Grammar Nazis

[BroomJockey]

My favorite thing to do is to correct the grammar and spelling of people who ought to know better than to make stupid mistakes.....aka, people making way more money than me.

Earnings have no correlation to proficiency in language. In fact, some programs specifically teach ways to manipulate language that end up degrading clear communications skills and replace those skills with knowledge obfuscation techniques.

[Pedersen]

My favorite thing to do is to correct the grammar and spelling of people who ought to know better than to make stupid mistakes.....aka, people making way more money than me.

Well, if pointing out such mistakes is fair game, allow me to mention that "aka" is not the same as "A.K.A.".

You know, since picking on grammar and spelling is an acceptable thing to do and all.

[DrFaroohk]

As far as correcting goes, wouldn't you want to know if you were consistently making a stupid mistake?

I have a friend who always pronounced the word "misled" as "m-eye-zld". I felt it necessary to correct him so he wouldn't sound like an idiot all the time.

[BroomJockey]

I have a friend

I think that's the key part, however. It was your friend. Someone whom you know beyond text on the screen. So at least you could do something beyond "This is incorrect. The right way is that." You could, you know, soften it a bit. And you know how he'd take it.

[joe hx]

I have a friend who always pronounced the word "misled" as "m-eye-zld". I felt it necessary to correct him so he wouldn't sound like an idiot all the time.

i used to pronounce "fatigue" fat-eh-gay

[Boozy]

It really is different when talking to your close friends and family. If they know you love them, they're more likely to take your correction as an act of caring instead of snobbery or a desire to make them look bad.

And in the terribly embarrassing case of mispronouncing "misled" as "m-eye-zled", one might work a polite correction into the conversation. For example, if someone said that he was "m-eye-zled", I'd respond with, "Oh, that's unfortunate. How were you misled?"

That story actually reminds me of something I'd do quite frequently as a child. I would read a lot, so I developed a large vocabulary of words that I had not heard spoken aloud before. I knew what they meant, and could use them in context, but I often mispronounced them. I probably still do that sometimes.

[Flyndaran]

Why is only okay to criticize the content of the post but not how it was written?
I often get in trouble for writing things that are mostly obvious to nearly everyone, but could be taken to mean things I never intended. That's kind of a grammar issue.

[AFPheonix]

^^ ha ha, I did that a lot too. My brother took great joy in giving me crap for not knowing how to say "sacred" or "macabre" when I was young, even though I knew what they meant and had just never heard them out loud before.

Ah well, that's what brothers are for, yeah?

[Lace Neil Singer]

I would also point out that if you're doing something that requires perfect text, for example posting a fanfic you wrote, then you really need to get yourself a beta to check it thru for examples of bad spelling and grammar. The fact is, no matter how good your story is, if it's badly written and badly spelt people are going to notice that and get stuck on criticising your spelling and writing, rather than read your story. Either that or they'll just not bother after the first few lines of bad writing. I once clicked on a fanfic that showed promise, yet after a few minutes ploughing thru a gigantic wall of text, with no capital letters or full stops at all, I just gave up. -.-

[BroomJockey]

you really need to get yourself a beta to check it thru for examples of bad spelling and grammar.

Is beta a British term, or a fanfic writer's term? Because I've seen it before, and it throws me every time. From what I can tell, it seems to be what I'd call a copyeditor/proofreader, but I'm unsure if there's greater connotations to the term or not.

[Lace Neil Singer]

It's mainly used in fanfic, and it's not exclusively British. A beta checks thru your piece of writing to look for spelling mistakes, grammar errors etc; but also for things like unrealistic events or characters. Basically, it's like a proofreader; a fresh eye to look over your work to see if it's fit to publish, or if there's anything that needs working on. The best beta is someone who's a relative stranger, such as someone you know online, who can look at your work in an unbiased way.

[Flyndaran]

I've only heard the term used in computer programming when a program still has lots of bugs.

[BroomJockey]

A beta checks thru your piece of writing to look for spelling mistakes, grammar errors etc; but also for things like unrealistic events or characters.

Sounds like someone doing most of the levels of editing - substantive, copyedit, and proofing. Probably the best way is to get one person to do two passes, then a second person to do a final pass or two, with the author making changes as suggested, correct? Sounds very much like our publishing process. Just we have longer books.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Yup, that's about it. XD Trust me, there are good fanfic pieces; and they are always the ones where the authors enlisted a beta.

I don't generally nitpick on forum posting; well, I'm an incredibly lazy typist so it would just be a case of being in a glass house and throwing stones.

[BroomJockey]

being in a glass house and throwing stones.

I do that. I enjoy the crashing/tinkling/breaking noises.