AIBU to tell an Etsy seller their grammar/ punctuation is incorrect?

[Lolabear38]

Looking at signs on Etsy earlier and one I noticed said ‘Dog’s welcome’. Obviously dogs doesn’t need an apostrophe here - looking at other items in their shop I also noticed things like ‘mum’s are magic’ and some others. I messaged the seller about something I wanted to buy but mentioned the incorrect use of the apostrophe - in a polite, what I considered to be constructive way - and got a very arsey reply!

Apparently they have ‘hundreds of very satisfied customers’ (and actually they have had hundreds of sales according to their Etsy stats) and nobody has ever complained before, therefore it must be me who has the problem and I should probably look at other shops if I’m going to be ‘a perfectionist about it’.

AIBU to have pointed this out? I genuinely don't spend my days seeking out grammatical errors to correct but why are people blasted for trying to help like this? I'm not claiming my own grammar or language is perfect, but neither am I selling signs with mistakes on them. It seems like anytime someone does point out mistakes they're labelled 'grammar police' and demonised.

YABU - you should have let them carry on using apostrophes incorrectly and looked at another shop instead.

YANBU - you were trying to help 🤷🏻‍♀️

Simples 🙄

Stop being a nitpicker. Live and let live. It's not a grammar test FFS.

Even people with a disability (I assume you mean something like dyslexia) can learn about correct punctuation. A vital part of selling signs with words on. If anything it is you who is doing a disservice to people with disabilities, by underestimating them.

There was no need for her arsed reply. She should have just thanked you and corrected it.

Is it possible that this is nominative determination at work and the florist is run by a woman called “Lilly”? (I know that the name normally has only one “l” but maybe her parents couldn’t spell…).

I’d have to ask though!

YANBU OP.

There is a business near me which has a name above its door on a huge sign. The name is in a non-English language that I speak. It’s wrong, in that they have got a noun and an adjective back to front. The people who run it do not come from that country and don’t speak the language. It drives me mad every time I go past!

Arsey

Excellent! You just proved my point.

There's a lot of illiterate tat on Etsy - not quite to the extent of Facebook marketplace, but plenty. I would have moved on.

It’s not purely nitpicking though, if the person is unknowingly doing themselves out of business by attempting to sell signs with obvious mistakes on them.

It might not be nice to hear, but OP’s doing them a favour in business terms.

Blimey, it's a bit of a race to the bottom here. Of course grammar and spellings on signs matter.

yanbu.

unfortunately there is a certain section of society in this country who revel in ignorance
and on mumsnet there is a certain type of person who, while often using perfect grammar themselves, implies that good grammar is not for the masses.

The fact that this imbecilic woman argued that her customers were fine with the signs reminds me of a student I taught once who told me when I corrected her inability to use the homophobe ‘your’ that there was only one type and no one she knew ever used another spelling……

She should have not been defensive to you, however annoyed she felt inside. You did nothing wrong. Poor customer service.

However, I would not have bothered. Too many people cannot spell or use correct grammar nowadays. I would have voted with my wallet and just not shopped there.

Thank you! I was struggling to think how to word this but I did think it was pretty insulting to suggest people with disabilities that affect their spelling wouldn't want to try and get it right.

I think you did a kind thing OP. Imagine how much business she must be losing from people who instantly skip her signs.

It's a sign? Of course the seller should get it right!

If I wanted to buy a shirt and saw they were all torn then, yes, I'd say it to the shop owner. It's not going to do their business any good if people see they have shoddy merchandise and it's not fair on the other buyers who purchase either.

YANBU! I used to drive past a school that had a huge banner declaring "We are ofcially good!". Just how?? How can they misspell officially on their own 9ft OFSTED banner?

It was up for about 3 months, it seriously impacted my opinions of their teaching at the school! Grammar on signs/ in print matters!

I'm a grammar nut and break out in hives at misplaced apostrophes, so as it's her business and livelihood, I think it was fine to gently point it out. It will be costing her business for sure. Her arsey response presumably means you hit a bit of a nerve! 😬

As you were trying to help and did it in a nice way, YANBU.

Listen, I got court documents recently and the guidance from the court had misplaced apostrophes so I just think it's a bigger problem than an Etsy seller and basically there's no point.

*had an impact on (not impacted, which means to violently bump into)

“Homophobe “your””- ha ha. I know that was autocorrect but I imagine that a good percentage of homophobes do not indeed know the difference!

Actually it’s “had a serious impact on” not “seriously had an impact on” 😉

strongly or directly affected by something

The dictionary definition disagrees with that PP too.

Yanbu. Last week a fptradesoerson posted a picture of his signwritten van on LinkedIn. It said kitchen instalation. I let him know in a private message before they did the other three

YANBU. She’d sell a lot more if her SPAG was accurate.

YANBU but then literacy is hardly a strong point of the remarketed dodgy imports that Etsy seems to be an outlet for now.