General argh

[hollycomputer]

I am fairly new to MN but I ITCH to correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. Honestly, I just read a thread where I had to delete my own reply three times because I knew I'd be accused of being pedantic. I've also been pulled up for criticising (gently!) an OP who posted an enormously long post with no paragraphs.

Is it bad form to suggest corrections in thread? Apologies if this has been done to death.

Yes, it's bad form.
Between auto correct on my iPhone, being dyslexic and some times posting on a Kindle fire which has the worst spell checking known to women kind.

I feel the same as you, OP, but yes it's bad form.

Just sit on your hands, or if you really can't bear it, hide the thread!

Yes it's very bad form. My iPhone is always bloody changing my words.

I'm having the same issue on a dating site. Men who want a "quite drink" or a "wonder" round town.

"Umberella" was one guy's downfall today, alongside the mis-spelling of job descriptions!

I might be missing out on meeting the love of my life - but I just can't take it!

Yes, it is bad form and I wouldn't make comment.

I sometimes long to do it, however, especially if the poster is unpleasant (very wrong I know).

It's also very snobby. I have the benefit of an excellent education and a love of language. That does not make my posts any more valid than those of a mum who left school at 16 with no qualifications.

If the grammar, layout or spelling annoy me, I always either sit on my hands or avoid a thread.

Besides, even a well-educated pedant can make mistakes, or get carried away by a stream-of-consciousness post, or bitten on the bum by autocorrect! So who am I to criticise?

Or interrupted by returning DHs

I agree that it's generally unkind to comment on the layout or grammar of someone's post. Regrettably, the truth is that if a post is a long block of text with little punctuation, enough spelling errors to actually lead to doubts about what word was intended, and syntax that means one has to puzzle over meaning, then it's tempting to just give up reading.

So, I have great respect for those who plough through such posts, particularly when the poster is asking for help and is in a genuinely in need of some serious advice.

Poor grammar or spelling doesn't necessarily mean that the writer has nothing worthwhile to say. I was going to suggest that we need to tolerate language errors for the sake of engaging with the discussion, but I've been attacked on Pedants' Corner for proposing tolerance!

To be clear, I'd expect posters to criticise errors on Pedants' Corner; I'm talking about tolerance when on other parts of MN.

Pedants' Corner is the AIBU of SPAG.

DadDadDad, you have been attacked on Pedants' Corner for telling people not to be pedantic on Pedants' Corner! You are not the first person to 'suggest that we need to tolerate language errors', and, as you can see above, many people agree with this view regarding the rest of the site. However, Pedants' Corner is for pedantry.

OP, if it gets too much much for you, start a thread here, but don't identify the thread you are talking about, as that is also bad form.

I agree that it is bad form to correct people outside Pedant's Corner. I have an adult child who has struggled all his life with language because of moderate-to-severe learning disabilities. He has overcome much, but his posts on facebook and other sites have mistakes. When I see someone on MN making similar mistakes, I see my child.

It's bad form. I am a professional writer but I know the combination of touch screen/auto correct/wine meaning often post heinous mistakes. That said, I just can't cope with long posts without paras and I just don't read them.

It's also a MN law that if you criticise spag, you will have a spag error.

Having said all that, you can do what you like here!

Yes it's bad form. And too often it's used to put someone down by someone else who doesn't have a decent argument/point

I used to give a shit about it until I remembered that, as long as I understand what someone's saying, what does it matter?

I have to write for work but just don't care on here. Maybe I should

I've purposefully left my full stops off to put you all on edge

OMG gold that's making me crazy!

It doesn't bother me because it is consistent - leaving some off, but not others, would be worse.

It's bad form to point our grammar (though I feel your pain) but no paragraphs is beyond annoying - if you want people to read your post then at least make it readable!

I try to tolerate, but something inside me thinks that people would like to learn from their mistakes so they can get it right next time. If I used incorrect grammar, or used a wrong spelling, I would like to be educated. Why don't other people feel the same? Why don't they mind being wrong?

at gold's "open punctuation"

For me, it depends on the relative importance of spelling/grammar and what the poster is actually asking in their thread.

If someone comes on with a tale of woe with drunken, abusive husbands, serious money troubles, hospital visits, etc, then someone immediately coming onto the thread to criticise their use of English while offering absolutely no help or support is not so much 'bad form' as downright nasty.

If it's a light-hearted thread, or about some topic that the poster is consistently mis-spelling, then it's fair enough, in the course of the conversation, to comment "By the way, it's actually spelt 'chest of drawers', so you might have more luck Googling that"

I know it's not done to correct posters' mistakes and I understand why this is. I do wish, however, I could switch off my irritation and learn not to judge. I know I'm being petty, and being distracted from the point of a thread or post. There was a recent thread where a postgraduate thread starter used 'nothing' for 'anything, 'of' for 'have', and 'done' for 'did'. I was more concerned about those errors from a graduate, than taking in the poster's concerns. I know I make errors when posting and sometimes have to restrain myself from a follow-up correction. I'm also frequently discovering my own ignorance, so I should be more forgiving of others'. I've misunderstood the meanings of 'wherefore' and 'begging the question', for example. I don't mind being corrected, by the way, but be gentle fellow pedants.

Yellowstripe, congratulations, you have definitely dodged a few bullets! Imagine you had met one of the guys, and got on well with him and then found out about that spelling!