writing 'behave' in letters instead of 'behalf'.

I'm pretty sure he knows please isn't spelled 'pls'. These are not spelling mistakes; these are just ways he has decided to style those words for brevity or efficiency or just because he wants to.

I am a professional editor and wouldn't dream of 'correcting' someone about these unless it was in something I was being paid to edit or they had asked. It doesn't seem like he would be misunderstood when he uses any of them, so why would you actually be pointing it out? What would be the purpose?

Do you have OCD? Or are you using it as a way of saying you are anal about something? If the latter, please stop using it that way. OCD is a very upsetting and serious condition for many people. Being irritated by someone writing 'pls' is not it.

Worth privately speaking to him, as he could be hiding the beginning of deteriorating eyesight. Hopefully not.

Worth privately speaking to him, as he could be hiding the beginning of deteriorating eyesight. Hopefully not.

Skippy would be proud of that leap. Where do you get 'hiding deteriorating eyesight' from using abbreviations / text style messaging?

This is autocorrect and text speak! My language skills are very good but I use pls and make typos all the time as am thinking faster than I type. However I do read anything going outside of the business carefully so they are accurate.

Yes. Tell him. I'm sure we'd all be interested to hear how that goes

Not at all!

I only SPAG check my boss for external or higher up the ladder stuff that I've been asked to proof. Internally amongst our own team, no one cares, emails don't need a hi/bye and most people use abbreviations.