Bought vs Brought

[Curiosity101]

AIBU to cringe every time someone uses 'brought' when they mean 'bought'?

"I went to the shop and brought a ^^"

I don't normally care about things like this. Never ever correct anyone (even in this case). But for some reason this one really makes me cringe.

Is brought rather than bought always wrong? Or AIBU and it's regional or something?

Colleagues of his actually have business cards stating they are a principal whatever

Wouldn't that be correct though? Or do you mean he engineers principles?

So why does this not apply to other corrections of mistakes like I described above? (the New York/Washington DC confusion)

Because stating something as a 'fact' when it isn't a fact, is completely different to correcting someones spelling/grammar.
Unless they stated something like "It's could of, not could have"

Correcting someone's SPaG without them asking people to, is very likely to put them off posting.

Mumsnet is for everyone from all walks of life. I seriously doubt someone who has had a poor education is going to want to be reminded of it, every time they fancy a chat on the internet.

That would be exhausting and quite frankly humiliating.

Colleagues of his actually have business cards stating they are a principal whatever
That is correct. Principal (main, most senior) engineer. Principle is very wrong.

I find it very strange that people are quite happy to accept that some people have a problem with numbers, or spatial awareness, or might be tone deaf or have a poor memory for dates or events

Number mistakes and incorrect dates/events etc would and absolutely have been corrected on MN. People correcting them aren’t saying “we don’t accept your issues”, they’re just correcting some information so the correct information is known, not just to the poster but to anyone reading too. Exactly the same as correcting spelling mistakes. Nobody is saying “I’m judging you- I don’t accept your difficulties with spelling” they’re just putting the right information out there.

Similarly if we were out with someone who had poor special awareness and they were continually stepping off the kerb we would offer to switch places so it didn’t keep happening. And none of that would be based in judgement or not accepting their struggle with spatial awareness.

@wordgirl - Principal and principle have different meanings though

Oh dear. I just reread my post and realised I wrote it the wrong way the whole way through. I have no idea why as I do actually know the difference. I obviously need caffeine. This is why I should always re-read before I post.

Colleagues have business cards stating they are a principle whatever.

A friend’s DH is Irish and he says ”I arrove” instead of “I arrived” which actually I really love because it sounds so sweet when he says it!

@daisypond - That is correct. Principal (main, most senior) engineer. Principle is very wrong.

I know . See my post above. I'm mortified. A pedant's nightmare.

Because stating something as a 'fact' when it isn't a fact, is completely different to correcting someones spelling/grammar.

Stating something as a fact when it isn’t a fact is exactly the same as spelling something as “brought” when the spelling is “bought”

As soon as it says 'could of/should of/would of...' I stop reading.

OP I had a technician who only ever said 'brought'. I think she honestly couldn't distinguish between the two words but it did lead to occasional misunderstandings: "I brought the material". "Oh,OK. Where is it?". "It's at home".

@ coconuttelegraph - Wouldn't that be correct though? Or do you mean he engineers principles?

Engineering principles sounds fun. But no, I'm a caffeine deprived idiot who didn't re-read before posting and now look utterly clueless.

Stating something as a fact when it isn’t a fact is exactly the same as spelling something as “brought” when the spelling is “bought”

Of course it's not.

Most people who have poor SPaG skills absolutely know their skills are poor.

They're not 'stating' it's 'brought' when it should be 'bought.

When they put commas and apostrophes in the wrong places, they're not stating those places are correct.

They're simply displaying a poor level of understanding.

However, they have every right to be able to relax and chat on the internet, without wannabee school teachers pulling them up left, right and center.

It's rude and exclusionary imo.

What about H?

I know in some parts of the country there is a political/cultural reason for the different pronunciation but where I'm from there is not. Every time I hear it, it goes right through me. Was always drummed into me as a child and almost everyone I knew pronounced it the same way, not so in adulthood!

Ok we’ll have to agree to disagree on this.

Longwayoff ... hilarious!

'of' 'have'
'been' 'being'
'to' 'too'

I could go on.

It shows a lack of education and/or care.

I don't bother reading any further as it infuriates me so much.

I'm starting to wonder, based on these responses, if the Brought vs Bought thing actually is regional.

It surprises me that so many people haven't seen/heard it outside of MN. I probably see it daily if viewing sale adverts on places like Gumtree / Facebook Marketplace. I also probably hear it every few days in RL. Maybe it is much more common in the Midlands...

Still - I'll be keeping my thoughts to myself whenever I see it (or any other mistakes).

It's only regional in the sense that you're more likely to see it in more deprived areas.

Nobody is saying “I’m judging you- I don’t accept your difficulties with spelling” they’re just putting the right information out there.

I'm afraid I don't agree at all. People make judgements about others' social class, intelligence and effort/laziness based on their language, in a way that they absolutely don't about things like their numeracy or spatial awareness.

When talking about language mistakes, pedants often seem proud to express their huge irritation, indignation, even fury, about errors and the state of the nation's language skills. I've never seen that directed at numeracy errors. Those with poor grammar or pronunciation are judged as soon as they open their mouths or put pen to paper or finger to keyboard.

It must be very disheartening to read so often on MN how terribly annoying, careless and lazy you are for not being good at spelling and grammar, even when it's general ranting rather than specific correction of your own mistakes.

It shows a lack of education and/or care.

I don't bother reading any further as it infuriates me so much.

See this is what I don't understand.

Imagine being unlucky enough to have been brought up with a lack of education.

As if that's not bad enough, you then get people on the internet (which is now a massive part of life), who refuse to 'listen' or chat to you because they're so 'infuriated'.

That must feel bloody awful, although hopefully they'll be unaware their misfortune is so annoying to others.

I'm starting to wonder, based on these responses, if the Brought vs Bought thing actually is regional

I've seen it all over, tbh. I don't find it a particularly surprising mistake though. The two words sound similar and can be used in rather similar contexts often enough to spark confusion for some people. If you brought someone a present, you probably bought it too.

lazylinguist excellent post.

I couldn't agree more.

@Nixby3 thanks

Do t get me started on 'of' and 'have'. How can people get this so wrong. I'm noticing it more on here lately.

Colleagues of his actually have business cards stating they are a principal whatever

That is correct. Principal (main, most senior) engineer. Principle is very wrong

Principal isn't difficult to remember. It's referring to a person , not an idea. A pal is a person.

I probably see it daily if viewing sale adverts on places like Gumtree / Facebook Marketplace.

Yes I see it on all the above too. I don’t hear it IRL.

I've never seen that directed at numeracy errors.

Probably because we very rarely write or discuss numbers in comparison to how much we write words or converse.

People make judgements about others' social class, intelligence and effort/laziness based on their language

All I can say is that I personally don’t. Having said that I also don’t correct spelling errors on MN. I did years ago but I understand it’s perceived as being a dickhead and upsets some so I don’t do it.