Follow-up post corrections annoy some people

June 22, 2004 1:46 PM

Followup post corrections in th reads. Theydrive me nuts. It takesawayfr om the point your tryingto make. People knowwhat your tryingtosay. It disrupts the flow of conversation. Mostpeople are not spelling/grammer nazis. It looks worse to correct it.
posted by stbalbach to etiquette/policy at 1:46 PM (60 comments total)

Followup post corrections in th reads.

That should be:

Follow up post corrections in threads
posted by stbalbach at 1:48 PM on June 22, 2004

knowwhat your tryingtosay.

oops..

that should have been:

"know what your trying to say"
posted by stbalbach at 1:49 PM on June 22, 2004

Oh, the irony...
posted by WolfDaddy at 1:50 PM on June 22, 2004

Doesn't bug me.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 1:51 PM on June 22, 2004

I also see
Theydrive
takesawayfr
tryingto
knowwhat
tryingtosay
Mostpeople

I think MeTa may be having a brain seizure.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:51 PM on June 22, 2004

Theydrive me nuts. It takesawayfr om the point your tryingto make.

aww damn..

"It takes away from the point your trying to make."
posted by stbalbach at 1:52 PM on June 22, 2004

Or, alternatively, perhaps you are. To the hospital, Batman!
posted by five fresh fish at 1:53 PM on June 22, 2004

Or maybe you're trying to prove a point through exageration.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:54 PM on June 22, 2004

::scratches head::

Woozle Wuzzle?
posted by BlueTrain at 1:54 PM on June 22, 2004

If so, let's also beef about people who post one-liners over and over. Muuuuwahahaha!
posted by five fresh fish at 1:55 PM on June 22, 2004

I think the irony is intentional, you know.

I agree with the point, too: posting corrections in the next comment is stupid, but you always see it in places where people can't edit their posts. It's because they think someone else will them out on their bad spelling or whatever if they didn't do it themselves -- and sometimes they're right.
posted by reklaw at 1:56 PM on June 22, 2004

I don't do it for you. I often do it for my own sanity, since I'm a bit of a stickler. I often have to resist the temptation to correct improper commas if I mess something like that up, but usually I'm ok.
posted by The God Complex at 1:56 PM on June 22, 2004

If you don't correct yourself, someone else will.
posted by pieoverdone at 2:04 PM on June 22, 2004

May I mumble dogface to the bananapatch?
posted by tr33hggr at 2:11 PM on June 22, 2004

What the fuck, Matt? (corrected grammar to follow)
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 2:13 PM on June 22, 2004

May I mambo dogface to the banana patch.
posted by sequential at 3:26 PM on June 22, 2004

Mostpeople are not spelling/grammer nazis.
What MetaFilter are you reading?
posted by dg at 3:36 PM on June 22, 2004

Surely you meant "speling/grammar Nazis" (note cap.)
posted by cbrody at 3:41 PM on June 22, 2004

what
posted by angry modem at 3:52 PM on June 22, 2004

/
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 4:21 PM on June 22, 2004

Shit, wrong key.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 4:21 PM on June 22, 2004

woo
doggie
posted by clavdivs at 5:05 PM on June 22, 2004

I think your ssupposed to cross the i's.
posted by Keyser Soze at 5:27 PM on June 22, 2004

disregard top post.

I think your ssupposed to cross the i's.
posted by Keyser Soze at 5:28 PM on June 22, 2004

GODDAMN KEYBOARD
posted by Keyser Soze at 5:28 PM on June 22, 2004

Mostpeople(sic) are not spelling/grammer(sic) nazis(sic).

More's the pity.
posted by rushmc at 5:32 PM on June 22, 2004

.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:16 PM on June 22, 2004

Surely you mean "I think you are ssupposed to cross the i's." don't you, Keyser?
posted by thatothrgirl at 7:57 PM on June 22, 2004

I honestly can't tell which of you don't get the original joke and which of you do but believe it to be even funnier to pretend that you don't. So, um, kudos!
posted by soyjoy at 8:45 PM on June 22, 2004

*pats soyjoy on head*
posted by WolfDaddy at 8:52 PM on June 22, 2004

I agree that it is unnecessary for people to correct their errors, but that slight sting you feel when you make a mistake? That's pride fucking with you, and it makes you want to correct your mistake toot sweet.
posted by vito90 at 9:41 PM on June 22, 2004

And an after-the-fact correction is trying to get the rubber onto pride after you're already fucked.
posted by soyjoy at 9:49 PM on June 22, 2004

That's pride fucking with you, and it makes you want to correct your mistake toot sweet.

THE FRANCOPHOBES ARE KILLING MEFI.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 9:58 PM on June 22, 2004

Ha. I was just thinking about this the other day. Should be "parents'."

Why don't we just have one massive thread where we can all post our corrections, so that if anyone wants to be a bi0tch about someone's mistake they can check there to see if it's been corrected?

I nominate this thread for that designation. It'll be the most ironic place on the internet!
posted by bitpart at 10:18 PM on June 22, 2004

GODDAMN KEYBOARD

Either I'm drunk or that's funny.
posted by David Dark at 11:56 PM on June 22, 2004

I agree with The God Complex and others. So long as other people are jumping on each other's errors, it is reasonable for someone to be able to correct their own. When I see someone do this, it doesn't detract from their point as I see it.

However, when I make an error and correct myself, it is usually because I haven't taken the trouble to proofread in the first place. I guess, if you're like me, and you're bothered when you make errors, it's a bit silly not to take the trouble to proofread, so in that respect I guess this thread does constitute a deserved slap on the wrist for me.
posted by nthdegx at 1:04 AM on June 23, 2004

I don't want to be corrected, and I am a bit of a sticker, and I do proofread but I still miss things sometimes, but mostly I'm afraid someone will mistake a grammar or spelling mistake for terminal stupidity on my part. I swear I'm smrt!
posted by jennyb at 5:20 AM on June 23, 2004

Lyre.
posted by i_cola at 5:53 AM on June 23, 2004

I know! An absurdly complicated technological fix will solve this sociological issue! Here goes: people should be able to edit their previous comments, but only by three characters. That lets you correct the stray comma or period, but doesn't let you disrupt the thread by drastically changing or deleting the full comment.

Unless you're really, really, really patient.
posted by ook at 6:24 AM on June 23, 2004

Simple solution: don't make mistakes. Like me.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 7:03 AM on June 23, 2004

speling/grammar Nazis

- I think you meant speling\grammer Nazis.
posted by johnnyboy at 7:23 AM on June 23, 2004

Simple solution: don't make mistakes. Like me.

Why would liking you have any bearing on this situation?

Or perhaps you're following the ironic nature of previous comments and meant us to lick you?

And I apologize in advance for this... nothing personal, and I'm doing it to make a point...

Or are you implying some parental failure?

::ahem::

OK, there is a point to this. People don't always know what you're trying to say. There is enough misunderstanding on MeFi, that any attempt to clarify a point should be met with respect rather than annoyance. Sure, most times the reader can parse through your verbiage to extrude your intended meaning, but other times...

and some of us are just looking for a way to misinterpret things... or we're drunk/tired/mentally deficient. You never know.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 7:26 AM on June 23, 2004

your mistake toot sweet

tout de suite? GODDAMN GLOBAL VILLAGE.

I skip errors [every place but here] and I expect others to skip mine. I'm more jarred by people posting "Where I said 'fuxxored', please insert 'fuxx0r3d'" on a whole new line than I am with the original error, whatever it was.
posted by jessamyn at 7:27 AM on June 23, 2004

MetaFilter -- Not Th Pirfect Place To Lurn English If Your A Forinner
posted by matteo at 7:29 AM on June 23, 2004

Sure, most times the reader can parse through your verbiage to extrude your intended meaning

Not when you use phrases like that. Also, using "through" with "parse" is redundant.

Still, good job using my largely useless comment to prove a very good point!
posted by DrJohnEvans at 7:41 AM on June 23, 2004

Simple solution: don't make mistakes. Like me.

When using a colon, always make sure the clause preceding it is in fact an independent clause, otherwise your sentence structure will be in violation of a very basic grammatical tenet.
posted by The God Complex at 8:03 AM on June 23, 2004

A valid point. Is the preceding clause independent? A full sentence usually depends upon a verb to express what is termed "a complete thought", but exceptions do exist. The most well-trodden example is the full sentence "Pizza, please"; this is a two-word construction which, although lacking a verb, expresses unambigiously the intent of the speaker. In the case of my earlier statement, what is the intent of "Simple solution"? It implies a proposed solution, allegedly simple, to the problem. However, this interpretation depends upon the summary mention of the solution itself, which is achieved via the colon. In this case, then, the clause would be dependent, and The God Complex has done a spot-on job of discovering this and determining my intention of irony by making a mistake in a statement which insists otherwise. Bravo!
posted by DrJohnEvans at 8:46 AM on June 23, 2004

people should be able to edit their previous comments, but only by three characters. That lets you correct the stray comma or period, but doesn't let you disrupt the thread by drastically changing or deleting the full comment.

Yeah, that would work.



not
posted by soyjoy at 10:24 AM on June 23, 2004

I actually kinda *like* the fact that people on Metafilter correct their posts.

Seriously.

I'm not kidding.

It shows me that they care. Or that they're fucking grammar Nazis. Either way, I like it.
posted by zpousman at 11:46 AM on June 23, 2004

<back on topic>

Oh, and kinda is not a word.

</back on topic>
posted by zpousman at 11:47 AM on June 23, 2004

So it is clear that Matt must build a grammar/punctuation/spelling tool into Metafilter. I expect to see a beta running on Friday.

Safari spell-checks as I type so most of my posts have no spelling errors [or missing spaces between words]. Grammar and punctuation errors are another story. I can read the preview over and over and never see a problem until after I've committed the post to the page. I've had this problem since the BBS days on my Atari 800.
posted by birdherder at 12:54 PM on June 23, 2004

Birdherder: how do you get Safari to automatically spell-check what you're typing? What version are you using?
posted by ChrisTN at 12:59 PM on June 23, 2004

M TT: M t f lt r st l my v w ls! D s m th ng, M tt! t's ll q ns r's f lt! r p rh ps y 'r t bl m ! J rk!
posted by ed at 1:58 PM on June 23, 2004

I'm running Safari 1.2.2 (v125.8). Edit->Spelling -> and check "check spelling as you type". You can also do that from a contextual menu when you've ctrl-clicked in the comment box.
posted by birdherder at 2:51 PM on June 23, 2004

I had no idea that was there...rock! Thanks.
posted by ChrisTN at 3:29 PM on June 23, 2004

I like to watch.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 10:59 PM on June 23, 2004

What's this about Tori Spelling and Kelsey Grammer being Nazis?
posted by arto at 12:00 PM on June 24, 2004

Eat, Shoot, & Leave This!
posted by Shane at 1:51 PM on June 24, 2004

Thank you for that, shane. So much more cathartic that the New Yorker version. (WARNING: Starts off great; will have you scratching your head and/or snoring by last few paragraphs)
posted by soyjoy at 2:01 PM on June 24, 2004

Whoops. "Shane," I mean. I was getting you confused with shane-a-gogo. All apologies.
posted by soyjoy at 2:01 PM on June 24, 2004