To of started this thread?

[atthewelles]

It must be very anoying when posters keep littering there threads with stupid grammer and spelling. So I taught it would be a good idea to start a thread for the grammar police full with errors So if your a member of this group and you're time is being wasted, trawling through treads for mistakes this could mean you don't loose so much time. It will also mean you might not be effected by this stuff on other threads as you will get it out of your system here.
So anyway, weather or not your a member of the dreaded grammer police its open to you to come on this thread and spot the mistakes, misspellings, stray apostrophes, incorret use of full stops and commas etc.

Every single mistake you spot is DELIBERATE. None of them are here unintentionally

I do work with a pedant's nightmare. As another colleague put it "I don't know how someone who's supposed to be educated and a native English speaker can be so terrible at their own language".

E.g.s (misguided attempt at being racist) "and then, I noticed that 90% of the people on the list are not Anglophiles"
Continued abuse of the reflexive
"and that is the more worst option"

My eyes are bleeding .... I need to find a darkened room in which to lie down ...

Seriously. That was painful. I agree with your sentiments but not with your methods!

I have a colleague like that too, Absy. She works in a school (not a teacher) and I'd put her literacy level at about a level 3.

what do you find offensive about it, Altinkum?

I did join in. But it is offensive. It isn't really acceptable to mock other people's grammar and spelling errors.

Should that be grammatical? But it isn't very nice.

Is that what you think people are mocking?

That's not it.

People are mocking those who go onto a thread and having nothing to contribute but some stupid pointless bitchy comment about spelling or grammar.

This thread is a two fingered salute to such people.

Not mocking those who make spelling or grammar mistakes.

I see now. You are all forgiven. I didn't read the OP properly. As usual.

That's not fair Altinkum.
It's posters like the Op and others on this thread who will be the first to jump on to a poster to defend you, if they attacked your spelling and grammar.
This thread was supposed to be mocking the pedants rather than the ones that have to put up with their nastiness.

I don't understand.

Are you defending the people who go onto a thread where someone is upset and their only contribution is to attack the person's spelling or grammar?

Or defending those who refuse to read a post from someone who is clearly really distressed because they didn't put paragraphs in it?

Because that's the point being made by the OP and that's what the thread was about. How revolting such people are.

The mistakes being played about with are not poking fun at people who can't spell. At all.

"Why is it ok to pull someone, pick on someone by the way try write on a writing forum?"

That is exactly, exactly the point being made.

it isn't ok.

So people shouldn't do it.

Nobody is making fun of anyone who can't spell.

What was being said was that when someone posts something, you DON'T respond to that by critisising their spelling or grammar.

I'm sorry that's the way you see it then Atinkum.
I won't bother coming on to pull anybody up anymore on their spelling and grammar corrections to others.

ok. Fair enough.

next time someone pours their heart out and some utter toad snipes "paragraphs " or some other shit, I will remember that we are all different.

Actually, sorry. I won't. I will always say that that is unacceptable and challenge it. It hurts people who are asking for advice or pouring out their heart when someone can only say that they spelled a word wrong or didn't use a capital letter.

There's no excuse for it.

It would be nice if people stopped doing it and if it can make them think differently, then pointing it out to them can only be a good thing, imo.

If someone retaliates with abuse though, just report them. It'll be the same arses being pedants over and over again. Just because they can spell and punctuate doesn't mean they can put a cohesive argument together.

If MN gets enough reports about the same posters then they'll be given a dressing down.

No, I guess they don't.

I just hate it when someone comes on looking for support or advice and someone thinks that it's ok to pick apart their bloody spelling.

It always makes me want to yell at them.

And perhaps if enough people challenged them, they'd eventually stop it.

At the moment, you read it and other people just ignore it. Giving them the impression that others think it's ok.

I am a pedant in RL but only because it's part of my job.

Altinkum I thought carefully about joining in with thread. Initially I felt as you did that it demeaned people with dyslexia and learning disabilities and was going to post a rant about how one of my best friends has dyslexia and her texts are littered with the kind of errors people seemed to be laughing at, and my cousin has learning disabilities and has very basic literacy skills. Then I realised that the pedants who criticise and mock those whose grammar is less than perfect were the ones being targetted by this thread.

I do think we're all on the same side, just dealing with it in different ways. I don't think anyone who has posted had done so to make light of people with issues around literacy.

Altinkum

As I said previously, this thread was started to have a go at the pedants who make crass, rude and often offensive remarks about people's grammar and spelling mistakes.
I totally understand your viewpoint. I have just found that sometimes the best way to tackle unpleasant or bullying behaviour is to simply laugh it off. The Grammar Police represent a very small minority of posters and I am genuinely laughing at them and with you.
Because really, their behaviour is very silly. I would far rather read a post by a lively, engaging or interesting poster whose grammar isn't perfect, than a post by a dull boring pedant with nothing amusing or entertaining to say for themselves.

Now that is how you do it: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1700642-to-think-that-a-teacher-should-know-the-difference-between-lose-and-loose

Apols for shonky link but I'm doing it on my phone. Anyway, hats off to OP for a fantastic bait! Now quick MNHQ !

I think when people jump in and point out an OP's dodgy spelling/grammar it's not really about them being pedants. They are just being rude, simple as that. There are plenty of pedants on here who wouldn't dream of being so rude. The only times I have ever pointed out any mistakes is when the other poster had a go at somebody else's spelling or grammer or when it's an obvious and really obnoxious troll. I wouldn't do it otherwise as it's just rude and unnecessary!

See, normally I am the grammar police - BUT - only when it matters. So if someone has posted asking for help, and there are what I'd perceive as errors in spelling and grammar, that would be unimportant to me. What would concern me would be the problem they were seeking help with.

HOWEVER, if someone was a teacher, lawyer etc. and was making errors in spelling and grammar, in their daily duties, then I would be picking up on it.

Fwiw, I have several friends with differing learning difficulties, and I know that they do struggle with constructing sentences, writing and spelling. Some of them chose to use programmes that help them (software), some of them chose not to. If they're writing something for other people to read, and I have been asked to read through their work, I will politely and tactfully point out errors that might confuse readers. I would not be insulting and abusive to them about their 'shortcomings'.