Grammar and spelling (both irrelevant derailing and pedantic threads)

[TheEntertainerr]

Just read a couple of threads and need to rant.

1. There is no need to pull other posters up on spelling and grammar. It's irrelevant and derails the thread. If you disagree with a poster, it's okay to disagree with them. Disagree and state your point of view. If you understand what they're getting at, there is no need to pick them up on spelling/grammar. The motives are clear, you've taken a dislike/disagree and trying to score a petty point, in order to validate your belief that you're better/superior. Don't! You don't appear more intelligent/educated/knowledgeable. Just someone who is either incapable of disagreeing or effectively countering an argument.

2. Threads about poor grammar and spelling. Okay, some particular mistakes may really irritate people. I get it. Vent it, but quit while you're ahead. Don't cast aspersions - people being under-educated - based on one particular mistake. By all means, do so if you're that confident with your own ability and that your posts will hold up against the same level of scrutiny. Ironically, they often don't.

Rant over.

I think sometimes autocorrect spells definitely as defiantly tbf.

EmeraldRubyShark I wonder how many people then see the word spelled correctly and assume the other person is wrong. Or do they just not notice it?

I never correct grammar on here. If people want to use incorrect spelling on here and in real life, then that's up to them.

I also don't lecture people on what they can and can't do on Mumsnet. That's what Mumsnet talk guidelines are for.

I think people are often confused between dependent (adj.) and dependant (noun). They then carry that through and use "independant". It doesn't bother me on here but annoys me no end when I see it used in a formal context.

“Rediculous” gives me the rage. But only quietly! 😬

It can do NoSauce as ‘defiantly’ is also a word, but ‘definately’ isn’t!

TheFatberg I think there’s a lot of that, like the point I made earlier about how so many people are incorrectly using an apostrophe to pluralise a numeric decade it has become more common to see the error then the correct way of writing it. But I also think a lot of people just probably don’t even notice other people’s spelling as their own sense of how to spell is so flexible and amorphous. I don’t think the people writing ‘rediculous’ think deeply about about it to see ‘ridiculous’ and assume that’s wrong :P

Yep definately isn’t a word but I guess people think it’s spelt that way because of how it sounds when spoken. Same with could of for instance.

Incorrect grammar really bugs me, and can make a post hard to understand at times. I never say anything though, what would be the point? It's just another stick to beat someone with.

• with which to beat someone. :)

I think could of etc is understandable because people hear the contraction ‘could’ve’ and hear what they think is of.

I can't help but think that if people read more they would be familiar with "could've". I wonder what they would say if you asked them what they meant by "could of", (which I would never do).

I might be wierd but I pronounce could've as could af not of.

But surely that’s just basic grammar that you learn in school anyway?

But surely that’s just basic grammar that you learn in school anyway?

I wonder this myself. I know people my age, 50-ish, in my part of the world, Southern Ontario, learned some grammar. However, in grade 13, (which used to be the final grade before university), my English teacher deviated from the regular syllabus and took two weeks to teach us the grammar we should have been taught in primary school.

I read a lot growing up and my mum would correct me if I made a mistake. I usually wrote and spoke using proper grammar but I couldn't have told you why.

As others have said, above, I learned more about English grammar when I studied other languages.

(Anyone else on this thread triple-checking their SPaG? Any errors I shall blame on the internet. )

I would never correct someone's spelling and grammar, but I have to admit I do judge when I see a post full of basic mistakes, especially "should of" - shudder.

I do take issue, however, with the prickly defensive attitude of those who have been reprimanded or don't like others being told their mistakes. If someone pointed out to me that I had misspelled a word I would be chastened and make a mental note of it. And spelling and grammar are important. If there were a SPAG free-for-all things - maybe important things - could be misconstrued. Should lawyers, for example, be allowed to spell things any old how? What about public information leaflets?

Make a mental note then that you need a comma after an "if" clause.

Of course correct SPaG is important. Probably not on a parenting forum though. If we were writing an academic essay to be handed in and marked, why, I'm sure none of us would start a sentence with "and" or "but" (though neither are wrong, they're just stylistically impoverished) But we're not. We're on a chat forum.

And in the late 70s and through much of the 80s English grammar was not taught as a matter of course. There then followed edicts from the powers that be that teachers should not correct spelling mistakes.

The results of that are an entire generation (if not more than one) whose SPaG IS sub-standard. Nobody denies that.

Is it our place on a mammy forum to red pen people's mistakes? Really?

Sometimes it is genuinely very difficult to work out what a poster is saying, due to lack of punctuation and poor spelling or grammar. I think in those cases, it's reasonable to query what was intended. And I also personally think that when someone is already being irritatingly pedantic, it's okay to point out their own errors.

Frank, Phoebe's brother chucks and condom (and retrieves it) from her guitar case a season or two before she finds out she has a brother.

Yup, that was my years at school. I remember my mum being horrified when my p7 teacher told her the weren't allowed to correct spelling mistakes anymore

Oops wrong copy and paste!

There then followed edicts from the powers that be that teachers should not correct spelling mistakes.

Another common one is are/our - I’d NEVER write the wrong one with a pen, but I have read posts I’ve written previously and I’ve typed the wrong one. It’s weird, but when I looked it up the explanation was interesting.

I often spot too late that I've used the wrong our/are, there/they're/their. I assume it's because I'm sometimes typing the sound and forgetting the context. I definitely do know 😊

"Rediculous” gives me the rage. But only quietly!

Yes, me too!

I've just read something else which I see a lot and always makes my finger itch. Saving for a mortgage. No! You are saving for a deposit, or saving for a house.

You know what winds me up? People correcting their own posts.

"Oops, I meant desk, not pesk. LOL"

I honestly don't care about mistakes, as long as I can understand the post. If people are so concerned about a stranger's opinion of their language skills, they should just have a quick proof read before they post the message.

Yes, Boredisboring, especially when you get a really long post and then the posters puts *too not to as the next post. It’s really weird unless it’s a really bad autocorrect.

I’m sure people correct themselves before some arse does.