Page 10 | To not understand why people correct spelling

Fizbosshoes · 12/03/2022 15:52

My BIL is (I think) dyslexic. It is sometimes a struggle to read his messages so many words are missed or spelled wrong. Autocorrect can interpret most of the words but he doesn't use it (I've tried putting some of the words in and it does suggest the correct spelling - although I suppose that's not helpful if you don't know you've spelt it wrong)
One thing I do correct is my children's names. He consistently spells them wrong, even though one of them is in the same chat group so he only has to type @ and her name will be listed.

Madhairday · 12/03/2022 18:01

I write and proofread for a living but I never correct spelling, grammar and punctuation on forums or posts on MN and FB etc. It upsets me when someone posts an emotive post full of pleas for help and the first few replies are corrections, because I can only imagine how the OP must feel to see her distress so minimised.

However, I do take issue with some posts here that claim that there are no posts on Mumsnet that are difficult or even impossible to understand. I've been around here a long time and have read many posts leaving my head spinning. They're generally posts without paragraphs and punctuation and it does make things difficult, even for those of us who edit professionally. If one of my clients wrote a block of text like that I'd query it so that I could get a better idea of what they were saying.

But I still wouldn't on MN, though I've been tempted - mostly when the post in question is hateful, ignorant or blatantly BU...

I really have to grit my teeth very hard for 'should of.' My DD is dyslexic and she says that using dyslexia for that one is no excuse because it doesn't have the shape of the words 'should have' - it's just a lack of knowledge. But then I think about how terrible I am with numbers, and imagine having that feeling over words and then being publicly corrected without being asked. And so I don't do it.

blacksax · 12/03/2022 18:09

How will people learn the correct spelling if nobody tells them?

Fairislefandango · 12/03/2022 18:20

How will people learn the correct spelling if nobody tells them?

How will people learn the correct spelling from a random poster on the internet when they have failed to learn and remember it from having read the correct spelling of it (unless it's a very unusual word) countless times during their life and probably had it corrected by teachers, autocorrect and very likely already by other internet pedants? They won't. That's why they're still getting it wrong.

AddictedToOlives · 12/03/2022 18:33

someone felt the need to correct the spelling of another then put sorry in brackets. They aren't sorry or they just wouldn't have done it

Think I saw this… (phased was corrected to fazed?)

Just wanted to say that I DO think the person might’ve been genuinely sorry they couldn’t resist the urge to correct (it wasn’t me btw!) but I think they did it because it is a completely different word and not just a spelling mistake.

But the OP’s meaning was still clear due to context so IMO it was still rude and unnecessary to correct.

I just think that two wrongs don’t make a right and we shouldn’t presume to know their intentions when posting

Fedup845 · 12/03/2022 18:34

@01Madhairday your DD's manifestation of dyslexia is a sample of one, and different people with dyslexia vary enormously in terms of how much their different literacy skills are affected.

Just because she doesn't struggle with that particular grammatical concept, it does not mean that all others with dyslexia will not.

I don't expect all other dyslexics to have an identical experience to me. My reading age was always much higher than my chronological age, it was just my speed of reading that was slow, but I know that others with dyslexia can have far more difficulties with reading than simply how quickly they can do it. I wouldn't dream of telling those dyslexics that because I personally don't have too many issues with reading comprehension, then their difficulties with it are merely a "lack of knowledge".

MarieIVanArkleStinks · 12/03/2022 18:41

@cormorantes

There is clearly a need to correct spelling in schools, in editing, in drafting, copy writing etc. I am not sure this extends to mumsnet posts but when your job involves correcting spelling it does become habit.

My job does involve correcting people's spelling. But I'm paid to mark people's essays. I'd never do it on an online forum in a million years: I'm not an internet monitor and have quite enough of that kind of dull duty at work.

It's possible people do this under the misguided notion that it makes them appear more intelligent. It does the reverse. It simply shouts: 'this is the best I have to offer as a counter-argument'. That's aside from showing the corrector up as a rude and obnoxious, not to mention tedious, git.

The only mildly amusing instances are when the SPAG correctors get their virtual red pens to work on others' posts and are themselves wrong. Don't get me wrong, they make themselves look utter twats in any circumstances. But when they cock it up, they epitomise total twattery in a way that's quite satisfying to witness 🤣

AddictedToOlives · 12/03/2022 18:44

Mumsnet could solve a lot of this debate by including an edit button
YES, this!
although I understand the boards sometimes move too quickly for this to be feasible (maybe with a 2-5 minute time restriction?)

thenightsky · 12/03/2022 18:47

That's one of the ways that the condition is picked up, when someone's spelling ability and/or reading speed is out of sync with their high performance on other cognitive tasks

That's interesting. My DH is dyslexic and speed reads novels. He gets through twice as many books on a holiday as I do. However, I can barely understand a word of his whatsapp messages to me.

Mushypeasandchipstogo · 12/03/2022 18:51

Sorry I am a teacher and do it through force of habit and , of course, I am expected to do it for my job. My DS is severely dyslexic but does use spellcheck for essays at Uni. There is no excuse with so much technology available to not even try to make an effort.

PAFMO · 12/03/2022 18:52

@AddictedToOlives

someone felt the need to correct the spelling of another then put sorry in brackets. They aren't sorry or they just wouldn't have done it

Think I saw this… (phased was corrected to fazed?)

Just wanted to say that I DO think the person might’ve been genuinely sorry they couldn’t resist the urge to correct (it wasn’t me btw!) but I think they did it because it is a completely different word and not just a spelling mistake.

But the OP’s meaning was still clear due to context so IMO it was still rude and unnecessary to correct.

I just think that two wrongs don’t make a right and we shouldn’t presume to know their intentions when posting

Being a twat to somebody like that (only contribution to the thread to correct the spelling) then saying "sorry" is a bit "I'm not racist but".

Fedup845 · 12/03/2022 18:55

@Mushypeasandchipstogo , in a work, school or uni environment you would be looking at a full sized screen and you could use dragon dictate and grammarly to assist you.

Are you seriously suggesting that dyslexics should be using assistive software to simply post on Mumsnet?

Cookiecrumble22 · 12/03/2022 18:57

@thenightsky

That's one of the ways that the condition is picked up, when someone's spelling ability and/or reading speed is out of sync with their high performance on other cognitive tasks

That's interesting. My DH is dyslexic and speed reads novels. He gets through twice as many books on a holiday as I do. However, I can barely understand a word of his whatsapp messages to me.

I can't read books. Time I get to the bottom I have forgot what's up the top. And I can't take in the words for it to become a story.

AddictedToOlives · 12/03/2022 18:58

@PAFMO
Very good point.
I don’t remember if that person made any other contributions (I don’t often read names) but I’m pretty sure that particular post didn’t have anything else on it

Cookiecrumble22 · 12/03/2022 19:03

@Mushypeasandchipstogo

Sorry I am a teacher and do it through force of habit and , of course, I am expected to do it for my job. My DS is severely dyslexic but does use spellcheck for essays at Uni. There is no excuse with so much technology available to not even try to make an effort.

Even with spell check some words look very similar. So that can be confusing. If was posting on here went to look Up a spelling. Time I come back I would have forgotten it. And still spelt it wrong.

Fedup845 · 12/03/2022 19:06

@Cookiecrumble22 , exactly, for any kind of spell check to help, you need to be 60-70 percent close to the correct spelling for it to give you the correct spelling as a suggestion.

Normally, this works ok for me, but there are occasional words where I don't even get close.

CustardySergeant · 12/03/2022 19:08

@Onlyforcake

Because for years teachers ingrained it into you to not only check your own spelling but to spot errors and point them out. Correct spelling and grammar is given huge priority in the school years. Many adults are still trying to get those gold stars or desperately crave being teacher's pet still

My daughter's teacher (when my daughter was 6) crossed out her correctly spelled word "scary" and wrote "scarey" beside it in red! That a teacher's spelling is worse than their pupil's is unacceptable IMO.

Notanotherwindow · 12/03/2022 19:14

Because if they don't know its wrong then they'll keep spelling it wrong. I'd prefer to be told if I'm spelling something wrong or using a word incorrectly. Otherwise I keep using the wrong word.

Cookiecrumble22 · 12/03/2022 19:15

@Notanotherwindow

Because if they don't know its wrong then they'll keep spelling it wrong. I'd prefer to be told if I'm spelling something wrong or using a word incorrectly. Otherwise I keep using the wrong word.

It's not that simple

SoupDragon · 12/03/2022 19:18

@Notanotherwindow

Because if they don't know its wrong then they'll keep spelling it wrong. I'd prefer to be told if I'm spelling something wrong or using a word incorrectly. Otherwise I keep using the wrong word.

You shouldn't start a sentence with the word "because."

There should be an apostrophe in it's.

Doodar · 12/03/2022 19:32

They're rude c, infuriates me, not everyone had a good education. so superior, and from the people I know who do this they're very uptight.

Notanotherwindow · 12/03/2022 19:39

@SoupDragon Thank you.

OpheliaThrupps · 12/03/2022 19:46

@Lockeddownagain

Just reading a thread on here and someone felt the need to correct the spelling of another then put sorry in brackets. They aren't sorry or they just wouldn't have done it. I'm super dyslexic and spell stuff wrong all the time but why do people need to correct it. If you are a spelling corrector would you tell me why you do it?? Thanks

Treat others as you'd like to be treated yourself.

Imtryingveryhard · 12/03/2022 19:57

[quote Franklyfrost]@GeneLovesJezebel
If you continue to spell a word wrong, and it’s not corrected, how will you ever learn to spell it right ?
Dyslexia is a disability. The brain of a person with dyslexia is neurologically different. You look at writing and automatically decide it into letters and associated sounds. A dyslexic brain is missing some or all of that function, writing is seen by the dyslexic brain as shapes and processed in the same easy as other shapes are. It’s a really unpleasant attitude you have to disability there, you might want to reassess it.[/quote]
I have only read as far as this comment and understand/accept what you say but not everyone understands how people with dyslexia process what they interpret. Your description is helpful, your last comment isn’t. We are just entering the world of dyslexia with our children. The aggressive responses when someone doesn’t fully understand at first is very frightening and intimidating.

PAFMO · 12/03/2022 20:10

[quote AddictedToOlives]@PAFMO
Very good point.
I don’t remember if that person made any other contributions (I don’t often read names) but I’m pretty sure that particular post didn’t have anything else on it[/quote]
It didn't. Just the correction and the (sorry) I reported it and it's been deleted now.