# is it bad manners to correct a checkout girl **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798 "2012-01-17T15:12:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/61 "2012-01-17T19:19:19Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > {Trivial pedantry on}Shouldn’t that be _skimmed_ milk? Not if you’re going to pour it over shave ice. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/62 "2012-01-17T19:20:42Z")
> [@murrmac](#): > > dude, it’s not like I would be shouting at her, waving my arms, and causing a scene … > > at the very most, I would lean across the register, smile winsomely, and murmur the correction in a soft undertone .. Sounds like a good plan: you’d creep her out, annoy her, and make the people behind you wait. Everybody wins! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/63 "2012-01-17T19:36:35Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Do you really see alot of people typing “ATM, machine”? Yes, lot’s of them! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/64 "2012-01-17T19:39:34Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Great, now I’m hungry for soup. Someone should wash your mouth out with soup. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/65 "2012-01-17T19:46:06Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Someone should wash your mouth out with soup. It was… it was… soup poisoning! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/66 "2012-01-17T19:47:29Z")
Sopa in Spanish actually means soup. Soap is jabon, with an accent over the “o.” I think. Anyway, soup and soap are easily confused by \*gringos \*in Spanish, too! \*Skimmed \*milk? [Not in my Amrrrica](http://www.nutty-nutrition.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/skim-milk1.jpg)! ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/67 "2012-01-17T19:48:08Z")
Instead of debit why not just press Credit? Save yourself the 25c debit card fee. Otherwise she communicated to you and you understood what she meant, so yes it would be douchy to correct her. However! If she is of the hawt variety of checkout girl, and therein lies the possibility of future nakedness… and correcting her grammar could lead to the exchange of telephone digits… you can take it from here. ---
**Author:** ![murrmac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@murrmac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/murrmac)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/68 "2012-01-17T19:55:18Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > By the way, if you want to be a trivial pedant, shouldn’t you be capitalizing your sentences? Yeah, maybe.. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t . Just like I sometimes use a period and sometimes use ellipsis … But what I don’t ever do is unwittingly succumb to redundancy . ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/69 "2012-01-17T20:26:08Z")
> [@murrmac](#): > > But what I don’t ever do is unwittingly succumb to redundancy . “Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t” is redundant. You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/70 "2012-01-17T20:36:41Z")
How about you pretend she said PINumber and everyone can walk away happy. ---
**Author:** ![murrmac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@murrmac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/murrmac)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/71 "2012-01-17T20:45:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > “Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t” is redundant. You’re welcome. Touché … ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/72 "2012-01-17T21:02:05Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Hey y’all, what the heck does ‘fie’ mean? > I got it from _Camelot_. Means the same as “Pfsh,” just with less P. > [@tdn](#): > > Not if you’re going to pour it over shave ice. I could go for some cream right now, preferrably iced. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/73 "2012-01-17T21:04:22Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Yes it is incredibly bad manners. Haven’t you got something better to do than spend your time insulting employees whose lives are already filled to the brim with annoying people? This, and this… and this. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/74 "2012-01-17T21:04:55Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > I could go for some cream right now, preferrably iced. Not until you’ve finished your soap. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/75 "2012-01-17T21:16:31Z")
1. I think it’s usually rude to correct people, especially when it’s likely they don’t feel entitled to answer back. If you can give someone advice and have it come across as genuinely helpful, that’s good, but it doesn’t usually work. After all, what happens if you think you’re correct, try to be helpful, and the clerk knows you’re wrong, but daredn’t tell you because he/she doesn’t know when some customer will be a raging asshole who’ll refuse to listen. 2. I think “PIN number” is fine. Redundancy is _usually_ wrong, but sometimes it’s necessary. I’ve yet to hear any proposal for what you should say instead – “PIN” or “personal identification number” are going to be misunderstood, whereas “PIN number” will be understood every time – which means it’s a better word choice. (Talking to someone who you know won’t be offended, when there’s a better alternative phrasing, do feel free to suggest it though; I still like correctness.) ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/76 "2012-01-17T21:31:33Z")
> [@murrmac](#): > > and if she was _ **really** _ pretty, maybe ask her for her phone no. as well … And no is probably exactly what you would hear from her. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/77 "2012-01-17T22:43:36Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s terrible manners. I cannot imagine an adult being so rude in public to a complete stranger. Well, you’re Canadian. Take a trip to Las Vegas or New York or someplace like that sometime. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/78 "2012-01-17T22:58:31Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Well, you’re Canadian. Take a trip to Las Vegas or New York or someplace like that sometime. I’ve been to 40 of 50 states. My best friend’s American. I certainly do not encounter much rudeness there either. In my experience New Yorkers are perfectly normal people, politeness-wise. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/79 "2012-01-17T23:31:07Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > And it’s not a hot water heater, just a water heater. Why would you have to heat hot water? > > But who cares? Because if you stop heating the hot water it becomes cold water. ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798/80 "2012-01-18T00:16:25Z")
Yes. That would be pretty rude in casual conversation. A retail transaction, though, isn’t casual conversation. Retail clerks aren’t usually allowed to argue with customers, and even those who are usually don’t have time. So, you’re (dubiously) ‘correcting’ someone who can’t defend herself in kind. Plus, she’s probably working off a script that she didn’t write anyway. You may notice that most older ATMs and debit punchpads use ‘PIN Number.’ So you’re ‘correcting’ a common use term that has been embraced by both her place of business, her industry (supermarkets), and the industry it is relevant to. (banking) Some newer ones use other phrasings, ‘Secret Code’ being the clear winner, but that’s not really relevant, I just wanted to type ‘Secret Code.’ If you must, contact the store owner and ask they correct it. I’m sure they’ll get right on it. That whole argument is kind of a distraction, though. Correcting the phrasing of something you clearly understood is rude. Especially someone who you’re not really having a conversation with. Not arguing with people in retail about things not directly related to their jobs is a good general rule. A particularly annoying form of douchebaggery I recall from back in my retail days was people who would try to start political ‘conversations’ with me. These were usually poorly thought out, frequently disproportionality heated, and often views that would be unpopular in the area. To which I could neither call shenanigans on, nor leave. Nor end the ‘conversation’ in a polite way. The experience was similar being forced to read random youtube comments, except without as many uses of the N-word. Without the soothing comfort of a facepalm. Correcting word usage isn’t on that level, of course, but the difference is in degree, not kind. – Do you do this to everyone? If the clerk was instead, say, a very large mean looking guy from south Philly, would you insist that ‘Axe’ is not the same word as ‘Ask’? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-manners-to-correct-a-checkout-girl/609798.md?page=5)