To be increasingly annoyed about the amount of MN's who feel it is OK to correct one's spelling and grammar

[whocaresaboutyourintellect]

I am getting really fed up of it.

Someone will post a topic and then you get some "up you own backside" MN'er who takes it upon themselves to correct all of the grammar and spelling in said post.

This happens in particular in threads of a contraversial nature as a means of embarrasing the OP. It is ridiculous.

This is a talk forum, not an English exam so to all those MN'ers........get a life!!!!

I don't mind it at all - it makes up for all my crap English teaching I received at school

I have always been a good speller and had a good grasp of grammar, but I've learnt loads more from being on MN.

Please don't stop correcting people on here!

dollius - another one who noticed, but thought it was a step to far to march in and correct you!

I don't like the evident glee that is sometimes obvious when people are corrected, but there are some shocking posts sometimes.

I do have an alter ego - TheGuerrillaPedant - but don't bring her into play very often at all as I don't want to upset posters, even if I'm dying to correct them ...

Treedelivery
Don't feel sad. You do use paragraphs so things are not soooo bad.

Also - interesting OP nickname. I think we do care about intellect on MN. And thank goodness for that.

or yourself

a step too far of course ...........

getting nervous now[no exclamation marks]

i can spell - i just cant type

often put chnage instead of change

i rarely preview - and times i have clicked post message and think bugger, i have mis spelt

an edit button that works for 30seconds would be handy

but also good that you cant edit/delete posts as people need to see what is written

Thanks MmeLlindt.

My academic writing is always commented on as being very good, sometimes with an 'indeed' on the end. So in terms of expressing myself I think I'm doing ok. It's the grammar and spelling that reveal my failings. Especially when I'm all het up over a thread interested in a topic.

I totally agree, sometimes I write at speed LO needs my attention and grammar on MN goes out of the window. If it were at school or uni or college than grammar should be corrected.

dollius - I read your post and thought "Oh, is it? Bugger, I'd have put one's as well." So you convinced me, anyway!

pmsl Legacy - excellent corruption of the Brownie/Girl Guide code!

Tree, never noticed you doing excessive !! - are you sure you do?

YANBU. Once I was even asked to rephase my post because it was not grammatically correct.

When people don't use paragraphs or write in text speak it is very difficult to read so I can understand people pointing that out but to pick someone up on the odd typo is plain rude.

Why would one not want to improve?

My granny was reading books until over 100 and she always kept a dictionary by her side in case a word she didn't know cropped up.

I think it's rather arrogant to insist one's bad spelling and grammar are tolerated. Especially on a superior forum such as MN!! I can't abide a "well, hey, that's me" attitude about anything in life.

Everyone noticed!

Gah

I think it's ludicrous to correct other people's grammar/spelling unless in a school/work context. If you feel the need to do so on a public forum then you need to get some perspective imo.

But that is not to say that I don't find poor grammar etc irritating - I really do. And I definitely do judge posts on this basis. But it just isn't relevant or necessary to correct them.

Some people just love to show how much more educated they are, so if it makes them feel better issue them a giant bottle of tipex and leave them in a corner, me personaly could'nt give a fcuk

I don't think that my grammar or spelling has ever been correctd on here although both are often lacking.

I love language and do not like to see it being dumbed down, but sometimes corrections are far from being in the spirit of enlightenment but are rather are making a point about how the corrector perceives another poster. I'm not sure if I have a problem with this, but I think that people should be honest about what they are doing sometimes.

I wouldn't correct anybody but I always notice and it does irk me - learn to fucking spell. It just makes you look thick.

I suppose it's a question of simply not knowing the rule, ie apostrophes, or of a hurried typo. Correcting typos I find annoying, but I've found the apostrophe debate interesting. I suppose you have to consider the poster's intent.

I, too, have noticed that pointing out typos and grammar issues is sometimes used to belittle the OP.

YANBU OP.

It is ridiculous and snobby and inappropriate to correct spelling and grammar in this type of forum. Some posters use spelling to belittle a poster, which I think is far more unacceptable behaviour.

I am normally a stickler for spelling and grammar myself, but would also like to welcome all parents to the site regardless of the standard of their English. I don´t see any real relationship between writing well and having superior intelligence.

I wouldn't correct either, but I heartily agree with others that you can't help lowering your opinion of a poster if their spelling/grammar is poor.

I'm particularly irked when someone writes "dd is grammer material". Er, no she's not, luv - not if she's got your genes.

It is the way in which the errors are pointed out that I find quite childish.

People generally do not point errors out because they are trying to improve the posters grammatical skills. They point them out because the poster has said something they disagree with and they want to make them feel inferior.

The whole text speak thing is getting stupid I worry for the future when I receive emails from people littered with "l8er", "m8" and "skool" The latest abbrievation seems to be "ent" which I can't even decipher! I always point out that text speak is only ever appropriate when sending a text message.

Fair point about corrections being valid if the poster is complaining about use of English, or being patronising.