to think you can be educated and have a well paid job even if you post grammatical errors here

[ladygingina]

I do get a lot of personal insaults here calling me stupid, uneducated and doubting I have a well paid job just because of poor grammar and spelling.

Seriously unless I was working as a copywrirer then these skills aren't not really relevant. I do spend more time on official document then I do bashing away on my phone here!

Often it's rightly or wrongly assumed to be the latter, which then prompts some to 'educate' the poster. When it's the former who is being 'educated', they become defensive

Arf!!! If only

"I do think it's sad, though, that people are so defensive when what appears to be a genuine grammar/spelling error is gently pointed out."

'Gently' pointing out mislaid apostrophes etc does not make it any less rude or obnoxious.

I've yet to see it pointed out "gently" tbh.

Yanbu It's usually bitchy, rude and a bit pathetic. Occasionally I've seen mistakes pointed out nicely.

I've had spelling mistakes pointed out to me on here.
What was galling was that the poster correcting me didn't appear to want to listen to the content of my post, but just point out my errors.

Its as rude as telling someone 'I'm not listening to what you are saying as I don't like your accent'
I post quickly here and do not always see errors, whilst at work, I'll proof read.

I once started a thread and the first two posters just came on to point out a grammatical error. Literally added nothing else to the thread, just a snide comment about a missing apostrophe, or their instead of there or somesuch.
I thought they were incredibly rude.

It's the very much the same as the slavish devotees of Debrett's, tediously cataloguing breaches of etiquette at every possible opportunity.

I am amazed that you can extrapolate a judgement on self respect and the level of respect one has for others, from a poster's proficiency in written English, sunbeam. I find that ludicrous.

Do you not reply to posts because someone fails your literacy test? If someone is dyslexic, or has a below average IQ, or isn't great at English, or is posting from their phone in extreme distress, do you feel unable to reply to that person because they are beneath you?

I hope to Christ I've got you wrong.

And I agree with several posters that spelling errors etc are rarely pointed out 'gently'.

I've worked in editorial, I've worked as a professional copywriter, and as a proof-reader. The real deal, not the rubbish jobs you find on-line.

My posts on forums are high speed jottings and often have typos and errors in. I do not care.

On a thread yesterday a poster was repeatedly mentioning that they were a teacher....I actually questioned it as the grammar was dreadful and I'd hate to think they were educating children in the same manner.

I make all kinds of mistakes but I'm not teaching others to follow suit....

I will admit I felt tempted to comment on a poster's literacy when she talked about her high standard of education while sneering at someone else's. If someone is being a total hypocrite like that it's hard to refrain.
Agree that in general it's rude to pull people up but in some cases I do find myself inwardly judging, especially if the person is really pompous.

See, being old-school (literally), I would find it hard (but not impossible!) to make some of the sorts of mistakes I see on here - to/too, their, they're/there etc because the spellings were drilled into me and it's automatic to use the correct one. However, I assume that most of the mistakes/typos on here are due to autocorrect - but then I also proof-read so hopefully not much slips through.

I would never criticise a poster's spelling and grammar unless they were asking for it, so to speak, because that's just rude.

But there is no getting away from the fact that properly spelled and punctuated posts are easier to read. Doesn't mean you can't answer the content rather than the method though.

Yes, you got me wrong. I was talking about those who can spell but don't because they are 'in a hurry' or because 'it's just the internet'. I just don't understand that. Of course I don't look down on those who are dyslexic or struggling.