Petty things that shouldn't bother you, but they do

[MarkFL]

How about people who make major grammar or spelling errors while haughtily criticizing somebody else's grammar or spelling? One of the most common examples is talking about how others are ignorant and don't know how to use good "grammer."

The only time I will ever point out the bad spelling/grammar of another is if they are criticizing someone else and make a mistake while doing so. Most recently, on another site, a user said of Americans, "I would have to loose about 6 years of education to be as ignorant as Americans..."

I simply told him he might want to learn the distinction between "lose" and "loose" before waxing all edumacated.

 

[tango]

The only time I will ever point out the bad spelling/grammar of another is if they are criticizing someone else and make a mistake while doing so. Most recently, on another site, a user said of Americans, "I would have to loose about 6 years of education to be as ignorant as Americans..."

I simply told him he might want to learn the distinction between "lose" and "loose" before waxing all edumacated.

Maybe he was trying to say he'd need to loose 6 years of teaching upon Americans before he'd be willing to use a word as tame as "ignorant" when comparing them to himself?

Then again, your probably write on that won

 

[tango]

How about people who make major grammar or spelling errors while haughtily criticizing somebody else's grammar or spelling? One of the most common examples is talking about how others are ignorant and don't know how to use good "grammer."

On the topic of spelling, grammar etc I've noticed that people who speak English as a foreign language are almost always happy to be corrected if they make a mistake with it, especially if it relates to things like irregular verbs or just the difference between formal and informal English. Those who speak no other languages and butcher the one language they do know are far more likely to respond with aggression, insisting that what they wrote was perfectly clear even when it isn't.

Personally it irritates me when someone misuses "their", "there" and "they're" or "your" and "you're", especially when they aren't even consistent which what they write. If it's easy enough to follow what they have written I don't feel the need to correct mistakes but when something is so badly mangled I have to read it two or three times to unpick it all I'm more likely to comment that their words would be far easier to read if they spent a little time on their presentation.

One guy I encountered on a forum years ago refused to use capital letters or pay even basic attention to grammar because apparently it was "too much work". I soon found his posts too much work to read, so he found his way onto my ignore list.