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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not understand why people correct spelling

357 replies

Lockeddownagain · 12/03/2022 06:59

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

OP posts:
JudgeJ · 12/03/2022 12:02

@LilacPaisley

I don't mind people correcting my spelling, although I rarely make mistakes. I wouldn't do it on here though as it's often the fault of predictive text.
ANd fat finger syndrome, hence the rogue capital letter N !
etulosba · 12/03/2022 12:03

Frankly, I should've thought pointing out an error on here might prevent someone making it on a job application. Who knows?

That’s why I don’t mind having my spelling mistakes pointed out.

I don’t want to look like an idiot where it matters.

thepeopleversuswork · 12/03/2022 12:03

It's stealth boasting and one-upmanship from people who have a compulsive need to make other people feel inadequate.

Unnecessary, patronising and calculated to make the person on the receiving end feel bad about themselves. And always delivered with a passive aggressive little sign-off to provide a figleaf of "niceness".

The worst example of this is when people claim they can't understand a post because of poor spelling.

You know perfectly well what the poster is trying to say, otherwise you wouldn't have bothered to engage in the first place. You're using a forum which is in large part designed to support people in difficulty many of them from less privileged backgrounds than yours to deliver anonymous putdowns. It's pathetic.

WorraLiberty · 12/03/2022 12:04

@LetHimHaveIt

I love the school of thought which suggests that the people who blithely misspell on Mumsnet, are somehow saving themselves to absolutely nail it on official documents. It's not a finite resource.

Clearly, when someone is dyslexic - and that's usually pretty obvious - it's best left. I'm afraid I can't always stop myself when the poster is ranting about the stupidity of a SiL/GP receptionist/ASDA till operator. The temptation to say 'Yeah, but she probably knows how to spell 'disgusting (hint - there's no 'c') . . . ' is sometimes too great.

Frankly, I should've thought pointing out an error on here might prevent someone making it on a job application. Who knows?

Clearly, when someone is dyslexic - and that's usually pretty obvious - it's best left.

Clearly it's also best left when:

Someone has had a poor education
Someone isn't particularly high in intelligence
Someone has English as a second or third language
Someone is highly intelligent but poor at spelling and grammar
Someone has NOT asked for anyone's input/opinions on their spelling and grammar.

Basically it's best left.

And as for the job application, do you really think that after a whole lifetime up to the point of their Mumsnet post, a random MNetter is going to be the big saviour who charges in on their steed and saves them, when no other person before them could?

HunterHearstHelmsley · 12/03/2022 12:06

Once you have mastered correcting spellings you may want to buy Apostrophes For Dummies!

Ding ding ding!!!!

I was right first time!

It makes them feel better about themselves to put someone else down.

Luckily I'm not a massive cunt so don't feel the need to correct random people on the internet.

EatYourVegetables · 12/03/2022 12:08

Because an occasional error is understandable, but reading “ok hun i wud of done it but iv only just herd Wats going on i hope every1 s fine 2 do jt themselfes anyways da school could be a bit less lachs i daisy with comms” makes my brain hurt.

WorraLiberty · 12/03/2022 12:13

@EatYourVegetables

Because an occasional error is understandable, but reading “ok hun i wud of done it but iv only just herd Wats going on i hope every1 s fine 2 do jt themselfes anyways da school could be a bit less lachs i daisy with comms” makes my brain hurt.
Then scroll past.
PAFMO · 12/03/2022 12:13

@EatYourVegetables

Because an occasional error is understandable, but reading “ok hun i wud of done it but iv only just herd Wats going on i hope every1 s fine 2 do jt themselfes anyways da school could be a bit less lachs i daisy with comms” makes my brain hurt.
Well, yes, it would. If that sentence had ever been written. Which it hasn't.
Unforgettablefire · 12/03/2022 12:14

I wouldn’t do it I’d feel a bit smug I think it’s belittling. I often wonder about people nitpicking like this and what they’re like to live with. I care more for what people are saying not their spelling abilities 🤷🏻‍♀️

Barbie222 · 12/03/2022 12:14

But if everyone scrolls past then how's that helpful? Unless we're all just screaming into the abyss now here

PAFMO · 12/03/2022 12:16

@Barbie222

But if everyone scrolls past then how's that helpful? Unless we're all just screaming into the abyss now here
You don't feel the same about correct punctuation though, do you? Clearly. Why is that?
Barbie222 · 12/03/2022 12:19

I don't have an issue with spelling, as I pointed out before. But if people want help on a text based forum and others can't understand the point they're making, that's an issue, surely? Communication is about more than spelling.

Frsta · 12/03/2022 12:20

Because not everyone will scroll past, poster said it hurt her brain seeing things like that, it doesn't hurt mine and I can read it, for people that can read it they can respond and people who find it "hurts" or is problematic to them can scroll on.

Barbie222 · 12/03/2022 12:21

I think it makes sense to have as many people understand you as possible, rather than narrow the pool?

Frsta · 12/03/2022 12:25

Yes but i If someone is an adult on a forum they will have gone through years of education, its unlikely that a snarky message on a forum is magically going to change the problems they have with writing. So best to scroll on if it bothers you.

WorraLiberty · 12/03/2022 12:26

@Barbie222

But if everyone scrolls past then how's that helpful? Unless we're all just screaming into the abyss now here
'Helpful' to whom? To the person posting? They're not asking for help are they?

Or do you mean helpful to the reader who's so irritated they just can't resist humiliating them by pointing out their errors?

If it's the latter, the reader can help themselves by learning to deal with it, or staying off of social media etc.

Barbie222 · 12/03/2022 12:28

Helpful' to whom? To the person posting? They're not asking for help are they?

Why else do people start posts?

Penners99 · 12/03/2022 12:29

I correct spelling. It is automatic. Probably due to the beatings I got as a child when I made a mistake myself.

LindaEllen · 12/03/2022 12:31

I don't correct typos, everyone has those (including me, and I've been a professional writer for almost two decades).

But what I will correct is when people mix up things like bought/brought, why/while, should of/have and things like that. Not because I think I'm better than them, but because if it was me making mistakes like that (almost certainly because that's the way they hear it in their heads) I would want to know about it!

A few years ago - several years into my writing career! - someone told me it was 'seeing as' and not 'seen as'. I was fascinated and went to double check and then thanked them when it turned out they were right, and I'd been wrong my whole life.

Judging by this thread not everyone finds English as interesting as me, and wouldn't appreciate being corrected.. I always genuinely thought people would like to know.

WorraLiberty · 12/03/2022 12:31

@Barbie222

I think it makes sense to have as many people understand you as possible, rather than narrow the pool?
The vast majority of wankers on her who correct people absolutely can understand though. They just like to belittle people by pretending they can't.

If an OP's spelling and grammar does occasionally cause genuine confusion, then it normally means lots of posters are confused and clarification is politely sought.

applewhitenights · 12/03/2022 12:34

I wouldn't correct on a forum, as it's informal and autocorrect etc.

I had the person who managed our workplace's Facebook account moan at me for correcting her spelling and grammar, but I thought it would reflect badly on the company if their page was riddled with errors. Boss sided with her.....still don't think I was in the wrong there Hmm.

WorraLiberty · 12/03/2022 12:35

@LindaEllen

I don't correct typos, everyone has those (including me, and I've been a professional writer for almost two decades).

But what I will correct is when people mix up things like bought/brought, why/while, should of/have and things like that. Not because I think I'm better than them, but because if it was me making mistakes like that (almost certainly because that's the way they hear it in their heads) I would want to know about it!

A few years ago - several years into my writing career! - someone told me it was 'seeing as' and not 'seen as'. I was fascinated and went to double check and then thanked them when it turned out they were right, and I'd been wrong my whole life.

Judging by this thread not everyone finds English as interesting as me, and wouldn't appreciate being corrected.. I always genuinely thought people would like to know.

But what I will correct is when people mix up things like bought/brought, why/while, should of/have and things like that. Not because I think I'm better than them, but because if it was me making mistakes like that (almost certainly because that's the way they hear it in their heads) I would want to know about it!

But it's NOT you is it? It's them and they're probably pig sick of being 'told' by strangers, when it's just not sinking in for whatever reason. It's humiliating and I would imagine bloody boring if everyone did this on every post or forum they went on.

Do you really think you're more special than all the teachers they've had throughout their whole school life, who have corrected them?

phishy · 12/03/2022 12:44

@Barbie222

But if everyone scrolls past then how's that helpful? Unless we're all just screaming into the abyss now here
But most will respond. As they want to help, not critique.
etulosba · 12/03/2022 12:47

Judging by this thread not everyone finds English as interesting as me, and wouldn't appreciate being corrected.

Which is why I don’t do it.

Correction does seem to be more common on some American forums that I frequent.

JustLyra · 12/03/2022 12:50

@Barbie222

I don't have an issue with spelling, as I pointed out before. But if people want help on a text based forum and others can't understand the point they're making, that's an issue, surely? Communication is about more than spelling.
The vast, vast majority of the time people can understand.

The one that always sticks in my mind is a woman whose partner or husband had turned violent the night before. She posted, clearly upset, as she’d realised she had to leave, but she’d put up the deposit for their house and it wasn’t protected. However, she said that they hadn’t protected her deposit when they ‘brought’ the house.

The group of people who felt the need to say that it was bought not brought weren’t being remotely helpful. They were making themselves feel superior at the expense of someone having a shit time.

And the two people who said “I’m confused, where did you bring the house?” are names I’ll never forget because it was vile.