One mistake I know that most grammar or spelling Nazis make is regarding wrong word/spelling mistake confusion. So, some guy writes “Your wrong,” which another picks on by saying they spelled it wrong. But they didn’t – they used the wrong word. Sometimes, though, it can be fun to play around with stuff. ie., I met a Texan awhile ago. I don’t know why, but he got upset when I asked him if he was in bread. Or, in real life, I met a guy from Minnesota. So I asked him if it ever got big if they’d call it Biggesota. Then there’s the one from Mississippi that I asked if she’d ever met Mr. Sippi.

I’m an English teacher. I also happen to be a writer with a degree in English literature and a minor in professional writing. So, this stuff is deeply ingrained. In no way do I consider myself an expert. So, when I run into others harping about those who have a greater challenge than they, it really bothers me. People communicate as best they can. It is better to seek after the meaning of what they’re trying to say and consider that rather than to discard it out of turn on the basis of a few mistakes.

“All be it” – oh, my goodness. I’ve never seen that one. I don’t think I want to!

I’m with you on the feeling that being a Grammar Nazi does not necessarily mean pointing out matters of style, Steven. I have no problem with someone starting a sentence with “But” or “And” if it’s a stylistic choice, for instance. In fact, it can often have more impact that way – much as it does in spoken language.

Second-language pickiness is downright nasty in my book. It’s so much better to pop the writer a note and some polite corrections if it’s an important document (such as an online resume) or just to leave it be if they’re writing for fun. Mean does not equal clever.

Also agree that it’s LOTS of fun spotting the Nazis’ mistakes… mwuhahaha!

One you can add to the pile for me: all be it -> albeit

There’s another one out there I see sometimes, but can’t recall what it is.

@suki: awhile is OK – http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/awhile?r=75

The trick to making spelling of these words a bit easier is to change your pronunciation of them. If you pronounce the words phonetically according to spelling, then learning to spell them correctly will become easier.

What I hate about grammar Nazis is when they go off on someone whose native tongue clearly is not English. Usually they’re easy to make fun of in turn, though, since they haven’t mastered their own language yet.

I also don’t like the way they assume that just because you don’t follow the standard set it means you lack mastery of it. For, I shall boldly write with my infinitive split if I so choose. It is not a rule that is broken, but rather a style chosen. A lot of grammar Nazis do not understand the difference between style and grammar.

I like to think of myself as a Nazi’s Nazi. When a Nazi starts going off on someone for grammar or spelling, I make an effort to find theirs. Sometimes it’s easy. ie., Deb’s article slamming certain kinds of applications because of spelling issues ended up having a your/you’re error highlighted in bold. It’s rare I can’t find something erroneous in a grammar or spelling Nazi’s work.

Cheers.

I’m highly prone to “independant” and “existance” myself, and am still not sure whether to use “inquiries” or “enquiries”. Spell check doesn’t seem to like the latter!