RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD?

RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (Full Version)

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RapierFugue -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 2:36:23 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: MrCyanide I'm able to stop myself from correcting someone's spelling, but it makes me feel anxious, and I won't be able to stop thinking about it. Does sound a bit OCD-like eh? Personally it used to drive me up the wall, but now I find it merely slightly irritating. Occasionally some especially moronic poster will cause me to mention something, but generally I don't let it impact my relationships with others - people do tend to take offence if you correct them, and on one level I do think it's a bit petty.

flcouple2009 -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 6:46:23 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: popeye1250 Hmmm, "OCD?" It could be I guess. I notice it a lot when the lefties are losing an argument (which is very common) they start correcting people's spelling and punctuation. After that they go to name-calling. Your OCD is showing

hertz -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 7:24:38 AM)
There is no such thing as incorrect spelling or grammar, only differences. EDIT: Not directed at you, LadyPact...

tazzygirl -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 7:29:27 AM)
ooooooooookaaaaaaaaaay then

DarkSteven -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 7:40:58 AM)
I used to be that way, too, and still have it to a degree. But working around engineers has made me more tolerant of spelling foibles and less tolerant of those who cannot express their thoughts clearly and directly.

Carouselambra -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 7:42:11 AM)
i iz gud wih seepling!

Aynne88 -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 9:20:44 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: MrCyanide Alright here is your statement with at least ten minor structure and grammatical corrections. Mainly you seem to have an issue with using incorrect punctuation following words such as and, but, etc. (you used a comma in conjunction with those words) where it is not needed and redundant. You also can not begin sentences with the word "And." I did notice as well that you followed a semi-colon that was not needed with a randomly capitalized word in mid-sentence. First and foremost, I'm not here to lecture people about their spelling and grammar; Nor am I here to laugh at people with subpar spelling. And I am definitely not saying that I'm a spelling and grammar god. I am here to find out whether or not my infatuation with correct spelling is just a minor annoyance, or quite possibly a full on OCD. The best way I can explain it is, is if you're sitting down at your house and you see a picture that's slightly tilted on the wall, so you get up and fix it. Though I wouldn't consider the action of fixing a picture to be an OCD, but the emotional tension someone may feel behind them if they didn't go and fix the picture. That's the kind of feeling I get when I see someone spell something wrong, or use the wrong tense, I feel a need to fix it. It's not that I think they're stupid, but that I have to correct it, which leads to a lot of problems for me when it comes to speaking to friends and/or family online. I'm able to stop myself from correcting someone's spelling, but it makes me feel anxious, and I won't be able to stop thinking about it. Alright here is your statement with at least ten minor structure and grammatical corrections. Mainly you seem to have an issue with using incorrect punctuation following words such as and, but, etc. (you used a comma in conjunction with those words) where it is not needed and redundant. You also can not begin sentences with the word "And." I did notice as well that you followed a semi-colon that was not needed with a randomly capitalized word in mid-sentence. "Though" is also not a proper way to begin a sentence and it is simply referred to as OCD not "an" OCD. Do you see how trite this can become when people spend time having angst over minutiae? Take a breath, it's a message board not your college thesis. [;)]. Of course I am certain I made an error or two in your edited version as well. I will be okay with that. ;-) "First and foremost I'm not here to lecture people about their spelling and grammar nor am I here to laugh at people with sub-par spelling. I am definitely not saying that I'm a spelling and grammar god. I am here to find out whether or not my infatuation with correct spelling is just a minor annoyance or quite possibly full on OCD. The best way I can explain it is if you're sitting down at your house and you see a picture that's slightly tilted on the wall you get up and fix it. Although I wouldn't consider the action of fixing a picture to be OCD but the emotional tension someone may feel behind them if they didn't go and fix the picture. That's the kind of feeling I get when I see someone spell something wrong or using the wrong tense. I feel a need to fix it. It's not that I think they're stupid, it's that I feel that I have to correct it which leads to a lot of problems for me when it comes to speaking to friends and/or family online. I'm able to stop myself from correcting someone's spelling but it makes me feel anxious and I won't be able to stop thinking about it."

SultryItalian -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 9:37:52 AM)
To the OP: What's that old saying? I remember now, "It's the pot calling the kettle 'black'."

LadyPact -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 9:38:47 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: hertz EDIT: Not directed at you, LadyPact... Not to worry on that. I'm very familiar on the 'in reply to' feature and know that comments aren't always in direct reply, but rather in chronological order. I'm actually in the camp that prefers people read the whole thread, so that will come up from time to time.

YoungBlondeSlave -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 12:43:45 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: LadyPact quote: ORIGINAL: YoungBlondeSlave i feel the same way, when someone states in their profile that they are a "Dominate" instead of a "Dominant" it makes me feel like my head is about to explode. Same here. You must have missed the post where someone corrected the terminology, saying that the poster who had written didn't have the ability to be a verb or adverb. The person following that comment decided that he had to say his piece that 'it's not another person's decision'. I sincerely felt like asking if the guy could prove he was an adverb. Arrrggghhhh. Somebody just started a new post about how he's a "dominate". Now, how in the world am I really supposed to take that seriously? Damn, i did miss it. i think i have to see it out of sheer morbid curiousity...i don't know if i can believe it without seeing it. i'm going to have to look for it now.

DesFIP -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/29/2010 3:51:01 PM)
By correcting them, do you mean quoting the post with the errors fixed? That's acceptable if you neither highlight the corrections nor focus your reply on them. To point it out is rude. The better way is to use the same word in your answer but spelled correctly. Keep in mind that there are many people for whom English is a second language. Additionally there's the Brit/American divide; as Winston Churchill said ' two nations divided by a common language'. This may be a paraphrase, I'm too lazy to look it up. Plus there are many learning disabilities that prevent one from being able to spell. And last, but gaining rapidly are the people who post on their phones. I can almost always tell when it's a phone posting, the damned things mangle posts and those little tiny buttons mean you're constantly hitting a wrong key.

Seatonstomb -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/30/2010 12:30:19 PM)
Can't remember who said it but there is an old literary quote "It is a poor man who can spell a word but a single way" Stanard spelling has only existed for maybe 200 years prior to that people managed fine with spelling being very individual and variable. Standard spelling only came about due to I think the encylopaediasts demanding standardisation any trying to eliminate self expression in peoples writing. Spelling only serves those who write spellcheckers and dictionaries.

DarkSteven -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/30/2010 1:39:00 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Seatonstomb Can't remember who said it but there is an old literary quote "It is a poor man who can spell a word but a single way" Andrew Jackson. http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/1838

PeonForHer -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/30/2010 2:55:59 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Aynne88 You also can not begin sentences with the word "And." Shakespeare did - as have some of the most highly-respected writers throughout the history of English, right up to the present-day. I'd have just loved witnessing a debate between Shakespeare and some Elizabethan grammarian on what is and is not 'allowable' writing. Just saying.[;)] I appreciate the points of clarity and a certain aesthetics in writing . . . but when it comes to the rules set up by grammarians - well, no. For me, there's something of the authoritarian personality in those who are sticklers for 'correct English'. It's as though they just must have a set of laws by which to govern this aspect of their lives, even though these putative laws are unenforcable, unnecessary, and there's no-one who has any credible position to lay down such laws anyway.

mnottertail -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/30/2010 3:02:46 PM)
Alot of writers thru the centuries have started sentences with 'And'. And they have, in their times, went to some pretty good high schools. I think that for the most part, the super-prohibition for high schoolers to avoid starting sentences with and, is to reduce the already ubiquious propensity for youth to write in sentence fragments. There is no 'Strunk & White' prohibition, or what have you.

DarkSteven -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/30/2010 3:07:47 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Aynne88 You also can not begin sentences with the word "And." And if I do?

sunshinemiss -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/30/2010 3:08:11 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: hertz There is no such thing as incorrect spelling or grammar, only differences. Now that is a load of hogwash. You mix up your Subject and your Direct Object and who knows who got hit by whom.? That's usually pretty important.

thornhappy -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/30/2010 5:28:43 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: popeye1250 Hmmm, "OCD?" It could be I guess. I notice it a lot when the lefties are losing an argument (which is very common) they start correcting people's spelling and punctuation. After that they go to name-calling. Damn, dude, do you always have to inject politics on threads that have nothing to do with politics?

LanceHughes -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/30/2010 6:12:54 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: YoungBlondeSlave quote: ORIGINAL: LadyPact quote: ORIGINAL: YoungBlondeSlave i feel the same way, when someone states in their profile that they are a "Dominate" instead of a "Dominant" it makes me feel like my head is about to explode. Same here. You must have missed the post where someone corrected the terminology, saying that the poster who had written didn't have the ability to be a verb or adverb. The person following that comment decided that he had to say his piece that 'it's not another person's decision'. I sincerely felt like asking if the guy could prove he was an adverb. Arrrggghhhh. Somebody just started a new post about how he's a "dominate". Now, how in the world am I really supposed to take that seriously? Damn, i did miss it. i think i have to see it out of sheer morbid curiousity...i don't know if i can believe it without seeing it. i'm going to have to look for it now. Here it is: http://www.collarchat.com/m_3484523/tm.htm And it's more morbidly interesting than I could have thought. Lots of "off" instead of "of." OR should that be: Lots off "of" instead off "off." - LOL! Seriously, folks..... that is why standardized spellings and usages are useful. When one runs up against an oddly spelled word, or a correctly spelled word that doesn't "fit," the reader's train of thought is broken. Understanding becomes fragmented and often the point is lost. At worst there is an unresolved ambiguity as shown in this cut-n-paste from SirDragonKing's post that uses "Dominate" where he means "Dominant." :::SIGH::: Please, do NOT get me started on that user name. she has given me plenty off informative sites thus far and I really want to fulfill her desires, because I know that would make her truly happy. Which does he mean? Does he mean "She has given me plenty from informative sites..." (and plenty of what?) -OR- "She has given me plenty of links to informative sites..." My head exploded, too. Let's all try to hew to standard usage and spellings. It seems to me to be simply polite. As Martha would say "It's a good thing."

LanceHughes -> RE: Spelling and Grammar OCD? (11/30/2010 6:34:04 PM)
OP: Yep. I'm right there with you as to the anxiety. (It's anxiety you describe, not OCD. OCD is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. OCD as to this subject would be, ....I don't know.... maybe copying out their mistakes long-hand and keeping an alphabetical, indexed notebook of same with cross references as to date and time. Sure that would reduce the anxiety, but you don't relieve the anxiety through meaningless behavior, rather you are trying to help them to speel gooder.....LOL!.) My least favorite is "your" when I know they meant "you're." Never do I see the reverse as in "I like you're new perfume." It's always "Tommy, your going to be late if you keep playing with your toys." For a while there, "it's" versus "its" was my least favorite. And "too" and "to" was in the running for awhile. BUT! Guess what? No amount of correction will sink in. And worse, you will come across as rude and overbearing. Been there, done that, have the T-shirt, washed it so many times it's falling apart. As is often said of teaching Latin, "It's like trying to teach a pig to dance, it's a waste of the teacher's time and it only irritates the pig." You can only reduce your anxeity, never eliminate it. So, what to do? Do what my anti-anxiety classes have taught me: Take a deep breath and apologize to yourself for not having enough time to fix all the world's grammar and spelling faults. Remember that you have much better (and important) things to do. After a deep breath (or two) I realize that I do have such things pending, and off I go. The anti-anxiety classes have a mantra: "Notice, release." It really does get me through the day.

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