When you quote someone on the board...do you correct their spelling?

[Tap]

If you quote someone, do you take the time to correct their spelling in the quoted portion?

Edited October 28, 2011 by Tap, tap, tap

[mommaduck]

I have once or twice, but only because it was driving me crazy. There are times when a person complains about another person's ignorance in their life, but their grammar or spelling is so awful, the combination just drives me bonkers. Correcting helps me focus on the topic and stay sane.

[Jan in SC]

Not on purpose, but I do everything from my iPhone and it changes random things an makes it difficult to edit, too.

[TKDmom]

It takes all my self-control not to do it. :D But I only correct it if the misspelling makes it really hard to understand what they were saying. Like once someone asked me a question and I had no idea what they meant, until I realized that they had typed one letter wrong. So I fixed it in the quote before answering the question (I also noted that I had fixed it and to correct me if I misunderstood their meaning). Normally, I exercise restraint because I want to preserve the integrity of a direct quote.

Edited October 28, 2011 by bonniebeth4
clarification

[Cheryl in NM]

Nope, then it's not a direct quote. I even have mis-givings about bolding part of their quote. If I do, I note it in my post.

 

I also hate cutting their quote apart, but it's difficult to respond to portions of a quote if you don't either cut it or bold it.

[Ester Maria]

NO.

 

I do not recommend doing it, no matter how much it irritates you. You are NOT supposed to alter the quoted part of the text in any way, it is like manipulating with somebody else's words. Even if you bold something to focus on that part, it is generally recommendable to write something like "bold emphasis mine" afterwards when you exit the quote. If you snip a part of the quote, MARK that you snipped it in order not to create the "flow" which was not there (put [...] or something, or just quote each time only the specific part you are referring to, not the whole quote), as though the person was stating A and immediately afterwards C, without B which you snipped out.

 

I can understand that misspellings can irritate people, but in principle, you should really not alter what other people wrote. If it irritates you so much, find a way to use that word in your response the proper way, or just communicate your irritation to the other person. (I personally always accept corrections, though I think I generally butcher your syntax more than spelling.) But no altering quotes. Quote only what the other person actually wrote.

 

ETA: I cannot swear that I absolutely never did it, but I really prevent myself if I notice the urge to alter stuff.

Edited October 28, 2011 by Ester Maria

[Parrothead]

I have twice, but I do try to not correct spelling/grammar mistakes.

[justamouse]

I want to. If I know them well enough, yes, I just clickity click and correct it. :D

 

I would HOPE that people would do the same for me! I'm a pretty good speller, I'm a wretched typist.

[mrs.m]

I did one time because the OP that I quoted corrected the error after I quoted. I didn't want it to look like I changed it to have a typo. ;)

[Audrey]

If you quote someone, do you take the time to correct their spelling in the quoted portion?

 

 

No, I consider correcting someone's spelling when quoting them to be the equivalent of walking up to someone and styling their hair without asking, i.e. rude.

[MinivanMom]

NO.

 

I do not recommend doing it, no matter how much it irritates you. You are NOT supposed to alter the quoted part of the text in any way, it is like manipulating with somebody else's words. Even if you bold something to focus on that part, it is generally recommendable to write something like "bold emphasis mine" afterwards when you exit the quote. If you snip a part of the quote, MARK that you snipped it in order not to create the "flow" which was not there (put [...] or something, or just quote each time only the specific part you are referring to, not the whole quote), as though the person was stating A and immediately afterwards C, without B which you snipped out..

 

:iagree:

 

It sort of seems like an ethical issue to me. If I'm quoting someone, then I need to quote them accurately. I don't correct their spelling and grammar, edit it in a way that changes the meaning, or quote them out of context.

[LibraryLover]

My fantasy is that people would fix my 'typos' when quoting me. ;) Don't change the syntax or grammar, but go ahead with the spelling. Be my editor, please. I always notice my misspellings or typos after I hit send . It's the main reason I edit my posts. ;)

 

Now with 'autocorrect' it is even worse!

[jplain]

I do edit when it's clearly a typo, like a letter missing: forunately, textbok, etc.

Those aren't misspellings. Those are mis-typings. They are unrelated to the author's meaning.

 

Misspellings I try to leave alone. I don't always succeed. ;)

[ThreeBlessings]

Wouldn't do it. I often mistype and need to go back and edit, but it is because I'm trying to quickly type out something in my few spare minutes and often check for mistakes in my next few spare minutes, lol. I'm actually an excellent speller and I will look up the rare word I am unsure of spelling before I type. Typing, however, eh, I make mistakes all the time. It totally wouldn't cross my mind to correct someone's grammar on an online forum. I just don't consider this so formal that super correct grammar would be required, more along the lines of friendly banter. I know some people are very bothered by grammar/spelling. We all have our pet peeves, this isn't one of mine. :tongue_smilie:

[Perry]

I do edit when it's clearly a typo, like a letter missing: forunately, textbok, etc.

Those aren't misspellings. Those are mis-typings. They are unrelated to the author's meaning.

 

Misspellings I try to leave alone. I don't always succeed. ;)

:iagree:

 

I did that today, for the first time ever. It was obviously a typo. Sorry if I offended anyone.:001_huh:

[gardenmom5]

I have once or twice, but only because it was driving me crazy. There are times when a person complains about another person's ignorance in their life, but their grammar or spelling is so awful, the combination just drives me bonkers. Correcting helps me focus on the topic and stay sane.

:iagree: I generally don't, but if it is so distracting to me I can't focus on the question, I just go ahead and correct it.

[gardenmom5]

My fantasy is that people would fix my 'typos' when quoting me. ;) Don't change the syntax or grammar, but go ahead with the spelling. Be my editor, please. I always notice my misspellings or typos after I hit send . It's the main reason I edit my posts. ;)

 

Now with 'autocorrect' it is even worse!

 

I read a writers forum. Their motto? "spell check is NOT your friend."

[Farrar]

I think that would be pretty rude.

 

Most of the time it's just an obvious typo or they've forgotten a comma or something. If I can read it, so can everyone else. I mean, this is not anyone's thesis paper - it's an online message board.

[Tammyla]

:iagree:

 

NO.

 

I do not recommend doing it, no matter how much it irritates you. You are NOT supposed to alter the quoted part of the text in any way, it is like manipulating with somebody else's words. Even if you bold something to focus on that part, it is generally recommendable to write something like "bold emphasis mine" afterwards when you exit the quote. If you snip a part of the quote, MARK that you snipped it in order not to create the "flow" which was not there (put [...] or something, or just quote each time only the specific part you are referring to, not the whole quote), as though the person was stating A and immediately afterwards C, without B which you snipped out.

 

I can understand that misspellings can irritate people, but in principle, you should really not alter what other people wrote. If it irritates you so much, find a way to use that word in your response the proper way, or just communicate your irritation to the other person. (I personally always accept corrections, though I think I generally butcher your syntax more than spelling.) But no altering quotes. Quote only what the other person actually wrote.

 

ETA: I cannot swear that I absolutely never did it, but I really prevent myself if I notice the urge to alter stuff.

 

No, I consider correcting someone's spelling when quoting them to be the equivalent of walking up to someone and styling their hair without asking, i.e. rude.

 

:lol:Oh...my...gosh....too funny.:lol:

[stephanier.1765]

REALLY???? Correcting someone's spelling or grammar when quoting them has never crossed my mind. I'm flabbergasted that so many people do it or think about doing it! :lol:

 

:iagree: It never even crossed my mind. And until this thread, it never occurred to me that anyone would even think to do it.

[Splinter]

I don't think I've quoted anyone on this forum, but on the other forums I frequent, I generally don't. The only times I do it is when a link or image isn't posted correctly, or if it's a glaring mistake that I know they'd like to fix. I also PM the poster to let them know. For simple typos or misspellings that don't affect readability, I leave it.

[8circles]

NO.

 

I do not recommend doing it, no matter how much it irritates you. You are NOT supposed to alter the quoted part of the text in any way, it is like manipulating with somebody else's words. Even if you bold something to focus on that part, it is generally recommendable to write something like "bold emphasis mine" afterwards when you exit the quote. If you snip a part of the quote, MARK that you snipped it in order not to create the "flow" which was not there (put [...] or something, or just quote each time only the specific part you are referring to, not the whole quote), as though the person was stating A and immediately afterwards C, without B which you snipped out.

 

I can understand that misspellings can irritate people, but in principle, you should really not alter what other people wrote. If it irritates you so much, find a way to use that word in your response the proper way, or just communicate your irritation to the other person. (I personally always accept corrections, though I think I generally butcher your syntax more than spelling.) But no altering quotes. Quote only what the other person actually wrote.

 

ETA: I cannot swear that I absolutely never did it, but I really prevent myself if I notice the urge to alter stuff.

:iagree:Totally.

[PinkInTheBlue]

No, I consider correcting someone's spelling when quoting them to be the equivalent of walking up to someone and styling their hair without asking, i.e. rude.

 

:iagree: I agree with how you word things so often. :)

[Spock]

I actually misunderstood the question. For some reason I was thinking dry erase board/chalk board, not message board. If I use a quote from a book for some purpose (grammar analysis, diagramming, copywork, dictation, etc), I do correct obsolete spelling. I don't want my students (my own children or Sunday School or whatever) to be distracted by archaic or incorrect spelling, nor do I want them to learn errors. So, I voted that I always correct spelling/punctuation errors.

 

I almost never correct errors on message boards. It is almost as bad as posting a comment about the person's error instead of responding to what was said. (My older sons do participate in boards where commenting on grammar/vocabulary/spelling seems to be a hobby, but those boards have a very different atmosphere.)

[Mommy22alyns]

I want to so badly sometimes, but I would never actually do it!

[Cassy]

No, I consider correcting someone's spelling when quoting them to be the equivalent of walking up to someone and styling their hair without asking, i.e. rude.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Poor spelling doesn't even irritate me at all, sometimes it can amuse me, but mostly I'm more interested in what the person is trying to communicate.

[LauraGB]

No, but I sure wish people would do it for me - I hate seeing my own monster spelling mistakes repeated.

[susankenny]

No, but not for ethical reasons. I'm just too lazy and have never really thought of it honestly. If I misspelled something and someone corrected it in their quote, I wouldn't even notice it probably (and if I did, it wouldn't bother me at all). But if someone started rewriting my sentences or something - that would be weird. It would probably tick me off.

 

 

Susan

[scrappyhappymama]

I do edit when it's clearly a typo, like a letter missing: forunately, textbok, etc.

Those aren't misspellings. Those are mis-typings. They are unrelated to the author's meaning.

 

Misspellings I try to leave alone. I don't always succeed. ;)

 

:iagree: I occasionally fix typos, but only if it is very obvious and material to the meaning of the quote. I feel badly ~not~ correcting them, as if by quoting them I am intentionally trying to highlight their mistake.

 

I would never have considered this to be rude. Now, quoting someone to point out their grammatical errors? Yes, rude. Quoting them and then using the misspelled word correctly in my response? Also passive-aggressively rude, in my opinion. In fact, I'll usually try to find another word to use, or just avoid quoting them altogether in this situation.

 

Of course "corrections" that alter the meaning of the quote itself would be completely unethical. But I don't think that's the situation the poll is addressing.

[Rosie_0801]

Only if it is something like "teh" instead of "the," because I figured it would annoy them to have a typo quoted. I didn't imagine anyone would find that offensive, because everyone knows how to spell "the" so it couldn't be a mistake of ignorance. Speaking of those, I only trained myself to spell restaurant properly last year. :001_huh:

 

Rosie

[Stacia]

NO.

 

I do not recommend doing it, no matter how much it irritates you. You are NOT supposed to alter the quoted part of the text in any way, it is like manipulating with somebody else's words.

 

...

 

If it irritates you so much, find a way to use that word in your response the proper way, or just communicate your irritation to the other person.

 

It sort of seems like an ethical issue to me. If I'm quoting someone, then I need to quote them accurately. I don't correct their spelling and grammar, edit it in a way that changes the meaning, or quote them out of context.

 

Yes. Exactly.

[higginszoo]

Only if it's if they're composing an email or letter and asking, 'How does this sound?' In that case, I'll go through and correct, usually in a different color, assuming that if they're sending it out, they probably want to make sure that it's corrected for grammar and spelling as well as typos.

[Daisy]

Well, I'm letting you all know right now if you quote me and I misspelled something, PLEASE correct it. Mostly likely I went back and corrected it in my original post because I cannot stand typos, and I'll be disturbed by having to see my own typo repeated ad nauseam in everyone's quotes.

 

So fix away! :lol: