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How pedantic are you? :)
6 years agoHi learners and fellow teachers. How pedantic are you? Do other people find your insistence on "correctness" annoying?
This time last week I was hanging out with a friend of mine, George, who was born and grew up in London (England), and who (on social media) commonly spells the word "went" w-h-e-n (as in "I when to work early in the morning"). I had to tell George that his spelling is appalling. We had a laugh about it. I doubt he'll change his ways (...just as I won't be changing my own pedantic ways, either, frankly very much :) )
And my (Spanish) wife is often using the verb "haber" in the (non-existent, because that verb is impersonal) plural form, such as "Habian muchos coches en la calle" - correct version "Habia muchos coches...". Of course, I bite my tongue most of the time, but sometimes I just feel I have to "help" her out with this, her only grammar weakness. I mean, she's so close to linguistic perfection, it'd be a pity not to give her support in this important matter - right?
And then just yesterday a Verbling friend of mine quoted native-Spanish speakers as saying, on social media "Qué golaso, hjpt!" (which, of course, should be "golazo").
I mean, in all fairness, there are, for sure, plenty of everyday examples of native speakers using their own language "incorrectly"; and we'd just have no time for anything else if we went around trying to keep each other in check all the time. But I, nonetheless, am proud to be a pedant (the original meaning of "pedant", btw, is "tutor, teacher" :) ), and so I am unshy about being pedantic as often as I can get away with it without annoying folks too much.
How about you? Are you a pedant? Do you usually manage to get the balance right between being helpful and supportive rather being an annoying, irritating twit?
