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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU that criticising someone's spelling and grammr on AIBU is rubbish behaviour ?

204 replies

Stinkycatbreath · 02/02/2020 20:13

Ive noticed this on Facebook and here. Now I can understand that when people use offensive language people need to pull them up on it. But sometimes people might miss a letter or comma or something and there is always one or several people who make a comment nothing to do with the thread about the OPs spelling or grammar! I mean you logged on to make a comment nothing to do with the thread. We have all made typos and posted things which are not grammatically accurate but some people are just out to get others as they think they have superiority. I especially like it when people are losing an arguement then really get in their with "yeh well at least I can spell properly " or something to that affect. It must be lovely to be so perfect and for my money those peole can stick their grammar where the sun don't shine. As long as a post is legible and understandable its fine., no need to be such a twonk.

OP posts:
CharlotteMD · 04/02/2020 06:42

Sometimes I have to read a comment 2 or 3 times to understand what's being said.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 04/02/2020 08:09

Oulu, that would be 'MN is so weird, no?

For some reason, you're putting stupid, bigoted, abusive, criminal behaviour in the same realm as making SPaG mistakes?

I'd suggest it's not MN that's weird but you are. Get a grip and hold it tightly.

Oulu · 04/02/2020 08:14

No, Lying, I'm not putting that sort of behaviour in the same realm. The point is that, on MN, it's apparently fine to accuse people of those things whether it's justified or not. You can get torn apart on MN simply for voting Leave or voting Remain. And all of that is apparently OK.

senua · 04/02/2020 08:38

I've worked with a Nobel Prize winning engineer and a few Nobel nominated engineers...Not a one of them ever used you or you're properly.
What, never? Are we supposed to believe that?

Actually, that has sent my brain off on a suspicious train of thought. Have you noticed that it's all those saying "I do linguistics / proofreading / editing / etc for a living" who are saying that low levels of SPaG in the population are not a problem. Of course they are - they make their money off it!Grin

lollybee1 · 04/02/2020 08:52

I think it is a case of: Accuser doesn't like the sentiment of the post, accuser has nothing intelligent to say so let's just bang on about an obvious typo.

JacquesHammer · 04/02/2020 08:55

In my experience people who are bad at spelling and grammar in their mother tongue are dumb and badly educated people, unless dyslexic

I have to say, such a small wealth of experience is far more problematic than a few errors on a casual Internet forum.

HulksPurplePanties · 04/02/2020 09:01

What, never? Are we supposed to believe that?

Why wouldn't you? These people are engineers. They are winning Nobel Prizes in Engineering, not Literature.

It's a common joke in the STEM field that Engineers are hopeless at anything outside of their area of focus. I'm surprised most of them know how to put their shoes on the right feet.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 04/02/2020 09:05

Oulu, No, you can't do that. If you are display those behaviours on this site then your posts are deleted, and rightly so.

The pleasure that some posters take in picking apart other people's posts for SPaG is something that shouldn't be tolerated and, mostly it isn't. If it's not deleted by MNHQ then it's still rounded on by many posters, myself included. It's just not on and there's no good reason for it.

SW16 · 04/02/2020 09:07

I was on a thread at the weekend that was completely derailed by posters laughing at a spelling mistake, criticising the OP for it, and then arguing with other posters when picked up in their behaviour.

Despite an intervention from MNHQ.

Total areseholery.

It is fair enough to point out errors sometime, but unkind and unnecessary when a poster is upset or seeking advice about something sensitive.

I am also impatient with the new trend for a disingenuous pretence that the OP is incomprehensible because if a few typos or grammar short cuts. Being patronising doesn’t look any better than having erratic grammar.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 04/02/2020 09:19

SW16, exactly so. It's like a pack of piranhas sometimes. Nobody is obliged to comment on any post so if it's just too incomprehensible, for whatever reason, then move on.

Disingenuous posters always seem to think that nobody can see them for what they are. Not very bright.

senua · 04/02/2020 09:21

Why wouldn't you?
Because I don't believe everything that randoms on the internet post.

It's a common joke in the STEM field that Engineers are hopeless at anything outside of their area of focus.
I must tell my SPaG-competent SIL that he is a unique specimen but, therefore and unfortunately, is unlikely to ever win the Nobel prize.

coconuttelegraph · 04/02/2020 09:26

These people are engineers. They are winning Nobel Prizes in Engineering, not Literature

That's just silly, no one needs a Noble prize in anything to understand the difference between your and you're . Maybe the engineers you know can't grasp that but it's a wild extrapolation to assume that applies to all of them. I know an engineer who can write grammatically correctly, so they all must be able to? It doesn't follow at all

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 04/02/2020 09:28

What bothers me most is very long posts with no paragraphs. Though to be strictly accurate, they don’t bother me, since I CBA to read them.

There should always IMO be a Pedants’ Corner, for people who really cringe at basic mistakes - I do - to let off steam.

Having said that, I only ever corrected someone once, on another forum, after that person had corrected someone else - and made a basic mistake in their own post! Pots and kettles....

However I often think that people who do make basic mistakes - it’s/its, your/you’re, would of, loose/lose, etc., maybe just don’t care, because they’ve been led to believe that these things really don’t matter any more.

Which is sad, because they certainly do, and e.g. basic mistakes on CVs can really affect someone’s chances of a job.

Worst case of grammar-superiority I ever saw (on a very different forum) was when someone used a Latin phrase incorrectly, and someone else pointed it out and corrected her - on the open forum, instead of by a PM. It really made me cringe for the other person.
I knew the ‘corrector’ - it was entirely in character. She thought herself superior in so many ways and was often keen to demonstrate it. It was ages ago but I still really regret not PM-ing her to say that was an appalling thing to do, and moreover Very Bad Manners - that might have gone home since she fancied herself so very correct in everything.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 04/02/2020 09:29

I know a doctor who can write neatly.

HulksPurplePanties · 04/02/2020 09:32

That's just silly, no one needs a Noble prize in anything to understand the difference between your and you're .

I'm certain they know the difference.

But when writing their academic papers they are often more keen to get down their findings, than they are worried about getting spelling and grammar correct.

That's what people like me are for.

And it's Nobel

SW16 · 04/02/2020 09:32

Senua and coconut

It's a common joke in the STEM field that Engineers are hopeless at anything outside of their area of focus

N.B it is a joke, not a

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 04/02/2020 09:32

GETTING, I've been on Pedants' Corner and it's actually a nice friendly place. They wouldn't tolerate sniping about other posters errors and, from what they said previously, they wouldn't welcome the posters from here who do that.

They love language, that's what the place is for. Not this.

SW16 · 04/02/2020 09:33

N.B it is a joke, not a theory or fact.

ClinkyMonkey · 04/02/2020 09:35

The point is you very likely don't know the reason for someone's lack of spelling/grammar ability, in which case it's rude to make a big deal out of it. Some people seem to think that they can point out poor grammar in a subtle way, thereby giving that person a quiet, friendly nudge to correct themselves. News flash - it is NEVER subtle. It makes the person feel stupid and inadequate. I'm sorry, but it is not coming from a good place no matter what the 'educator' may claim. Unless you are that person's English teacher, butt out.

GroggyLegs · 04/02/2020 09:42

I can't comprehend being the kind of person who reads a thread about a custody battle, or a relationship ending badly and thinks it's totally normal to post:

'its YOU'RE NOT YOUR'

I always imagine them to be quite twitchy and humourless. And wearing a waterfall cardigan.

WorraLiberty · 04/02/2020 10:04

However I often think that people who do make basic mistakes - it’s/its, your/you’re, would of, loose/lose, etc., maybe just don’t care, because they’ve been led to believe that these things really don’t matter any more.

Or maybe they feel it doesn't matter so much on an internet chat forum?

Some people who struggle with that sort of thing have to think long and hard about their SPAG. If for example they were sending a work email or a job application, they'd spend ages composing it and get someone else to look it over for them, so they know it does matter in certain situations.

But on a chat forum they're not going to do that. Unless they have a personal secretary with them at all times Grin

HulksPurplePanties · 04/02/2020 10:05

I always imagine them to be quite twitchy and humourless. And wearing a waterfall cardigan.

I picture Dolores Umbridge.

senua · 04/02/2020 10:55

Worra, you seem to have a deep affinity for these people who struggle with SPaG so I'm willing to delegate to you the job of forum-chatting with them. I'm sure that they won't miss my contribution.
That should make everyone happy, hopefully.Smile

Halloweenbabyy · 04/02/2020 10:59

I am dyslexic and I also have dyspraxia. Grammar, punctuation ect is completely lost with me. I literally have no idea about any of it, I do genuinely find it really distressing when people feel the urge to pick at my comments just for the sake of it.

D4rwin · 04/02/2020 11:04

There, they're, their. Whilst patting the pedant's head.