# How far can an OP be wrong before you can correct them? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 1, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302 "2025-12-01T20:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/41 "2025-12-02T14:12:21Z")
No you didn’t: > [@hajario](#): > > I said “were ruining”. > [@hajario](#): > > You were being a massive jerk and ruining the thread. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/42 "2025-12-02T14:14:03Z")
Yes, you were being a jerk. In the fourth post you brought up your point, that a priest isn’t exactly a minister. In the sixth post, the OP replied, “sorry, i used the wrong word. Can a mod fix that?” > [@Who Married You? (that’s not what I mean-- check out the poll)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-married-you-that-s-not-what-i-mean-check-out-the-poll/1025281/6): > > I’m collecting all those under “minister.” That’s where the rabbis are too. > > I guess I should have said “member of the clergy.” > > Can a mod change it, or can I? Polls can’t be edited without throwing away all the votes. It was too late. But it was clear what she’d intended to ask, and everyone else in the thread understood that. That should have been the end of it. If you wanted to discuss the finer points of exactly what each type of clergy is and how they differ, you should have started a new thread right there and then. Linking it would have been completely okay. Taking over a thread that was about weddings, and whether you had used a member of the clergy (she clarified that she’d _used the wrong word_ and meant any member of the clergy) is one of the most obvious cases of hijacking I’ve ever seen. There were so many posts about that unrelated topic that it was hard to find the on-topic ones. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/43 "2025-12-02T14:19:12Z")
I have been to many weddings officiated by many different officiants and I can say, without question, who officiated was of GREAT importance to those being married. I can include myself and my (now ex) wife in that list. These are not things to just lightly toss about. It matters and I am sure I am not alone in thinking so. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/44 "2025-12-02T14:21:40Z")
Then please start a thread to discuss it. It will no doubt be of interest to many. It wasn’t the topic of that thread ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/45 "2025-12-02T14:21:49Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > These are not things to just lightly toss about. It matters and I am sure I am not alone in thinking so. I’m late to the party, but I already see where the OP basically agreed with your point and modified her original statement. If you did, _there,_ what you’re currently doing, _here,_ then you deserved whatever opprobrium you received. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/46 "2025-12-02T14:23:03Z")
That’s a completely different issue - it was important to me that a Catholic priest officiated at my wedding but that doesn’t mean it matters to me if a non-Catholic used “minister” as a generic word to cover all types of clergy. Even if it might be technically incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/47 "2025-12-02T14:27:55Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I have been to many weddings officiated by many different officiants and I can say, without question, who officiated was of GREAT importance to those being married. I can include myself and my (now ex) wife in that list. Of course the actual officiant is important to most people. That doesn’t mean that importance demands that said peeps should give a shit over a word for that officiant that’s a bit off but close enough to understand. I think I’m getting it now. Those who don’t care about the wording are NOT saying “Priest, rabbi, imam, I don’t care who officiates, they’re all the same.” Is that the way you see it? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/48 "2025-12-02T14:28:46Z")
I meant to say that I meant to say you were ruining it. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/49 "2025-12-02T14:29:10Z")
Deleted…mods will get mad at me. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/50 "2025-12-02T14:30:29Z")
That was not the point of the thread. You could have started a new thread and not hijacked the existing one. Now you’re trying to argue something that should be in a thread elsewhere on the board and not in ATMB. ETA: Good delete, as you are correct. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/51 "2025-12-02T14:31:58Z")
For the millionth time, the OP very early on apologized for the misunderstanding, admitted that their word choice was poor and asked that for the purpose of the thread it be defined that way. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/52 "2025-12-02T15:35:41Z")
I ran into this recently when I wasn’t clear about what object my advective was referring to. Another poster expressed confusion and I clarified what I meant (with an apology for not being clearer), but they kept trying to tell me I said (meant) something else. Once someone tells you what they actually meant, it is the height of assholery to continue to harp on the misunderstanding. That’s just someone looking for an argument where one shouldn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/53 "2025-12-02T15:45:08Z")
To agree with @Elmer_J.Fudd , when someone has already acknowledged they _used the wrong word_ and you continue to argue about the word they accidentally used, you are very much being a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/54 "2025-12-02T16:08:31Z")
We were given a finite set of choices. Also, some definitions matter more than others. It is jerkish to ignore that. Would this board ignore misgendering someone even if the list missed it and everyone said deal with it? Honestly, I was done with this many posts ago but it is weird you all keep jumping back in (notably the mods). ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/55 "2025-12-02T16:14:03Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Honestly, I was done with this many posts ago We have a solution for that. This is closed. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-can-an-op-be-wrong-before-you-can-correct-them/1025302/56 "2025-12-02T16:14:07Z")
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