Hey, all my Grammar Maven friends!
Under what circumstances is it acceptable to correct someone’s language?
By this, I mean grammar, syntax, misunderstood or misused vocabulary, mispronunciations, pronouncing silent letters, words inappropriate to polite society, etc.
If it is a proper occasion, how ought one do so?
That’s a great question. I’ll look forward to your answers. The only place I feel 100% comfortable doing it is in my own English classroom.
In my work I encounter many, many poorly written paragraphs and I correct and edit them often (even though it is not technically in my job description to do so)… but I am in the business of designing and laying out ads and other materials that are meant to communicate specific messages. So in those cases I think it is totally acceptable.
In normal life I cringe at many things both spoken and written by people I know. My comfort level with correcting those folks depends on my particular relationship with the offender/s.
Classroom, or if they obviously don’t know the meaning of the word they’re using and it could embarrass them, or get them in trouble. If you did correct everybody, I alone, would keep you constantly busy.
I never correct anyone’s grammar unless they ask me. I do not mind grammatical errors in speech; in fact, some of those ticks and errors give speech color and life (hence why I find good written dialogue so potentially messy). Like an anthropologist in the bush, I consider those ticks and study them; they are, perhaps, little linguistic windows to the soul.
Language lives and moves and has its being beyond the rules of grammar. I mean, really, how many of those rules have anything to do with our English and how many have everything to do with their Latin (eg. ending sentences with prepositions). Like all rules, there are always some who want to enforce them and some of these are assholes about it. Meh, I say, Meh! I don’t have enough energy to care.
My only question: is it clear? Grammatical laws help with clarifying thought, of course, but someone can make just as clear a point and be grammatically incorrect. And these errors can have a wonderful style all their own. How boring would it be if we all sounded and read the same (cf. contemporary fiction or Constance Garnett’s translations)!
I do, however, appreciate it when my grammatical errors are pointed out, even if I don’t change them. I would still be pronouncing Saint-Saëns as “SAINT SAY-ENS” rather than the correct “SAH-SAHHNS” if my bassoon teacher hadn’t corrected me. Thank God that he did. That’s why the only place it’s okay to correct grammar is when asked or when in the classroom.
Here endeth the rant.
i liketh.
I’m more likely to correct mispronounced words than grammatical errors, usually by using the word myself in the same conversation, and MAYBE throwing in an aside (“I think that’s how most people say it”). Occasionally, with the right friend and the right situation, I have corrected grammar–but it leaves me feeling in the wrong even when it’s well-received. Misused vocabulary is easier–you just pretend the person slipped up and accidentally used the wrong word, and say “oh, you mean [correct word]” and they either pretend they knew all along or they say “Oh, I always thought….” and you have an interesting conversation about it, but either way they don’t have to feel bad about it. (I guess this can depend on how badly it is misused/whether there is a similar correct word….)
A related question: When is it ok for a woman to tell another woman that she needs a more supportive bra?
That’s a fascinating question and I wonder do you mean in speaking or writing? It is especially, for outsiders moving into Appalachia, an important question to ponder. In my studies on Appalachian culture I ran across an impressive essay written by Michael Montgomery at the University of South Carolina entitled: Scotch-Irish Element in Appalachian English. How Broad? How Deep? Unfortunately in Southern Appalachia old speech has been minstaken for bad speech. I would hope if people had the chutzpah to correct someone’s spoken grammar, syntax, etc. anywhere they would know their cultural context first. When writing I think it’s always fair game.
Correcting thr grammar of someone to whom I am speaking just seems rude to me. Also, if someone has written a letter to me or an email, it still seems like I would be overstepping an unspoken rule that communication needs to be spontaneous. That would make correcting grammar seem out of place and innappropriate. As a teacher, if I am teaching proper English, whether written or spoken, then it would seem the only time that correcting mistakes might be acceptable. Even then, it might have a stilting effect on the author or speaker. Fluence would be sacrificed. So, in the end, correcting grammer, etc., might not be worth the risk in any setting. That’s just my take on the question.