I corrected a typo on a whiteboard at school today - WIBU?

[clary]

We were looking round the fancy new school buildings at my kids' school tonight and there was some teacher writing on a board which included the word "barbeque" [sic]

I was able dextrously to doctor the q to make it a c. I hope this was in order. I also hope the teacher notices

"While the standard modern English spelling of the word is barbecue, local variations like barbeque and truncations such as bar-b-q or bbq may also be found.[9] The spelling barbeque is given in Merriam-Webster and the Oxford Dictionaries as a variant.[10][11]"

I'm not a teacher, though.

Not in order. Chambers allows both spellings, so teacher not wrong.

Aargh nooo bar-buh-kway, who says that?

I am not open to a debate at all on the spelling , just wondering whether I should have messed with the teacher's work (which I assume was left on purpose to illustrate usage of the board in the new room).

I'm an English teacher and both is ok
I'd be mightily pissed off if you'd messed with my board if I wasn't even wrong

I do make mistakes and correct myself in front of the class. They love it when I make a mistake

Barbecue is the preferred spelling.

I grew up knowing it as barbeque. Now tend to write barbecue.

Of course you shouldn't have messed with it, especially since it wasn't even wrong, what a strange thing to do. Bit cringey to be honest, I would just think "what a saddo" if I was the teacher.

Spelling it with a q is perfectly OK - it's a widely used variant. So whether you are open to debate about the spelling is irrelevant.

So YABU. And you sound a bit silly really. Or ignorant. Or both.

YWU. Barbeque is an acceptable spelling (but obviously barbecue is preferred and the teacher should be teaching there are variations).

The c spelling is not 'preferred' both are considered equally acceptable

Cringe-o-rama. And only exacerbated by your gleefulness on the matter.

No, they are not equally acceptable. Barbecue is older and comes from a Spanish word that has a c not a q. The que form resulted from people abbreviating it BBQ and then using que in the word. It began to be adopted by barbecue restaurants and then spread. Most style guides prefer barbecue.

Yeah YWBU. Don't be such a dick, good grief. How would you feel if parents came to look round your classroom and started messing with your stuff?

I enjoy cooking on a BBQ in the summer months, but I doubt the food would taste as good if I put it on the -tv- BBC.

Are you always looking to score points off other members of your profession by messing with their work, or was this particular ill-informed and juvenile act of your part a one off, OP?

yes you should not have messed with another teachers work.

When told that actually the spelling was completely acceptable your not interested in a debate ( though you may be joking) you corected a completely acceptable word which makes you even more of an idiot!

I hope the teach not only notices but knows it was you and has you marked out as that patent and treats you with as much respect as you clearly have for them! Ie not much!

Teacher not teach clearly!

You sound like a dick.

If we're being weirdly uptight, I'm concerned by your use of 'some teacher' in your first para and also by the split infinitive at the start of your second.

It's usually best not to be weirdly uptight about other people's grammar, though, especially not in public.

I've done it

Ywbu.

How old are you?!

Strawberry??

Where's the split infinitive? OP seems to be quite ostentatiously NOT spitting her infinitive...

I prefer your way of spelling it, but would have been a bit peeved that you messed with MY stuff.

You should have resisted the temptation, sat on your hands and twitched instead.This is what I do in similar situations, unless I know the person very well.

Not splitting the infinitive is also harming back to inflexible, illogical ways of writing in English.

Yabu. I'm an English teacher and literacy lead for the whole of my high school. As someone pointed out, I make mistakes. I give credits to students who notice my mistakes. If a parent did this I'd be angry. Especially if I wasn't wrong. Sounds like points-scoring.

Deliberately, clunkily not splitting the infinitive, I meant to say.

I am not open to a debate at all on the spelling

Convenient!