Do you correct people?
 

In real life, that is. Everybody does it online, so that doesn't count.

I don't do it, personally, but boy am I tempted sometimes. There are certain words I hear regularly that irritate me to no end (specifically "real-i-ty", "real-a-tor", and "jew-ler-y") and I really have to bite my tongue, but I still don't do it.

Also, do you want others to correct your grammar/pronunciation or does it piss you off? In my opinion, there's a big difference between someone politely pointing out to me that I've mispronounced something and someone pointing and laughing their head off in front of everyone. Honestly, I'd prefer that people nicely point out to me when I've pronounced something incorrectly or used incorrect grammar, because I'll remember it and never do it again, but I realize that some people can't stand to be corrected.

So, the two questions are:

1. Do you correct others, and if so, how do you go about it?

2. Do you appreciate being corrected or do you get embarrassed and angry?

I do correct people, but I'm all bashful about it when I do. Say someone uses the wrong word/pronunciation, I'll go something like "I think you mean [corrected word]". I'll correct them in such away as to sound like I'm not even sure myself, always slipping in "I think". Because hey it's a really tough word and I completely sympathise with you in terms of it's usage not being clear cut right or wrong.

It's ridiculous, but perhaps better than

"You're stupid, you're ugly, and you're Wrong. Thanks".

I find that having my monocle slip from its place and gasping is enough to stop whatever conversation is going on. After that, I twirl my top hat and cane while I recite errors and and their respective corrections. If the occasion warrants, I also break into a song and dance number.

Living in my particular area of the world one would clearly think that when the brains were handed out at birthtime the lord just wasn't concentrating on the job. Having said that, I find myself correcting pretty much everyone I have conversations with on a daily basis. I'm not too blunt about it, but I will just stop conversation to correct pronunciation at any point and move on.

However, you have to be real careful when this is done. With your friends it's OK to do this. You do it in a party where everyone is drunk and belligerent and all of a sudden it's like you're some kind of language Nazi who's sole purpose is to kill a buzz.

Fuck off. Perhaps if you'd paid attention in English instead of getting knocked up for the third time in the backseat of your man's lowrider I wouldn't be blowing your buzz.

I tend to correct others' pronunciation, but I only correct grammar if it's especially horrendous. I'd like for others to do the same favor for me, but politely. It sucks when someone uses your innocent mistake as an opportunity to ridicule you mercilessly. :(

People don't like being corrected, and they don't take the correction on board. It's a fool's errand, that won't yield any positive results, so I don't bother. You can keep correcting people until you're blue in the face, but most of the people you will be correcting just don't care.

I don't know about that. I can think of times when someone has corrected me or brought something to my attention and I was glad they did. Of course it's a little embarrassing, but they really just saving you from looking like a complete moron in the future. I guess it's all in the way it's done.

I was just thinking about my dad, though. He mispronounces SO MANY WORDS and my mom always corrects him as nicely as she can, but he still gets so mad. Also, he keeps mispronouncing the same words even after she has corrected him, so it's a total waste of time on her part. It's kind of funny.

I don't correct people much in real life, but they are allowed to correct me as I am insecure about my grammar at times. I only get mad if arrogant people correct you constantly but have nothing else to say.

You mean like what I do?

*I mean in real life, arrogant people that correct you personally. It's fine with me if you correct people in Mexico or wherever you live. =0

I don't directly correct others and not too frequently since they tend to say most things right. If I feel I have to correct someone, I'll try using said word in a sentence of my own which will be a follow or response to their sentence, and they always catch on. It's not a big deal though when pronunciation is ambiguous for certain words that aren't in the dictionary.

No one is straight up with me if I have anything to be corrected. They won't say "That's wrong, it's <X>!" I only remember being corrected once on the pronunciation of "Garou".

I live in California. :(

It has been my own experience that some people don't care about looking like a moron, whether it be now or in the future, and will invariably be displeased to be corrected, because a correction is of no value to them.

Your father sounds exactly like the kind of person who has discouraged me from ever offering corrections. I think it would be nice if we lived in a world where people generally were well-disposed to being corrected, and in which everyone strove to improve their grammar, but that's certainly not been the case in the majority of my experience.

Personally, I would prefer to be corrected when I make a mistake, especially if it is a factual error rather than a grammatical or syntactic mis-step. It's embarrassing, but it can add to my knowledge, or save me from future embarrassment, as you said. I just happen to find that I'm in a minority.

I don't correct people for grammar, but I like correcting them for spelling. Sure, people may hate being corrected, but if someone doesn't tell them they're spelling all these words wrong, they'll never learn. It sure helps them in the long run, as spelling is very important.

If someone corrects -me-, I'm cool with it, although I generally look up the word or, if I'm lazy, just add in a (sp?) after words I'm not too sure of. It keeps me covered.

I constantly correct people for spelling, grammar and misconceptions. The ones that piss me off the most are "would of", "could of", "should of", "definately" and "Slipknot are a great death metal band".

Although, I am constantly reprimanded for pronounciation due to the fact that so many of the words I use are words I've never heard used and only seen on paper/online.

I usually don't have to, but sometimes I'll hear a word mispronounced, and it will grate on my nerves a bit. Usually I'm worse at trying to supply someone with words when they're talking to me. If they pause as if they're searching for the right word, I'll start tossing out words to help them finish. I'm sure that must be kinda annoying sometimes.

I'm not making this up. On my way to the bank just a minute ago I was listening to the radio and the D.J. said "jew-le-ry." That has to be my all-time most hated mispronunciation. I had my cell phone in my hand getting ready to call the station and correct her, and then decided against it.

That's what I always do, because I'm afraid of pissing people off. =/

I can't stand when people mispronounce "nuclear" by saying "New-kew-lur" instead of "New-klee-ur"!!! (You've all heard this...) That's the only thing I'll correct... and EVERYBODY does that! Our own president, even... but then again, he isn't exactly the epitome of intelligence, anyway... I might say another word back in a sentence, or repeat it with the correct pronunciation in response, but I won't directly correct someone unless it's that word...

I try to avoid correcting people. It's rare you'll find someone who appreciates it, and if you don't know the person well, it pretty much guarantees the end of a conversation. But good lord, how I've been tempted. I used to somewhat know a person who would say things like "tooken," but I knew he'd flip out if I tried to tell him it was "took/taken." "Whom" is another I hear often, but it's so common that there's no point in bothering. Plus, I confuse its usage from time to time. I guess it's not just worth it. Even if the person does appreciate it, there's a high chance they'll continue making the mistake.

Being corrected pisses me off because in my own little world, I'm ALWAYS right. Immature, I know, but ususally the people correcting me just want to be better than me, which is something I will NOT let them do.

I correct people that I don't like. If I do like them I just think to myself, "IT'S [correct word]! YOU ASSHOLE!!!!"
If I don't like them at all, I just go ahead and say it.

My mother has recently started saying "anedocal" for "anecdotal." It makes me crazy, but...I have yet to summon up the nerve to correct my parents. I'm a good boy.

I am likely the opposite of what a normal, courteous person should be.

I will point out an error. Or more likely, I will dote on the error. "And I punched that number into the cackulator-"
"The what."
"The cackulator."
"I think the word is calculator."

I am usually appreciative of someone correcting me. One of my biggest fuck-ups is the word "pensive." Apparently, I say it wrong sometimes. I like constructive criticism. So long as it's not wicked mean.

When I correct people it's completely random and immediate. So, if somebody said (and this is a weak example because I can't think of anything else at the moment), "It ain't my fault," I would simply throw in, "It's not," correcting "It ain't." "How many times have you falled down?" "Fell."

Just like that. Half the time they don't catch it anyway, it seems.

Sometimes I'm very tempted to correct certain things, like saying 'Woof' for 'Wolf.' Also, my mother irritates the crap out of me when she mispronounces every Spanish word possible. I've finally trained her to not say 'Hal-a-PEE-no' for jalapeño, but she still has issues with the Spanish language. She embarasses herself at the grocery store where she works...there's a lot of Spanish speakers and products, so she has plenty of opportunity.

Not that I'm faultless in my Spanish, but aside from a basic inability to properly roll my 'rr's, I have the prounounciation correct.