to have pointed out a spelling mistake in a menu?

[freckledleopard]

First off, I really don't think I was being unreasonable, but would like others' opinions please.

I went for drinks last night in a cafe I'd not been to before. The various food options were written on a blackboard above the tills. One of the options described sausages and "gravey". I didn't say anything initially - ordered my drink, thanked the server and went to my seat. Later in the evening, when ordering again, whilst waiting for my wine, I spoke to the same assistant and said, with a bit of a smile, "Sorry, I just wanted to point out that "gravy" is not spelled with an "e" in it". I smiled again to reiterate I was being friendly and added, "I just notice these things!" (which is true. I'm a lawyer and a pedant.)

The woman's demeanour immediately changed at this point. She said "well, I didn't write it, but I'll be sure to tell my dyslexic colleague that she spelled it wrong" (she really did emphasise the word dyslexic). Again, I smiled (awkwardly now) and repeated that I had a job that made me notice spelling errors. Again, she repeated that she would be sure to tell her "dyslexic colleague that she couldn't spell 'gravy'".

I paid for my drink and walked away blushing, feeling really pissed off. Frankly, if you're going to have a dyslexic colleague write the menus, surely it would be common sense to double check the spelling? Further, I always point out spelling and grammar mistakes on public signs and leaflets (and have been known to tweet companies whose packaging contains errors) so that the relevant people can correct them.

I'm still pissed off today (and yes, I appreciate it's a first world problem). But AIBU to think the assistant was rude, abrupt and should perhaps have graciously accepted what I said, maybe made a joke of it, rather than having a go at me?

Ideally the waitress would have just said thanks and gone and rubbed the e out.

However we don't live in an ideal world! It would have been a better idea to say nothing. I don't particularly think ywbu but you should have realised that there was a significant chance of it being taken badly.

I rubbed out an apostrophe on a notice board in the garage the other day!

I'm a former English teacher and can still understand why the waitress was pissed off.

OTOH if I'd received a communication from a school containing spelling errors I would point them out.

I wonder how the OP would have dealt with a restaurant near to me which used to have "brian curry" on the menu.

I used to have a little job in a greengrocers and had to write out little price signs on bits of card and used to throw in apostrophes just for fun and to annoy passing pedant's
banana's anyone?

I always found brian tasty.

I agree - it's different with a school.

Note to self: don't go out for a meal with the OP. I bet you are a right laugh on a night out

OTOH, I'd go out for a drink with you Nigellas. The OP wouldn't be able to cope with you though.

aww thank's santa's! mine is a large brandy

YANBU.

Annoys me, too. Whether or not I summon up the courage to comment (probably also not a 'people person') I admit I tend to think less of places that have spelling errors.

If it's a cafe, I'd wonder if they're generally sloppy, if they track the use-by dates, stuff like that. Wouldn't give it a lot of thought, just less likely to go there again than another place that seems more professional and trustworthy.

You were doing them a favour, they reacted badly, YANBU.

Obvious exceptions for restaurants run by people from other countries offering their native cuisines - don't expect them to be perfect English spellers.

Everybody knew what 'gravey' meant, why did you need to point it out, make them feel small and show how 'clever' you are? Really of all the attributes I would want restaurant staff to have, spelling would not even figure.

YANBU to be annoyed by the spelling mistake but I don't think I'd have said anything in that situation. You have to weigh up the satisfaction of being right and the difference the spelling actually makes against the embarrassment and bad feeling you may cause by mentioning it. I feel very lucky to have had a vast amount of money spent on my education and to have grown up in a house full of books and to be naturally intelligent. Others are not so fortunate and I would be an utter arse if I were to judge them and make them feel small. I'm an absolute fiend for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation, but there's a time and a place.

On that note, while training someone at work earlier this year I looked at the notes he was taking and noticed that his spelling was appalling. When he asked me for feedback I took the opportunity to say "I'm worried about your spelling, as the job involves a lot of written work and presentation is very important". He explained that he's dyslexic and that anything he wrote to/for anyone else would be of a better standard than his own quick notes, as he knows he needs to be extra careful to look up words, proofread everything, get others to double-check when necessary etc. Sure enough, his written work has turned out to be absolutely fine. Dyslexia is not a licence for sloppy work and people who use it as an excuse do a disservice to conscientious workers like my colleague.

"anyone who wants to make a success of their business should welcome constructive criticism, even if it is a tiny part of the whole picture (as in a single spelling mistake)"

I run my own small business and I agree with you Catsmother. Clients have pointed out a couple of mistakes on my website over the years and although I was a little embarrassed ultimately I was grateful. I want to look as professional as possible, plus I take pride in getting my native language correct and want to improve. IMO grammatical and spelling mistakes in business literature, whatever it may be, don't give a good impression and can alienate some customers. Besides I really hate this dumbing down that seems rife these days, where many people simply don't give a shit whether they get something wrong or not, and have no interest in learning once they leave school. I find that very sad. Yup, I'm probably not a massive people person

freckledleopard I feel your pain. Seeing spelling mistakes like that grates on me, but I never point them out because I figure most people don't give a shit and would only take offense and think I was an arse. This thread has confirmed I've been right keeping quiet.

I think the waitress was unprofessional and should've just smiled sweetly, gritted her teeth, and said something like, "Thanks for pointing that out, I'll get it corrected". She should've taken her irritation out in private.

"Perhaps "jus" would have been less controversial"
LOL! Oh no, I can't hear that word in my mind without it being in a bad French accent, when it then sounds like "Jizz"! Get's a snigger out of me every time [yes, I'm childish] I don't want jizz on my food thanks

When I see "jus" I hear that Masterchef narrator's silly voice.

holla, dyslexia absolutely isn't an excuse for sloppy work, but that doesn't mean people will invariably avoid all mistakes. As you must know yourself: it's easy to make the odd error.

But does it matter that a misspelling creeps into a cafe menu written on a blackboard? Is it not possible that the cafe owner doesn't notice a drop-off in trade due to such misspellings? I mean, most people honestly wouldn't give a shit, just as with someone's notes to himself.

Plus, I have to ask, what exactly do you mean by 'people who use it as an excuse do a disservice to conscientious workers'?

Do you mean, everyone should try to the best of their ability? If so, yes, I agree.

Or do you mean, anyone who isn't as fortunate as my colleague and who still makes some errors must be definition be lazy and 'using it as an excuse'?

I ask because it's actually hard to tell which you mean. It's just ... you know, it actually is an excuse, that's kinda the point. That's why we have disability discrimination law to cover it.

Putting an ‘e’ in their gravy is possibly one of their secret marketing ploys. Probably best that you don’t return, OP.

I think that the dyslexic response is really nothing more than a lot of moonshine and thrown out to make the OP feel guilty: I have never heard of a dyslexic person who could write out a whole menu and only make one single mistake. No, I fear it was hogwash.

If, on the slimmest of slim chances, it were true then how stupid and cruel to choose a dyslexic colleague to write a menu.

Quite right, OP, to correct it. If we all spelt things our own little way language would soon become something akin to the Tower of Babel syndrome. If one makes a mistake, especially on a public display, then a little modicum of gratitude to the corrector would be in order. YANBU.

Hello, nice to meet you.

Shall I introduce you to the thousands of others, too?

Btw, if we all spelt things in our own little way, language would get on much as it did for centuries, wouldn't it? This being a situation we know from historical study, unlike the Tower of Babel, which, I hate to break it to you, is not actually real.

Yes, thank you: I do actually know that the Tower of Babel is not real- what a very....literal mind you must have!

Unfortunately, if everyone spells took to spelling words as they wanted to, it would be quite hard to decipher things. That's why we have standard spellings! In the allegory of The Tower of Babel, people couldn't understand each other and one of the reasons for that, was that they didn't follow the rules of their speech.

If, for example, I were to spell Daft Cow as Furk Yat, then you would be unable to understand the point I was trying to put across. We all have to agree to accept the way words are spelt, otherwise you cannot communicate.

I think you could also refer to as the Jaberwocky syndrome. That is a poem and no, it is not real either.

Indeed, it's terribly literal to point out fictions. Or, er, something.

Perhaps you need a little lesson in history. You see, it's a sweet idea that the Tower of Babel is about orthography, but it isn't. It predates standardized spelling by millenia.

I think, by the way, you are referring to a poem known as Jabberwocky.

HTH.

OP I've been trained with a similar attention to detail for mistakes, and spelling mistakes like this grind my gears.

I'm not convinced that there can possibly be such a high proportion of dyslexic people in the UK compared to other countries in the world. Or at least I'm suspicious that its also to with the UK falling so far down the international league for reading and writing.

I can't help comparing it to my Dutch and Belgian acquaintances, writing in their second language, who would appear to have a much lower incidence of 'dyslexia'. And a very high placing on the educational attainment league.

This sort of attitude towards spelling creates such a bad impression. The waitress was out of order to get argumentative about it and give so much detail. The obvious solution is to correct the error.

'gravey' would hardly be indicative of dyslexia anyway, in comparison to never bothering to check the spelling of a commonly used word...

I used to do a lot of marking of students' papers, and you get a feel for what is actually dyslexia and what is simply semi literacy.

In the allegory of The Tower of Babel, people couldn't understand each other and one of the reasons for that, was that they didn't follow the rules of their speech

I thought the point was that they couldn't understand each other was that they spoke different languages? not that they couldn't spell?

besides, spelling 'daft cow' as 'furk yat' would be a bit silly really, but if you spelt it 'darft kow' i would have no problem understanding your meaning, just as the OP knew v well that 'gravey' referred to a dark jus like concoction that one pours over meat.

and yes Jabberwocky is real, I have a copy of it here.

less - I don't disagree that dyslexia incidence may be lower than we think. But it is correlated with orthography - so it is perfectly normal to find that some countries have lower rates than others. If the language is easier, it won't show up so much.

I'm not sure why 'gravey' wouldn't be indicative of dyslexia? It seems to me a pretty typical error - either an otiose 'e', which is common (and more dyspraxic, but they overlap), or someone who was not confident with 'vy', which isn't that common as a combination of letters in English.

Wrong spellings and poor grammar do my head in. However, I don't usually bother mentioning them. I can't spend the rest of my life correcting the world on a voluntary basis.

However, just once I noticed a repeated sentence in a list at my local supermarket. I pointed it out and the next time I was in there, the list had been removed. I wondered if they had to contact all the other supermarkets as this list as part of their marketing campaign would have been wrong on all the posters !

(The staff must say behind my back, 'I see Mrs Pedant has been in again !)