Lancia Beta Forum

What is the etiquette on highlighting incorrect words in posts?

As formal writing declines and English becomes more of a spoken language than a written language I increasingly come across posts on forums (fora?) and in social media that use a word which might sound correct when spoken but is incorrect, or even contradictory, when written. A couple of examples are writing "off course", not going the way it should, when you mean "of course", going exactly the way it should, or writing "except", ruling something out, instead of "accept", ruling something in.

I know the intended meaning is usually clear from the context and also that it is completely unacceptable to shame or ridicule someone for a perceived mistake. I also know, having spent my working life corresponding on litigation, that I am particularly sensitive to the issue, although not myself immune from making mistakes. However, ignoring the issue feels like complicity in the decline of written communication when an intervention would be a small step in arresting that decline and might even be useful to the author.

So, is it acceptable to politely suggest why the wrong word has been chosen and why another word might be correct, or is a letter to The Times signed "Outraged of Tunbridge Wells" a more appropriate response.

The wisdom and guidance of the elders of the Beta community would be most welcome on this thorny issue. 

Hi Frank
I wouldn’t go there. I value enormously the information shared on this Forum and I’d hate to think that folk hold back on a post for fear of another’s grammatical analysis and comment.

Chris

I was the first year to do the G.C.S.E qualifications , I really tried in all subjects, never had a detention at school & failed all my exams, no where near a C grade.

Re-took English and failed it again.

Predictive text & spell check helps me immensely and I agree we should all try to do our best, that said a good friend of mine is a car restorer extraordinaire, his knowledge & capability is through the roof but his written English & grammar in general is so bad spell check cannot help him. For this reason he does not use any forums of any kinds, a loss to everyone.

Apologies for any mistakes ,like with school, I try... but fail!   

Hi Frank

Interesting topic and not one I think expected here.

It does jar with me at times with the likes of ‘of and off’ and ‘there and their’ etc and also guilty of failing as well.

As to pointing it out, I think I would have to agree and say no unless there was a post using text message abbreviations when it should be changed to reflect readable English.

Peter

I would prefer to avoid this direction for several reasons. Not least of which, this is a global forum and to correct people on the use of the English language may well discourage people who do not speak English as their first language.
Also engineering vocabulary is almost another language in itself. I learnt this whilst installing signalling equipment onto high speed trains in France. You may speak a language well, but you won’t necessarily understand anything in engineering terms. Or indeed you will mis-understand and be mis-understood.
Then I am eternally grateful to any Italian that encounters my dreadful use and abuse of their language when I am in their company. Be it around the dinner table, cycling within their clubs or on holiday. They generally welcome my efforts with open arms and often a kiss on each cheek (still not comfortable with that amongst men)  ;D
And as a multi-cultural country with a long colonial past I think would be correct to overlook the use or misuse of our ‘international’ language.

Ian

I am probably an offender here. However I will continue to provide the best answers I can in as short a form as I can, because I have limited time. I will try to avoid confusion from poor grammar and spelling, but the first person to complain about help I am providing them will not be getting more.

Eric   

Thanks for all the contributions. I'll contain myself!

I was asking fairly specifically about the accidental use of completely the wrong word, often conveying the opposite meaning to the one intended rather than errors of grammar or spelling, so I fully agree that a grammar police action would be both undesirable and totally counter productive.

I confess that I am dyslexic myself, though afflicted more by the myriad ancillary difficulties than by "word blindness", so an appreciable portion of this post comes to you courtesy of spell check! I also work periodically on projects with young international volunteers who are seeking to improve their English so am rather tuned in to offering corrections where English is misused.

Hi Frank

I was wandering if you could help me with a couple of issues's regarding the breaking system on my car.

I have been trying out an amount of different pads to see the affect on ware of the new disks I fitted last week.

I am going out for a test drive too see how the latest combination effects performance.

Any advise?

Oklahoma, pronounced success ! (sorry all, the old one's are always the best)

Seriously though, I have just started another thread that we may need to bear in mind.

Bare!!! ;D

From my point of view, I'd suggest that if there is any ambiguity in a member's response to a question, then we should seek to understand better what the poster was trying to convey, rather than applying any form of censure. I was fortunate to receive a good 'old fashioned' English education; many others were not so fortunate. Also a number of my friends are dyslexic and this has made me aware of how difficult it is for many people to do something that I take entirely for granted.

I'd much rather receive helpful technical advice that I may need to decipher rather than someone stay silent for fear of being pulled up for a grammatical error.

Predictive text is the menace, it often modifies your text in bizarre ways and seemingly sometimes after I've seen the right word on the screen.

Capriblu, just along from the car magazines in your local WHSmith's you will find dick-shun-airys and they-saw-us's's. Some people recommend them as a breakfast substitute.

However, if you really want to be confused, find an old copy of Sir Earnest Gower's book "The Complete Plain Words". It was recommended reading for new Civil Servants when I joined in the 1970s and regardless of your level of education it destroyed any illusions you might have held about being accomplished in the use of English.