What do you do when . . .

[sunnyd]

I have a friend who actually debated the word "us". Two simple letters. She was confident it was spelled "use".

I don''t correct people unless it realllllly bothers me. I do cringe when I see "loose" in place of "lose". Drives me nuts.

 

[Porridge]

Date: 6/17/2009 12:23:09 PM
Author: upgrade
The one that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end is ''I seen.'' Nothing makes a person sound more uneducated than that phrase, in my opinion.

Yes that one drives me loo-la with native speakers - I seen, she done...also, I "knowed" it.

 

[mysterylover]

Date: 6/16/2009 7:56:40 PM
Author:Haven
someone corrects you, but her correction is actually incorrect?

I''m interested in how you respond, especially when the person is subtle about making the correction. (e.g. She repeats what you just said or wrote, but changes a word or punctuation to include an incorrect edit that she believes is the correct form.)

Do you ignore it? Do you subtly correct her correction? Do you begin to second-guess yourself, even though you *know* you''re correct?

I''m asking because I''ve noticed this happen both online and in real life, and it''s interesting to see how different people react when they''re corrected.

I have a good friend who often uses ''I'' as an object pronoun, but I never correct her because, well, it would just feel like a rude thing to do. I do use ''I'' and ''me'' correctly when speaking with her, of course, but never as a means of correcting her misuse of these words. However, she often corrects my use of these words, although her corrections are wrong. I don''t say anything, as she is subtle about these ''corrections'' and it''s not really something I care to address.

And, there is one word that I''ve used a couple times here on PS, and then posters later quoted my post and used the subtle correction technique on me to show me the ''correct'' version of that word. I''ve always ignored it, but I will admit that I always want to say ''Hey! Wait a minute! I used that word correctly!''

So, what do you do? My guess is that everyone ignores it, but I can''t help it, it bothers me to be incorrectly corrected!

I''m a nerd. Go ahead, point and laugh. I suppose I should be thanking my lucky stars that I have time to worry about these things, right?

I don''t understand people who think it is their job to correct others in matters of grammar, word usage, etc. It just isn''t acceptable social behavior. It is especially annoying if the Corrector is wrong.

Everyone should ignore those ''moments'' and let them pass. Pointing out their error would be every bit as rude as their correction was. IMO.

 

[Dancing Fire]

the color....grey or gray?

 

[Porridge]

Grey DF!

ETA that's the British spelling anyway

 

[mysterylover]

Date: 6/17/2009 7:34:39 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
the color....grey or gray?

Depends on which country you are in. Don''t Europeans, and the UK use grey instead of gray?? I could be wrong.

Depends on whether you are talking color (grey in the Crayola box), or clouds in the sky (gray).

I think both of those words are actually ''correct'' and interchangeable.

 

[princesss]

Grey, but sometimes I find myself spelling it "gray."

 

[CNOS128]

I don''t think I ever intentionally correct people''s spelling/grammar in posts here. If someone corrected me, and if it were a useful, meaning-changing correction, I might be grateful. But if they were wrong or correcting a typo or something, I might get annoyed.

My husband has a terrible habit of saying, "I would have went," instead of "I would have gone." It kind of drives me nuts! Initially he asked me to correct him, but I started to feel bad after the first 47,000 times. I''m starting to find it kind of cute, now...

 

[Dancing Fire]

color or colour?

 

[princesss]

Colour. Neighbour. Armour. Glamour.

 

[hlmr]

Haven, I was wondering if you made the correction?

Also, I am LOL at myself for spelling ''others'' wrong in my earlier post!!

 

[upgrade]

Date: 6/17/2009 8:17:49 PM
Author: princesss
Colour. Neighbour. Armour. Glamour.

Agreed! The added ''u'' is my favourite. I''ve been corrected online on that one many times, but in Canada I''m right!

 

[hlmr]

Date: 6/17/2009 9:39:41 PM
Author: upgrade

Date: 6/17/2009 8:17:49 PM
Author: princesss
Colour. Neighbour. Armour. Glamour.

Agreed! The added ''u'' is my favourite. I''ve been corrected online on that one many times, but in Canada I''m right!

Don''t forget honour and humour!!

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 6/16/2009 8:26:26 PM
Author: Haven
hlmr--Oh boy, that sounds like a trying situation.


I rarely correct others, but I will admit to doing it here on PS once. One poster incorrectly corrected another poster, so I jumped in to defend the original (correct) poster''s use of a particular phrase. Otherwise, I make as many mistakes as the next person, so I keep my typing fingers still.

lol, I''m pretty sure I remember that situation Haven, that was funny

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 6/17/2009 9:43:32 PM
Author: hlmr

Date: 6/17/2009 9:39:41 PM

Author: upgrade

Date: 6/17/2009 8:17:49 PM

Author: princesss

Colour. Neighbour. Armour. Glamour.

Agreed! The added ''u'' is my favourite. I''ve been corrected online on that one many times, but in Canada I''m right!

Don''t forget honour and humour!!

yep, being Australian we use the English version with the U in all of these words...
seeing as Colour comes up quite often on here, I''ve been corrected on it once or twice

 

[softly softly]

Date: 6/18/2009 9:27:58 AM
Author: arjunajane

Date: 6/17/2009 9:43:32 PM

Author: hlmr

Date: 6/17/2009 9:39:41 PM


Author: upgrade

Date: 6/17/2009 8:17:49 PM


Author: princesss


Colour. Neighbour. Armour. Glamour.

Agreed! The added ''u'' is my favourite. I''ve been corrected online on that one many times, but in Canada I''m right!

Don''t forget honour and humour!!

yep, being Australian we use the English version with the U in all of these words...

seeing as Colour comes up quite often on here, I''ve been corrected on it once or twice

Actually one of my pet peeves (here in Australia) is seeing colour spelt without the u and programme without the ''me'' on the end. However, I would never correct someone on an online forum.

 

[Kay]

Date: 6/16/2009 10:34:27 PM
Author: Munchkin


If there is an error in written communication at work, I correct it. I am SO tired of seeing apostrophes to demonstrate a plural without possession! I get absurdly fired up about it, and I''ve started seeing it in commercial print as well! I cross out/white out any such apostrophes. I usually try to ignore incorrect ''they''re/their/there, you''re/your and its/it''s'' usage unless it will reflect negatively on me or my work. That''s a battle I''m tired of fighting.

I hate when people throw an apostrophe into a word without understanding its purpose. Of course, I also get the occasional “your welcome” e-mail in which an apostrophe would be quite welcome.

I was an English major in college. While my grammar is not perfect, particularly online, I am amused when people try to correct my writing. During my first year as a lawyer, I was assigned to a senior partner and his senior associate. The senior associate was responsible for proof reading work before it went to the partner. Whenever I submitted a memo or brief using the word “that,” the senior associate would change it to “which.” I finally went to him and explained that “that” was proper because I was using it as a defining or restrictive pronoun. His response was that it did not matter that I was correct – the partner in question preferred “which.”

He had a few other incorrect grammar “rules” like that that drove me crazy during the brief period that I worked for him.

I try not to correct anyone’s grammar or pronunciation in front of others, including online. I will gently correct my husband’s pronunciation at home (so he will not pronounce the word incorrectly in public), and he appreciates it because he learns many words by reading them, without having heard them. I am responsible for reviewing documents before they are sent to clients or the court, so the people who work for me are used to seeing a lot of red ink. If I notice that a person makes a particular mistake repeatedly, I will try to nicely explain the rule to him or her so that he or she understands why I am making the correction. I think there should be more emphasis on teaching grammar at all levels of education. I am appalled that so many people with college degrees, and even graduate or professional degrees, do not know basic rules of grammar. I am also immensely grateful for one amazing English teacher I had at an otherwise crappy public high school.

 

[Tuckins1]

Date: 6/16/2009 9:02:04 PM
Author: mimzy
i was just thinking about this because i definitely encounter it on a daily basis

as an SLP i deal with a lot of patients with dysphagia, which is pronounced ''disFAYzha'', as determined by some asha council who my dysphagia professor happened to sit on when they determined it a million years ago. well sometime between then and now someone started pronouncing it ''disFAHzha'' and it has really stuck. My professor made it a big point to correct anyone who mispronounced it, but for some reason in my new job EVERYONE (including the other SLP) pronounces it that way that and I just can''t bring myself to say anything, even though it really is like nails on a chalkboard....and i KNOW they are all thinking to themselves...''geez, you''d think she''d know how to pronounce it correctly!''.


so...no, i never correct them, i just keep using the correct pronunciation and hope that they catch on

(which no one has yet

)

This would drive me nuts. I come from a family of medical professionals and I have been exposed to MANY big, scientific words and I do know how to read and pronounce them correctly. I also am a cognitive impairment major, with a background in psychology, and I also know that "dysphagia" is to be pronounced as you have said is correct... I really feel strongly that professionals should be able to correctly pronounce words that are directly related to their field of work!