# Was this okay? Bad spelling Principal related **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904 "2012-10-16T17:00:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/41 "2012-10-17T01:23:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But when there’s a way to accomplish that without making him think you are a dick, you should probably take it. > > The proof that he thinks you are a dick: the fact that he didn’t respond. He knows that socially, such a harmless faux pas is not something you are supposed to talk about. Learn from his example. He responded promptly. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/42 "2012-10-17T02:24:10Z")
I’m ambivalent about pointing out spelling errors. Sometimes it is just a typo, which I consider to be something like “teh” for “the”; other times it is the wrong word, such as “councillor” for “counsellor” or “principle” for “principal”. I don’t think of those as spelling errors, but as wrong word selections. Same for their, there, they’re. If the wrong word makes the meaning different enough to cause a mental “Huh?”, then perhaps you can point that out, but not in a passive-aggressive way such as is suggested by writing a long response assuming he somehow wasn’t sure what he was writing and you’re only pointing it out for his own good. In conclusion, I’d probably do what **Caricci** did. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/43 "2012-10-17T02:38:36Z")
I wouldn’t have said anything and given him the benefit of the doubt; perhaps he merely misspelled it and it autocorrected to the wrong word (this happens to me). If every email had mistakes, especially of usage, I’d probably mention to the school secretary or something. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/44 "2012-10-17T03:06:59Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I figure with spelling errors and typos, “let he who is without blame cast the first stone” - that ain’t me. I’d rather let him cast the first stone… ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/45 "2012-10-17T04:08:28Z")
Speaking as someone who witnesses this kind of thing all the time, I’d say he’s probably grateful for the assist, as long as you’re not making a federal case of it. If he had his fly down at Open House and you mentioned it when you said hello, you’d be doing him a favor, even if it was after his speech addressing the assembled parents. You just helped him to remember that everything he writes is going to be judged in light of his position in the school. As for the “their/there/they’re” problem, **perfectparanoia** , I’ll bet that an underpaid school secretary had to create the template for that log. It’s one of those hundreds of random tasks that minimally motivated clerical staff has to do, often at a moment’s notice, and some of them are a little shaky on the concept of alphabetical order, much less spelling. If I’d received your call, I’d have fixed it that day, but the principal is probably the only person who would see to it actually being fixed for the whole school. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/46 "2012-10-17T17:25:38Z")
I’m not sure I understand where people are coming from when they suggest this correction was “casting the first stone” or rude. Can’t we assume _the principal himself_ routinely corrects others on educational and behavioral topics? Isn’t that part of what a principal _does?_ ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/47 "2012-10-18T12:46:37Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > I’m not sure I understand where people are coming from when they suggest this correction was “casting the first stone” or rude. Can’t we assume _the principal himself_ routinely corrects others on educational and behavioral topics? Isn’t that part of what a principal _does?_ He would be doing that to children. It’s generally considered rude to treat other adults as children. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/48 "2012-10-18T19:16:18Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > He would be doing that to children. It’s generally considered rude to treat other adults as children. Not entirely true. Some fundamentally disabled adults _are_ treated like children, because they are childlike. Maybe I’m not rude; maybe I’m just treating the principal like that because he’s acting a bit developmentally disabled. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/49 "2012-10-18T19:22:25Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > > [@lavenderviolet](#): > > > > He would be doing that to children. It’s generally considered rude to treat other adults as children. > > Not entirely true. Some fundamentally disabled adults _are_ treated like children, because they are childlike. Maybe I’m not rude; maybe I’m just treating the principal like that because he’s acting a bit developmentally disabled. I am sorry, but you come off as disingenuous here. **Lavendarviolet** wrote that it’s _generally_ considered rude to treat adults as children, clearly leaving room for exceptions. And I find it difficult to credit that you actually think the principal is acting developmentally disabled because he made a minor mistake – particularly a mistake easily attributable to a typo, an errant auto-correct function, or simple humanity. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/50 "2012-10-18T21:17:42Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > He would be doing that to children. It’s generally considered rude to treat other adults as children. It’s a bit condescending to assume that the principal can’t handle being corrected. I think that’s treating him like a child. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904/51 "2012-10-18T21:32:51Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > I’m not sure I understand where people are coming from when they suggest this correction was “casting the first stone” or rude. Can’t we assume _the principal himself_ routinely corrects others on educational and behavioral topics? Isn’t that part of what a principal _does?_ Not really. Principals have relatively little to do with the actual education component in schools. The certainly are not walking around grading papers and correcting grammar. Correcting people is what teachers do. The principal’s job is to make sure that the teachers can do their job. They manage staff, budgets, strategic planning, relationships with key stakeholders (parents, governments), facilities, safety and security, and other meta–level decision making. They have little to nothing to do with the classroom except to make sure they are staffed, stocked and still standing. At best, they may put together panels that make high-level curriculum decisions (which book series to use, etc.) but even that would not be something they decide alone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-okay-bad-spelling-principal-related/637904.md?page=2)