# For all you people who bitch about being "corrected". This is for you. (Mild) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 30, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482 "2010-11-30T23:45:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/21 "2010-12-01T14:09:58Z")
When I lived in Germany I insisted that people corrected me, even on the little things. Obviouly if I was trying to explain that the building was on fire I didn’t want people saying _Hang on, when you say “der Gebäude” is engulfed in flames I think you actually mean “das Gebäude”_, but there were loads of times when people said “Oh, I know what you meant so it’s OK”. Nope… I want to sound like a German, not like an englishman trying his best so speak german, so if I made a silly mistake I’d rather someone said. Case in point: I was talking about my father’s job to a friend’s parents, and I wanted to say his firm handled the distribution of medical drugs (“_Medikamente_”) but instead used the term “_Drogen_”, which actually meant my father was involved in the sale and supply of illegal narcotics throughout Europe and the USA. The family knew I wasn’t really related to Pablo Escobar, but it’s still the sort of thing I’d prefer to get right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/22 "2010-12-01T14:57:07Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > 1. Taking into account the that once-every-hundred and higher leap year rules can be safely ignored for near-term budgetary calculations. I got burned when I had to scrounge free samples at the supermarket to make it through February 29, 2000. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/23 "2010-12-01T15:24:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Me: Who? > Dad: Schindler? > Me: There’s no Schindler. > Dad: Don’t be an ass (this was not in a ‘joking’ manner), what’s going on with Schindler’s order? > Me: We don’t have a Schindler? > (now yelling at each other) > Dad: You know who I’m talking about. > (Bringing both orders over to him and slamming them on his desk) > Me: Schneider or Schindlehelm, which one are you talking about? Why didn’t you just get to the point in the very beginning? Dad: Blah blah blah Schindler. You: There is no Schindler. There’s a Schneider and a Schindlehelm. Which one are you referring to? Slap fight averted. > [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > **MOL** , I saw what you did there. Still valid! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/24 "2010-12-01T15:42:11Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Why didn’t you just get to the point in the very beginning? > > Dad: Blah blah blah Schindler. > You: There is no Schindler. There’s a Schneider and a Schindlehelm. Which one are you referring to? > > Slap fight averted. > > 😃 Because he truly honestly thought he was saying it correctly. As soon as I start to clarify he’s thinking I’m just purposely being dense about it and slap fight ensues. That’s the point, I’ve got a reputation of correcting people, which bugs them, so in cases like this they just roll their eyes at me and walk away. Like I said, it’s something I consider a ‘flaw’ and I’m attempting to do it less since it drives people up the wall. It doesn’t help that he’s a terrible speller and his grammar is atrocious. I’m constantly ripping signs down from the store and asking him to fix them since they look like they were written by a 3rd grader. Now, I just pull them down and have another employee clean them up. Much faster and avoids an argument. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/25 "2010-12-01T16:01:17Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > One of the great things about actually having a Master’s degree is that people don’t generally correct you (at least not on the internet, anyway), since they figure you’re probably right in the first place. 😉 Wow, you must have a totally different kind of Master’s degree than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/26 "2010-12-01T16:16:24Z")
I’m also a reforming smartypants know it all. I find myself asking me, “Does this mistake impede clarity? Do I still know wtf this person is talking about?” If the answers are no, and yes, in that order, I refrain from correcting. If it’s a true misunderstanding and misuse of a word or a mispronunciation actually gives the statement a different meaning, I will ask, “That word can mean XYZ to me or ABC. Which did you mean?” Or I’ll try to soften the correction, “Um, I _think_ I’ve heard that word pronounced this way.” My SO speaks English as his second language. He has a lot of trouble getting his verb tenses correct. Sometimes he messes up his word order. Unless I have no idea what he means and can’t figure out what he’s getting at, I just let it slide. I will only correct if he _asks_ me, “Did I say that right?” He’s been known to invent words. You know how we’ll say something like, “Oh Lordy…”? Well, he says, “Oh Goddy.” It makes sense to me, from his point of view. If you add a “y” to “Lord” you get another word that’s a figure of speech. So why not take a synonym for “Lord” and add a “y” to that! It’s still a word, right? Because I can’t figure out how to explain to him _why_ it’s wrong (because his logic makes total sense and English is retarded sometimes), I just let it go. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/27 "2010-12-01T16:25:53Z")
I think there are ways to correct people. For example, I have a friend who likes to correct people when they mispronounce stuff. He’s slowly learned to be less of an ass about it, though. He’ll say stuff like “You know, is that pronounced XXXX or YYYY? I’m never really sure which it is.” This frames it as being about the pursuit of knowledge for it’s own sake, rather than about the people themselves being right and wrong. My mom mispronounces stuff a lot, and I’ve learned to shrug it off. The question for me would be “Am I correcting them to help them, or to help myself?” If the only reason you are correcting them (and thus making them uncomfortable) is to satisfy your own needs, maybe you should just let it go. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/28 "2010-12-01T16:29:10Z")
If I corrected my mom every time she mispronounced something, we’d barely be able to have a conversation. She’s also not a native English speaker, and has a fairly pronounced (heh) accent. I know what she’s talking about, so I leave it alone. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/29 "2010-12-01T16:36:05Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > ETA: And the way you pronounce your name; I will not correct you on that. Yeah, or like the way someone spells their own name. I’m not gonna tell you the correct spelling is actually “specter”. ;)😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/30 "2010-12-01T17:00:23Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > All my working life I’ve been active in a field where something is either right, or it’s wrong. I currently proofread documents on _nuclear weapons safety_. In that professional context, I try to be _right_, and diplomacy comes in second. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Casually working it into conversation in such as way as to imply that the thing being corrected _isn’t_ common knowledge and the only reason you know it is because of years of esoteric interest/study in the subject is the Polite Way, IMHO. “Yes, only my picayune interest in the under-appreciated field of ‘counting to five’ enables me to point out what I believe would be a _slightly_ better approach…counting correctly.” ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/31 "2010-12-01T17:11:01Z")
My mom often tells stories with pertinent facts wrong. Or she’ll just be making conversation and get the details wrong. My dad is a real asshole in correcting her and pointing out he thinks she’s a moron. My mom has Alzeimers. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/32 "2010-12-01T17:12:08Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > For example, I have a friend who likes to correct people when they mispronounce stuff. He’s slowly learned to be less of an ass about it, though. He’ll say stuff like “You know, is that pronounced XXXX or YYYY? I’m never really sure which it is.” This frames it as being about the pursuit of knowledge for it’s own sake, rather than about the people themselves being right and wrong. Normally, I try to let these go, but one of my friends has some weirdities I can never let go. For example, he pronounces cryo as “cyro” (sigh-rho). For whatever reason, that bugs the living piss out of me. I’ll usually accept any pronunciation which is remotely grammatically correct, but he manages to tweak me. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/33 "2010-12-01T17:13:20Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > ETA: And the way you pronounce your name; I will not correct you on that. Tahssa - pronounced: Jacob the Galaxy Conquerer ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/34 "2010-12-01T17:24:42Z")
I follow the golden rule. If I’ve got facts wrong, I want to know about it, and if I hear someone else with the facts wrong, I’ll let them know about it. As politely as is reasonably possible. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/35 "2010-12-01T17:59:10Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > 4.3482…, actually.[sup]1[/sup] > > 1. Taking into account the that once-every-hundred and higher leap year rules can be safely ignored for near-term budgetary calculations. I think we can safely round up to 4.35. (Although I certainly wouldn’t have corrected you if you had been using the longer term.) ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/36 "2010-12-01T18:08:57Z")
I _haven’t_ decided not to be a smartypants so… > [@Joey\_P](#): > > Not correcting people is something I’m actively working on in my personal life. It drives me up the wall when people are spouting off incorrect facts (snip). There are no incorrect facts. If it’s not correct, it’s not a fact. (I couldn’t resist. I’m not working on it as much as you are, obviously.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/37 "2010-12-01T19:26:19Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > I _haven’t_ decided not to be a smartypants so… > > There are no incorrect facts. If it’s not correct, it’s not a fact. > > (I couldn’t resist. I’m not working on it as much as you are, obviously.) 🙂 Not true. A fact is something that can be objectively shown to be true or false. Thus, there can be false facts. (I couldn’t resist either.) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/38 "2010-12-01T19:39:54Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Normally, I try to let these go, but one of my friends has some weirdities I can never let go. For example, he pronounces cryo as “cyro” (sigh-rho). For whatever reason, that bugs the living piss out of me. I’ll usually accept any pronunciation which is remotely grammatically correct, but he manages to tweak me. That come up a lot on conversation? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/39 "2010-12-01T22:32:15Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Normally, I try to let these go, but one of my friends has some weirdities I can never let go. For example, he pronounces cryo as “cyro” (sigh-rho). Sounds killy to me. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482/40 "2010-12-01T22:36:19Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That come up a lot on conversation? It’s surprising what does. More than once my friend has had occasion to say the word cache and insists on pronouncing it cachet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-all-you-people-who-bitch-about-being-corrected-this-is-for-you-mild/562482.md?page=3)