Grammar Nazism

[lizbeth19hph]

Being a writer by profession, my friends think I am a Grammar Nazi and that whatever they post on social networking sites like Face Book will be edited by me, if I do find some grammatical errors. :grin: But I don't do that on purpose and not intentionally lol  I just correct them if they are the first ones to ask help from me to check on their grammar.

[tikilalalove]

Grammar Nazi's? I find them annoying when they're correcting other person in front of many people. For example, when someone posts a status update on Social media and had a wrong grammar, Nazi's will add stupid comments on it, and then everyone in the word will notice. If you really want to correct them, you can message them personally.

[skywatcher]

I agree, I find this okay if and only if it's for the sake of respect and if the other person really wants to be corrected. If it's for the sole purpose of winning an argument, it kind of doesn't make sense anymore. It's like using a form of intellectual superiority for the sake of burying another person without actually disproving anything at all.

Either way, I find this okay if, say, it's for the purpose of proofreading a document, or if it's for the sake of improving the performance of a friend - for example. If it's for the benefit for the person who used the grammar wrong (for example, if a writing exam is near and you're asked to judge a "preliminary work), then I think this is appropriate.

[whnuien]

I don't mind being corrected in a proper way but coming from a country where English is not a first language, I also don't mind when people make a spelling or grammar mistake. At the end of the day everyone makes mistake and we can of course correct them if it is necessary.

[Baburra]

The purpose of language is to aid people in communication. Communicating the message is of primary importance. Grammar Nazis totally get on my nerves too! They seem to be slaves of perfection. They seem to hold the opinion that being grammatically perfect is enough to make one a distinguished person!

I agree with you completely. I think it's okay to take some pride in being able to keep a proper structure when communicating, but some people take it too far and make it the complete focus instead of being a side goal.

[secretgoldfish]

I agree, it's a bit silly to try to seem superior by correcting small mistakes. Sometimes it might be distraction and doesn't mean the other person is less smart. The person might not even be a native speaker. Correcting the other person's grammar is just something people do when they're out of arguments.

[Lasonax]

I think the actual problem lies with both the person who is correcting, and the one who is being corrected.

The person who is correcting the other person most likely corrects the other person due to feeling superior, wanting to teach this person something (may been seen as a negative thing from another persons perspective) or just be a jackass.

The person who is being corrected is most likely getting mad because he/she feels inferor to the other person, even if the person correcting him/her didn't intend to declare that he/she was by any means smarter than the other person.

Honestly, I think that we should be able to correct each other without worrying about who is actually smarter or not, but we humans don't really work that way sadly... I don't like being corrected either, or atleast not always. It depends a lot on how the other person is correcting you, even the slightest tone of "Are you stupid?" in the voice is like a slap in the face, but if it's a more laid back/nice tone as in "I think it should be X instead" it's a completely different thing.

We don't want help, we don't want to feel inferior to another person, we can do good by ourselves, and we will ignore any help anyone else seems to give us: because we are strong ourselves and can manage on our own. We don't need your filthy corrections! I won't learn from those!

(The paragraph above is some kind of parody of how I believe people think on the matter, maybe not actively think this but... That's how a lot of people act.)

[Cheesy Potatoes]

I am a total Grammar Nazi, but I don't correct the person out loud. I mostly do my corrections in my head; that way I won't be offending anybody.

[Kate]

I'd never correct anyone's grammar or spelling unless I'm specifically asked to do that.

That doesn't mean it's easy to keep quiet.  I know a few people who are rather arrogant about their supposed intellect    but they're constantly misusing your/you're and their/there/they're.  It's very annoying to not be able to say anything because I'm a natural born teacher, but it's wrong... and doubly wrong to do it in a public place like a social network. 

I've noticed more and more of this being done... the thing you mentioned.  Sometimes it was an honest typo, but even when it's not, I don't think that the grammar police should swoop in.  It's often a matter of people cutting someone else down so that they can feel superior themselves.  NOT cool.