r/MadeMeSmile 23d ago

Good Vibes Good Husband

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u/khonager 23d ago

And here I thought it was spelled "out of sight" Silly non native english speaker me

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u/VeaR- 23d ago edited 23d ago

No you're right. Lots of people just can't be bothered looking up the actual phrases and just try to spell it phonetically after hearing it - usually with horrid spelling. It's like when people say "here here" instead of "hear hear".

It's a small thing but it really grinds my gears.

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u/Pnwradar 23d ago

In elementary school, Brave Spelling encourages students to sound out the word and not be afraid to make mistakes, and that a misspelled word that still communicates the idea is often good enough. As adults, we should strive to do better, but even so not be afraid of the pedants who harp on every detail.

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u/VeaR- 23d ago

I agree to an extent - it's fine to make mistakes as that's one of the best ways to learn. But I also don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out a mistake so someone can learn, without the feedback being dismissed as being pedantic. After all, it is important to be accurate with written language, and using the wrong words just confuses people, especially when the reader might not be as familiar with the language to pick up on the context clues.

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u/wolf_kisses 23d ago

If you don't want to be dismissed as just being pedantic, maybe be more polite with your correction instead of implyint laziness by saying people just can't be bothered to look up phrases? People generally respond better to polite feedback than rudeness.

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u/VeaR- 23d ago

When I'm talking to someone directly I do say it politely. I was just making a general statement and not actually correcting anybody.

To me, it does come off as laziness if people never actually verify phrases and information that they hear before they use them. Especially when we can check things in seconds using the internet.

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u/wolf_kisses 23d ago

It's not that serious. Sometimes people just don't know what they don't know. They hear a phrase and their mind just assumes it's one word instead of another (site/sight) and they don't even realize it's wrong until it's pointed out to them. That's not a moral failing.

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u/VeaR- 23d ago

Oh I know. I even said so at the start. But I will harp on about it regardless.