You hear someone make a grammar/style mistake. Do you correct him or her?

In My Humble Opinion
61

Uh-oh.

62

I voted for the “other” option. I’ll correct people only if they seem to be inviting correction in some way, but especially if they openly ask, e.g., “Is that the right way say that?” My children are grown up, so I no longer need to correct them.

63

Well, so much for thinking that you might have had something useful to say on the subject. Thanks for being up front about it.

64

Well, I was going to cite Definitions.com, but then, I didn’t really know if you would consider it an ‘urban’ dictionary. Also, I was going to point out that English is a living language, dialect is a part of English, the ‘ax’ pronounciation used to be standard English, but now is considered substandard, but is making a comeback, thanks to people of all races that use it, ‘urban’ and otherwise, but, then, I honest to god thought you knew all of that and was just pulling my leg.

But here you go.

Our Living Language : Ax, a common nonstandard variant of ask, is often identified as an especially salient feature of African American Vernacular English. While it is true that the form is frequent in the speech of African Americans, it used to be common in the speech of white Americans as well, especially in the South and in the middle sections of the U.S. It was once common among New Englanders, but has largely died out there as a local feature. The widespread use of this pronunciation should not be surprising since ax is a very old word in English, having been used in England for over 1,000 years. In Old English we find both āscian and ācsian, and in Middle English both asken and axen. Moreover, the forms with cs or x had no stigma associated with them. Chaucer used asken and axen interchangeably, as in the lines “I wol aske, if it hir will be/To be my wyf” and “Men axed hym, what sholde bifalle,” both from The Canterbury Tales. The forms in x arose from the forms in sk by a linguistic process called metathesis, in which two sounds are reversed. The x thus represents (ks), the flipped version of (sk). Metathesis is a common linguistic process around the world and does not arise from a defect in speaking. Nevertheless, ax has become stigmatized as substandard—a fate that has befallen other words, like ain’t, that were once perfectly acceptable in literate circles.

65

How about the option of “complete strangers on message boards?”

Yeah, I do that sometimes.

66

My points, exactly.

67

Really? I thought your point was this;

Ooh, look. Another cite just dropped in my lap. Merriam Websteron line dictionary. Hope it’s not too…urban.

ETA: I never used to pronounce it that way…I always liked the was ‘sk’ sounds coming out of my mouth. But I think, from now on, I shall pronounce it ‘axe’ in solidarity with those that have noses looked down at them for saying it that way.

68

I may correct another adult’s grammar/style mistake, but it depends on the adult and my relationship with them. If there’s way to do it by making a joke, I’ll always opt for that. If I think they will be embarrassed, I won’t mention a thing.

69

I work in a government agency along with several hundred other highly paid public servants. As a taxpayer, I simply can not let it go unnoticed that the six-figure salaried executive assistant just sent me an e-mail, the subject line of which was “you’re 1 pm appointment have arrived”.

“Thanks Arquena [her real name]. I just wanted to point out that you should have used the adjective “your” instead of the contraction for “you are”, and you also have a subject-verb tense issue to work out.”

I copied the Chief of Staff on the reply, since I am on fairly good terms with her. I doubt if Arquena even read the message.

70

Since I was the only one to bring up the “axe/ask” correction, I assume you are talking to me.

In almost every post here (and in other language threads), the poster probably knew what the speaker was saying too. So, accordingly to you, the speaker was using a word or phrase that a lot of people use also and some for a long time, so I guess it made it okay. If you think these things, then any manner of speaking in which the meaning can eventually be hashed out is okay.

And who are you to tell anybody what they can bring up in any thread? To be honest with you, “axe” for “ask” from an educated person in a formal setting just sounds ignorant or lazy – or ghetto.

Yeah, I said it.

71

Descimisado, please don’t take it personally. I didn’t even remember which poster brought it up. But, really, enough already with the complaints about people saying ‘axe’. We all know that a whole lot of black folks in the ghetto say it that way, and, it is perfectly fine to say it that way to boot.

I am not telling you what to bring up in a thread. I’m telling you in real life, too. Enough already. It’s a perfectly cromulent pronunciation, has been for ages, and was only considered ‘bad’ after it had been stigmatized by prescriptivists that couldn’t except a growing and changing language. Enough.

ETA: adding this, after noting your edit; I’m glad you said it, because it gives me the opportunity to say this; I don’t consider ‘ghetto’ an insult. Peace.

72

Of course it’s not correct. The whole point of this thread is to determine when/if you correct people when they say things that are incorrect. Do you correct people when they say “aks” or “axe” only, or do you correct people whenever they say anything that is “common” but “nonstandard”? Does “Joe and me went to the bar” necessitate correction for you? Or “Meet Joe and I at the bar”?

I heart you so much.

73

Well, you’re wrong. But I see now that you’re way too defensive to be able to understand my point, so I’m done with this little side conversation.

And I’ve already addressed that. What you quoted was my response to Nzinga, Seated’s question about why people consider “ax” to be an unacceptable pronunciation of “ask” – actually, more to the point, it’s my response to her reasons for finding it acceptable. But apparently her question was rhetorical, so you’ll see no futher digression from me (on that topic and in this thread, anyway).

74

How was my question rhetorical? I honestly wanted to know why folks keep saying that ‘axe’ is not acceptable. I say it is fine. You asked for a cite from a ‘non urban’ dictionary that lists it as an alternate pronunciation. I gave you that and more. Now, I gotta axe you, why do you feel I’m being defensive?

75

I reserve the right to correct my (adult) children because it’s about the only way I can still torment them.

I used to correct anyone at anytime. I stopped doing it because I realized that picking on petty mistakes rather than focusing on content is not a way to win either friends or discussions, and, besides, tends to brand one as a nitpicking asshole.

If the mistake is so severe that it obstructs communication, I’ll ask for clarification. Otherwise, it’s the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put.

76

I certainly hope someone would correct me if I was saying something wrong. I’d rather that then keep making the mistake and having people think I was a moron.

(Wait, is it “was saying” or “were saying”?)