Is politely correcting someone's grammar/spelling offensive? Why?

[LadyRochester]

I personally take no offense when someone corrects me, even in a public channel. However, many people disagree and say correcting someone else is wrong.

 

How are we supposed to improve if we are never made aware of our mistakes? As long as you are being polite and not an ass about it, I (personally) don't see a problem.

[Gegenji]

I don't comment much on grammar, but I am prone to at least repeat someone's typos if they amuse me. I expect it in kind, though, so I like to think of it as sort of a balance. And it's usually over channels where we're prone to joking around anyway.

 

However, the context and the other person is going to play a large part over how someone will react to it. It could be seen as open embarrassment that leads to frustration and anger. Or even being nitpicky, it's hard to say. Personally, I wouldn't mind as long as it's presented in a friendly manner, but I can't speak for everyone.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

I handle that on a case by case basis. Every person is going to have different feelings on the matter. Some people like to be corrected. It helps them improve. Other people see it as an attack on them, their writing, or their RP. Generally, unless the person in question has either directly asked to be corrected or has otherwise shown to be open to such, I won't publicly make any corrections unless the writing it at a point where I cannot understand what is going on. We have a fair amount of ESL players.

 

But when I see Miquo'te and Ishguard for the billionth time, I'll usually let the person know regardless. No excuses for things that are literally spelled out in the game if it's happening consistently.

[Maril]

Typically speaking I don't ever correct peoples grammar, because you never know how they will take it or even if they can help it - Maybe they have some variety of dyslexia or other difficulties. Despite being fluent in English, it isn't my native tongue and I still make mistakes - and the mistakes that I make are usually a habit (I often misspell the same words because the misspelling looks "right" to me) so even if I was corrected it wouldn't really do much. I reckon at the end of the day I would get annoyed if I was corrected a lot, even if it was polite and well meaning.

[Vale]

I personally take no offense when someone corrects me, even in a public channel. However, many people disagree and say correcting someone else is wrong.

 

How are we supposed to improve if we are never made aware of our mistakes? As long as you are being polite and not an ass about it, I (personally) don't see a problem.

I can see it from both sides of things, myself. It might help explain their side of things. For example:

 

In my FC, one of the leaders is a literary agent. She spends all day reading and correcting grammar, spelling, etc. When she's playing the game all she wants to do is just... enjoy the game and not worry about perfect grammar. As long as things are readable and understandable, the odd comma or run-on sentence isn't going to hurt anyone. In a game where all you want to do is unwind, I can see where people would let their grammar or spelling lax a bit. Personally, I'm an English tutor at my university and I still make typo's when I'm playing. I don't really let it bother me and I've never had anyone else mention my poor use of a comma when we've been RP'ing.

 

Some people, though, just don't care and they will become annoyed or even angered anytime someone "dares" to correct them. Nothing you can do in these situations.

 

The odd person does actually want to have their grammar/spelling corrected, especially if they're using a word a lot and consistently spelling it wrong. I don't see any actual harm in trying to correct someone, as long as you are in fact polite about it, but at the same time... just expect that the majority of people aren't going to care. And some will just be outright offended by it.

 

Your options, in my eyes, are pretty simple: 

 

1. Just don't correct anyone. If they have so many errors in their writing that it bothers you, odds are they aren't going to be able to easily fix the issue anyway. Might be best just to avoid RP'ing with them.

 

2. Continue correcting people, but don't be surprised when you receive a negative response. Some people may even become so annoyed with you that they avoid RP'ing with you in the future as a result of this, however.

 

3. RP with everyone, don't correct them, and don't worry about their spelling or grammar.

 

Option 3 is the least dramatic and would require you being able to get past your mindset of "helping" people. The other 2 options will, eventually, either alienate you from some people or alienate them from you. Either/or.

[Sylentmana]

To some, it can come across as pretentious and rude. In most instances, its usually best to just let it go. I can understand it bothering you as I often feel the same way, but I've found that its just best not to say anything, even politely. There is also the fact that many of this current generation are a bunch of coddled babies and pointing out their mistakes can hurt their poor, poor feelings.

[Spethah]

To be honest, I only comment about it during extreme cases. There was a guy who made a paragraph describing how he was taking his medicine and did make not one break or pause in the paragraph. It was just one whole sentence, no commas or full stops. It's those kind of people, the ones that cause immense confusion when reading, that do need a nudge privately saying "Hey there's a problem and here's a solution". 

 

Privately mentioning it (through /t usually) is so much better than saying it in a group. It's more secure and less embarrassing on the person being told of their mistakes. I personally don't mind if you told the whole world that I misspelled my character's name for the 9th time because I do have a habit of typing very quickly (165 wpm at 68% accuracy habit) but making mistakes when I'm not thinking about how I'm typing. Plus the jokes that come out of it is great.

 

EDIT: LOOK I'M PROVING MY HABITS. Correcting mistakes.

 

tl;dr: It's not offensive really, just don't say it in front of other people. Talk in private.

[Aaron]

If you can understand what they're saying in under 5 seconds there's no need to correct em because you got the message regardless. 

 

If you can't for the life of you understand them then just ask if they could repeat it better spelled or something in /tells.

 

Not all people are as adept at language (or care enough to type it correctly). Just pay it no mind. Because pretty sure if you try to correct them 7/10 times you'll never see them bother you again.

[Gegenji]

There is also the fact that many of this current generation are a bunch of coddled babies and pointing out their mistakes can hurt their poor, poor feelings.

 

That's a bit of an unnecessarily rude way to put it, Syl.

 

Anyway, I mentioned how I'd react to such things, but I never stated much on how I go about it myself. For the most part, I'm fine as long as I can understand the basic intent of what they're saying. If their grammar and such are to the point that I can't decipher the meaning, then I'll ask for clarification.

 

Though, I would be lying if I said those that consistently have bad grammar and terrible spelling don't bother me any. But, as always, it's a matter of the person you're RPing with. If they're ESL, I'm definitely open to working more with them - they're the ones stepping out of their comfort zone to interact with me, after all. If it seems like someone who just doesn't seem to bother? I might just be less prone to RP with them in the future.

 

In the end, I usually never correct unless asked. And that in and of itself is a rare occurrence.

[Kaiz]

Given that I play a character who speaks in broken English, I feel it would be a bit passé to be correcting other people's English.

 

... Then again, he's going to start learning how to read properly from an arcanist friend, so maybe he'll correct people in character

[Lilia Lia]

I just don't bother.  If it's clear enough to me what the person is trying to convey then I won't risk upsetting them by correcting them.

 

This would be entirely different if the person were asking for my feedback on a piece of writing they did, of course.  But in casual RP I just disregard typos, poor grammar, spelling. 

 

I guess the exception here is where it's not clear to me what a person means.  If their grammar is so bad that I can't figure out what they're saying, I'll ask them to rephrase it and maybe explain what was confusing about it, but even then I don't think I'd specifically start telling them about the rules of spelling or grammar.

 

Anyways, I won't assume that anyone is RPing in FFXIV because they want to improve their spelling or grammar skills, so I won't bother correcting them unless there's an explicit request for feedback or criticism.  It's just not worth the risk of hurting someone's feelings or giving them a reason to perceive me as nitpicky and critical.  Better to just let people live with their mistakes and learn them without my input.

 

As an addendum, though, I'm very good at not letting things like poor spelling and grammar bother me. I'm sure there are people who are less tolerant of it and for those people I can definitely understand the temptation to interject and make corrections. I just hope those people understand that it causes them to be perceived a certain way.

[Dravus]

It's unfortunate but even the most politely worded feedback can lead to major drama. If there's one thing you can count on a lot of people doing - especially online - it's taking well meaning advice and reacting to it as though it's some sort of horrific personal attack.

 

Heck, it happens even when people request feedback let alone when they don't. Add to that the differences in culture (since a lot of us aren't, in fact, from America) and it can often be a recipe for disaster when stuff gets lost in translation.

 

I try to offer advice where I can but generally I just end up keeping silent. As harsh as it may sound if someone couldn't role-play without a massive amount of errors then I'd just politely take my leave. I don't mind the occasional error, of course - we all make them after all - but I need to be able to understand what's being written and it needs to be presentable as well. Which means that an attempt at correct punctuation is needed too.

[Caspar]

I think it's best done if you know them. I don't give a damn if someone corrects me if I know that's just what they do, and might even appreciate it. There are a lot of people who do not though. I think it's unwise to do so to a complete stranger.

 

Of course, there are some grammatical rules that are rarely used and obscure. They limit writing style and are rarely used even in modern schools. I wouldn't go complaining about those...

[FreelanceWizard]

I know a lot of great RPers who are... not so great when it comes to typos, misspellings, and the use of commas. In my experience, they're well aware of their weakness, but they also don't want to run everything they want to say through Word's grammar/spelling checker because that'd ruin the flow of a scene. The way I see it, if I can understand what someone is saying, I'd rather we keep the RP moving than concern ourselves over whether a comma was appropriate, if the subjunctive mood should've been used or not, or if that sentence could've been reworded to not end with a preposition. I can even grit my teeth and suffer through "irregardless," "for all intensive purposes," and "mute point."

 

So, the only time I'll pop OOC over grammar and spelling is if I know them and we can have a laugh over it (misspellings are great for that) or if I can't understand what they're trying to say.

[Gegenji]

I can even grit my teeth and suffer through "irregardless," "for all intensive purposes," and "mute point."

 

What would happen if someone used the phrase: "Irregardless, for all intensive purposes its a mute point"?

[FreelanceWizard]

I can even grit my teeth and suffer through "irregardless," "for all intensive purposes," and "mute point."

 

What would happen if someone used the phrase: "Irregardless, for all intensive purposes its a mute point"?

 

A friend of mine said that once...

 

In real life...

 

In all seriousness. (He didn't know those were incorrect.)

 

I just stared at him for a long moment before moving on.

[LadyRochester]

I would never correct a typo in RP. Typos are accidental, not out of ignorance. I usually don't correct people unless I think they can handle criticism.

 

I am only deeply annoyed at incorrect usage of words.

I once saw an rper make an emote about their character writing on a paper notepad with a "stylus". 

 

I didn't correct them, but oocily it made me scoff and roll my eyes, mainly because they used that word thinking it would make them come across as more eloquent.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

I would never correct a typo in RP. Typos are accidental, not out of ignorance. I usually don't correct people unless I think they can handle criticism.

 

I am only deeply annoyed at incorrect usage of words.

I once saw an rper make an emote about their character writing on a paper notepad with a "stylus". 

 

I didn't correct them, but oocily it made me scoff and rill my eyes, mainly because they used that word thinking it would make them come across as more eloquent.

 

At least they weren't tapping on a stone tablet with it instead?

[Sylentmana]

There is also the fact that many of this current generation are a bunch of coddled babies and pointing out their mistakes can hurt their poor, poor feelings.

 

That's a bit of an unnecessarily rude way to put it, Syl.

 

 

Well, since it wasn't directed at anyone in particular and it was more a bitter comment on the current state of society, I have to say, no, it isn't a rude thing to say. If I had directed it at another person, then it would be rude.

[Rising]

For me, it depends on a lot of factors. The one factor in which I will always ask is when it's so bad that I cannot understand what they are trying to communicate in the RP. A misspelling, a word out of order or left out, simple errors that could be guessed at in more than one way, etc., those I always whisper for clarification. I never ask in public channels so if the person is prone to over-sensitivity, it hopefully comes across as more constructive than criticizing.

 

There is a lot that I let slide just because I don't know who I'm RPing with. Are they native English speakers? If so, which English? I find that non-native speakers are more conscientious and make fewer mistakes than native speakers and also are the most open to grammar help (I refrain from spelling help since most use British English - that's a horse of a different 'colour') but that's besides the point. 

 

If it is spelling in specific to the game world and I see it more than once, I may whisper them to point it out. However, this is not something I do in random RP. It is more with people I know, people I've RP'd with several times, friends, FC, etc.

 

As for it being offensive and why, the obvious answer is that depends entirely on the person receiving the correction. Most of that depends on personality. I am very self conscious, overly sensitive, and I hate undue attention. It's something I struggle with. To be honest, if someone I was RPing with corrected me in a public channel, I'd die of shame. I'd probably throw out some IC "Gotta go now" excuse and walk away. Drawing attention to me, especially negative attention, feels like an attack. 

 

Granted I am on the far side of the spectrum, with the other extreme being the one who could care less for your 'help' and blast you with profanity. So the middle ground is likely to result in the most acceptance both as the giver and receiver of such help, and is probably the best place to be either way. Still, people are people and you're going to get the spectrum of responses.

 

In the end, I have to say I agree with Caspar, Graeham, and Lilia Lia (above 3 posters) said, and in game RP, if it's understandable, I just roll on. Ain't nobody got time for that stuff.

[Lilia Lia]

I didn't correct them, but oocily it made me scoff and roll my eyes, mainly because they used that word thinking it would make them come across as more eloquent.

 

People just do that in RP and in amateur writing generally.  They try to find unusual words to describe things instead of more ordinary words that have the same meaning.  There are some words that are almost exclusively used this way.  Example, there's no semantic difference between the words "while" and "whilst."  But people will still say "whilst" because they like how it sounds vaguely archaic. 

 

Now you're starting to touch on writing quirks that actually do require me to hold my tongue, but even so I still wouldn't point this kind of thing out to someone.   I find mostly this is something young people do, or at least I remember doing it a lot when I was younger.  It's different from grammatical errors in that mistakes of grammar are unintentional, but this kind of thing is something people go out of their way to do.  If you can pin it down to a semantic error then it might be easier to point out to someone.

[Blue]

I am Italian, English is a self-taught language to me, so I am doomed to make several typos still. Whether being corrected offends me or not depends on many factors, the most important of which being:

1 - Is the person correting me someone I consider a friend? Corrections by strangers or just acquaitances does irk me some.

2 - How often does this friend correct me? Even if it's a friend correcting my typo, if they do it over and over, not giving me a break, I might get irritated.

3 - Is the typo funny, or at least bad enough to change the meaning of the sentence? I understand if you correct me if I say "I'm broken!" instead of "I'm broke!", since it can be misleading, or if I emote my character to "shit on a chair" instead of "sit on a chair", cause that's hilarious and worth a laugh. But if you want to correct me for typing "misunderstantment" or "hte"... then you're nitpicking and that's not funny.

 

At the same time, I've found that since English is not my main language, and it's actually an exercise for me to use, I tend to make typos a lot less than my English-speakers companions, and if those typos are funny, I tend to make fun of them, a lot >.>

 

Like here: (I'm Kenjii, my friend is Avina)

[Caspar]

I can even grit my teeth and suffer through "irregardless," "for all intensive purposes," and "mute point."

 

What would happen if someone used the phrase: "Irregardless, for all intensive purposes its a mute point"?

 

A friend of mine said that once...

 

In real life...

 

In all seriousness. (He didn't know those were incorrect.)

 

I just stared at him for a long moment before moving on.

The one I had the joy of witnessing was "the scent is very vagrant," back in hs.

[Sylentmana]

I can even grit my teeth and suffer through "irregardless," "for all intensive purposes," and "mute point."

 

What would happen if someone used the phrase: "Irregardless, for all intensive purposes its a mute point"?

 

A friend of mine said that once...

 

In real life...

 

In all seriousness. (He didn't know those were incorrect.)

 

I just stared at him for a long moment before moving on.

The one I had the joy of witnessing was "the scent is very vagrant," back in hs.

 

Well, vagrants do often have a scent.

[Aya]

The only times I do is when dealing with a non-native speaker who has expressed an interest in improving his English skills.  Otherwise I may notice, but rarely comment on it