So all these pedants who correct posters grammar

[MamaMaiasaura]

Seen posters correcting grammar on here, do they do so in RL situations?

I frickin LOVE the Alot! I passed this all over my Office

Heheh winterwonderland I had to snort when I saw a sign in Waitrose asking people to wait behind the podias [sic]

Stupid phone

Aww your Dad sounds nice Slubbers. I correct my Mum with a stick. She speaks perfect English except for saying 'you was'. Drives me rather loopy I'm afraid. I'm actually v good at Not Saying A Word. DD however is a precocious little bugger and corrects her every time.

I do love the Alot.

I have a large mug with an alot on it at work so I can ask for alot of tea :o

He is nice Showy.

In fact I need to wheel him in (he needs wheeling) into the Y2 classroom to have a little chat with the teacher who seems quite nonplussed by her gigantic and fully viewable from the playground wall display about

The Three Little Pig's
(with a picture of a house underneath).

I don't know what it means. It upsets me that wall display.

Thanks Habbibu. Not that I'll remember that.

Ive not noticed anyone correct grammar on here in a patronising way at all. Then again, has it happened on a recent thread?

The only talk of correcting grammar Ive seen is when there's been a particular thread on the subject (eg "AIBU to be annoyed at the tills in the supermarket saying 10 items or less" type thing) and people talk about what is grammatically correct and common mistakes.

Even though like Ive said earlier on in this thread I read my posts over a few times before posting, I still notice the odd mistake and I have never been pulled up on it on here before, but that's most likely because I dont post a lot so people dont know me very well. I believe that people only really pull those up who they know well enough to say it. Yes Ive noticed it happen, but more so in a conversation like this one or one particularly about grammar or a chatty one between posters that have got to know each other.

That is so cool Trills. I want an Alot of tea. Imagine how comforting it would be, if a little moist.

also thanks showofhands crossed posts there

Our local Sainsbury's sells DVD's

Thanks, SoH. Though I don't agree with your bf-ing analogy - the additional information in that example was directly relevant to the poster's situation.

Thing is, I'm of the school that thinks there is No Such Thing as "perfect" English. There are standards, which are useful lingua francas (and yes, I've used an intentional anglicized plural there) and markers of formaility, but other forms can be very lovely and expressive. And grammar is liable to change, albeit more slowly than other elements of language, so there is no "correct" form set in stone - witness the gradual obsolescence of "whom", for example.

Thing is, slubbers, you do know what it means. You know it's referring to the story of the three little pigs. So there's no real communicative ambiguity there. It's just annoying. And I agree, it is, and not appropriate in a classroom, but not the end of the world. (hyperbole-tastic)

Nope, unless I am in a professional situation, at which point it is my job. I don't otherwise (despite being a massive pedant whose skin crawls when I spot inaccuracies) because I have manners and interpersonal skills.

However I don't on here either, so I am not really target audience!

yy, Dawn, but context would actually allow you to process the right meaning pretty quickly, depending on whether it was Little Red Riding hood or the Wolf speaking. Our brains are quite remarkable in their ability to process "incorrect" language.

I love language difference and mutations habbibu, couldn't agree more. Except my mother's strange 'you was' affliction. It's nothing to do with accent/dialect/other. It's just a mental block and a small amount of deliberate annoying behaviour. She is trying to teach dd to say it 'her way'.

The bfing analogy wasn't so much aligned with the correction of grammar but more an example of something I don't like about the way intentions are wilfully misunderstood on forums.

Same for me, NinkyNonker, I spot inaccuracies too. I wouldn't comment on them though, not on a chatboard.

I think it's incredibly rude to correct people on here. It is an informal chat site for all to use - not just those who meet someone else's exacting standards.

If people want to learn - post/lurk in the Pedants' Corner topic.

If something someone posts makes your teeth itch - post in Pedants' Corner.

I used to proof read - then I found MN - now I am so used to ignoring the mistakes I am a crap proof reader! Ooops.

I type quickly, usually which watching TV or doing something else - I really cannot be arsed proof reading my posts. Sometimes, if I see a post I have ty I spot some typed previously I see some real howlers. Some glaring mistakes such as our/are their/there and the shooting offence of should of - they are all things I would never 'write' but typing I think sometimes my ear takes over and my brain disengages . My keyboard is also full of crap faulty and sometimes misses out letters that I have actually typed...

Tough fucking luck and if anyone thought they'd be doing me a favour correcting me - they'd get soon get told to mind their own business.

As I have said many times before on here, I have a very good friend who is lovely, funny, kind - an amazing person - she no longer posts on here because she was upset too many times by people pointing out mistakes. She's bright, has a depth of general knowledge that would put many to shame and is just so lovely... why did it matter that her spelling/punctuation isn't the best - does it make you feel big & clever to - point it out.

There are many people like her - things just don't click/stick. You can tell her a 100 times about something like their/they're/there and she tries really hard to remember, but she just can't. Her spelling is dire (well, actually it's not dire exactly it's just incredibly phonetic :) ). She gets annoyed with herself and embarassed. She is also one of the most avid readers I know.

So maybe, just stop and think before you correct someone. Take it to Pedants' corner. Please.

Ok, fair enough. But I do see corrections being made quite bluntly - maybe not intentionally rude, but certainly not sensitively handled. And my blood boils at the rampant snobbery over things like aitch/haitch - it's a vile shibboleth.

Slubbers, tell yourself it's mixed mediums. So the picture of the house is the actual end of the sentence. Place your mental full stop after it. Perhaps it was done on purpose for that very reason? Did you see what I did there? Did you?

Well, that wouldn't work, Soh. It would have to be Pigs', not Pig's.

I think it annoys me most when people ignore the subject of an OP and merely pick on their grammar or spelling. Just plain rude, and I cannot read good intentions into something so blatant.

yy, Ninky. A polite addendum to a response is one thing, a blunt correction and nothing else quite another.

So in that case slubbers, use your mental eraser on the 'three little' bit as I clearly managed to do without even trying.