Study says those who call out grammatical errors are in fact scientifically 'jerks'

[Liberal_in_LA]

Study says those who call out grammatical errors are in fact scientifically 'jerks'



Everybody knows the world's worst people are the ones who never miss an opportunity to explain the difference between who and whom. Those "friends" who are pretending to be policing spelling and grammar for the sake of posterity are probably just flexing for attention, or so it seems to everyone they're interrupting.
As a study from the University of Michigan recently found, those people aren't just annoying, they're also apparently huge jerks.

The study looked at the way both introverted and extroverted people reacted to typos within emails, and deduced that those who were less socially-inclined tended to "judge the person who makes such errors more negatively."


For the experiment, 83 subjects were asked to peruse email responses for a roommate ad. Some contained no errors, but others had been altered to include simple common errors. For example, in some, "about" might have been written "abuot," and in other instances, "their" and "there," or "you're" and "your" might have been swapped incorrectly.

After subjects had looked over the emails, they were questioned first as to whether or not they noticed the emails, and if they had responded "Yes," they were asked to expand upon their answer.

As researchers found, those were surveyed to be "less agreeable" were most bothered by the errors, while those who surveyed as having a "more agreeable" personality tended to overlook typos.

"Agreeability was the only personality trait to have a main effect on the Housemate Scale," the study read. "Participants who tested as more agreeable on the BFI [Big Five Personality Index] tended to rate the paragraphs more positively overall than participants who tested as less agreeable."
http://m.sfgate.com/news/article/Study-says-those-who-call-out-grammatical-errors-7221146.php

[elleng]

1. Did they define 'huge jerks?'

[MrScorpio]

2. Not just that, but the person who proofread Hitler's speeches was literally a "Grammar Nazi." nt

[beergood]

37. lol good one

tell me you've seen this vid.

[SheilaT]

3. So wanting others to use correct grammar

makes one a jerk?

What does that make the idiots who haven't a clue about correct grammar or usage?

[Cartoonist]

4. Stupid jerks. nt

[Deadshot]

40. What you consider "correct grammar" is actually called prescriptive grammar.

The only true correct grammar is the grammar of one individual, no one else.

I learned that in my Theory of Second Language Acquisition class, a graduate-level class in my TESL program.

[Straw Man]

52. Yeah, well ...

The only true correct grammar is the grammar of one individual, no one else.

I learned that in my Theory of Second Language Acquisition class, a graduate-level class in my TESL program.

That may well be true in a theoretical sense, but in a practical sense it's useless unless the only person with whom you wish to communicate is yourself.

Capital-letter academic Theory aside, grammar is a social constuct, and its "correctness" varies according to the social group to whose norms one aspires.

[Logical]

53. I find most grammar Nazis are assholes. Arrogant. Nt

[SheilaT]

56. Everyone who would really like others to use

correct grammar (and word usage) aren't all grammar Nazis.

Honest.

[bemildred]

5. "Jerk" is not a scientific term. This is thinly disguised bullshit.

Or perhaps a magnificent troll.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. "Jerk" is a scientific term.

It's the rate of change of acceleration over time. Acceleration is the rate of change of speed over time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerk_(physics)#Acceleration_a.2C_magnitude_of_the_second_derivative

Science.



Or, a jerk can be a magnificent troll, a grammar nazi, a science nazi, etc

[bemildred]

26. Jerk, as used in the OP, is slang. nt

[mainer]

6. True jerks like telling you your grammar stinks

Being silently judgmental doesn't rise to the level of being a jerk.

[skepticscott]

21. The observation is not about "grammar" per se

But what the inability to use language correctly indicates on a broader scale.

[mainer]

25. It's OK to observe and privately draw conclusions. People do it all the time.

Jerks are the ones who respond to your emails with a list of corrections to your grammar.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

28. True jerks like telling you your gramma stinks

What a difference a letter makes.

Lets face it, grandmothers always seem to have a sweet odor about them. Except my great-grandmother, who smelled of chewing tobacco. ("Go give g-ma a kiss goodbye...&quot

[Lucky Luciano]

7. I think you missed a couple commas in the subject header of the OP. nt

[Android3.14]

8. Lack of social inclination is not being a jerk

Ask a person dealing with autism.

[tomm2thumbs]

9. shouldn't there be a period after 'jerks' ?

[Mister Ed]

10. Interesting. The test subjects actually didn't "call out" the grammatical errors.

They merely admitted, upon direct questioning, that they had noticed the errors.

Perhaps a subsequent study might find that those who readily notice common errors of addition and subtraction when they scan a page of calculations have disagreeable personalities as well.

[Human101948]

11. Survey shows that those with bad grammar are losers...

The website's findings indicate that nearly half of the 9,000 singles polled (48 percent) consider grammar to be a deal breaker in online dating. News flash: it's time to up your texting game!

It's true that the stats vary between genders: 60 percent of men wouldn't let grammar get in the way of pursuing a date, but 65 percent of women would.

But it seems almost everyone can agree on one thing: Basic spelling errors are an issue.

The majority of singles who participated in the study — a whopping 72 percent, in fact — reported that they're "turned off" by blatant spelling errors.

http://www.today.com/health/can-your-awesome-grammar-really-get-you-date-according-new-t77376

[mainer]

12. I will say that people who like to correct others are definitely jerks

Professional grammarians admit that those among them who delight in writing to novelists about grammatical errors are the most obnoxious people on earth.

http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2008/03/05/elite-grammarians-try-out-of-touch-pedants/

[Human101948]

13. Study shows that bad grammar hurts businesses...

The report analyzed 20,000,000 sentences pulled from 150,000 web pages for 340 global companies, and found only 31 percent of the brands exceeded an “impact score” of 72 or higher – with the remaining 69 percent of companies earning below Acrolinx’s target score.

“To assess a company’s grammar usage, we examined its content against best practices for standard grammar conventions then calculated how many errors it contained on average per 1,000 words,” says Acrolinx.

To drive home the importance of quality content, Acrolinx referenced a 2013 UK poll conducted by Global Lingo that reported 74 percent of survey participants said they noticed the quality of spelling and grammar on company websites, with 59 percent claiming they would not use a company whose site included poor grammar.

http://marketingland.com/is-poor-grammar-killing-your-content-marketing-study-says-69-of-brands-fail-to-make-the-grade-123573

[joeybee12]

14. Um, "those were surveyed"...should be "those who were surveyed"

[Human101948]

17. Bad grammar can ruin your career...

Professionals with fewer grammar errors in their profiles had achieved higher positions. The profiles of those who’d failed to achieve director-level positions within the first 10 years of their careers made 2.5 times as many grammar mistakes as their director-level colleagues.
Fewer grammar errors correlate with more promotions. Professionals with 6-9 promotions made 45% fewer grammatical errors than those who’d been promoted 1-4 times.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/03/11/report-how-grammar-influences-your-income/#4ca731cfa2bb

Yes, bad grammar does make you seem stupid.

[joeybee12]

34. I'm actually amazed at work the poor grammar

on official documents and correspondence...not really just at this job, but at all companies I work for...

[hopemountain]

15. several posters have put me

on ignore because i post in all lowercase. there is a deep reason for this practice but there is no time to waste explaining to jerks. peace.

[Mister Ed]

20. Their loss. If I had ignored those who write only in lower case...

...I would never have experienced the works of e.e. cummings.

[hopemountain]

23. thank you...

[annabanana]

35. I also tend to lowercase more

often than not.. prob just because I'm lazy though.. no complicated or legitimate reason.

[postulater]

16. Ha! April Fuels joke.

Gud won! 😊

[Human101948]

18. Whether intended as a joke or not...

people here are proudly defending their bad grammar.

[AgerolanAmerican]

30. in defense

my grammer did have a pretty bad childhood

[postulater]

48. I quit trying to address the grammar issues.

And I usually am Monk-ish about a crooked picture on the wall.

Ever since auto-correct, voice-to-text dictation transcription, mobile keyboards, and English-as-a-second-language speakers.

Sometimes it changes the context and makes the message different from intended. Usually it just clunks in my head and reminds me to forgive the writer for whatever reason.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

19. "then" drives me fucking nuts. I don't call it out but I am scientifically a jerk, in real life!

[iandhr]

22. They can also be very funny

[treestar]

43. Lol

[rock]

27. I think it's sorta nice

To tell one if they've used an incorrect expression.

[PersonNumber503602]

39. I agree!

Although it really depends on if the person issuing the criticism is doing it in a constructive way or just being a jerk about it.


A) OMG I AM GOING TO IGNORE EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID, BECAUSE YOU SPELLED "YOUR" WRONG ONE TIME, EVEN THOUGH YOU USED THE VARIATIONS CORRECTLY IN EVERY OTHER CASE. YOUR SO STUPID YOU PROBABLY DON'T SEE THE IRONY IN THIS. YOU'RE MESSAGE IS IRRELEVANT AND YOUR MOTHER HAS ALWAYS REGRETTED GIVING BIRTH TO YOU.

vs

B) I have noticed that you continue to use the word "your" when you should be using "you're". Here's a link to an article that might clear up the difference. You're welcome! By the way, your mother adores you and has never regretted giving birth to you.

[rock]

41. Well put!

And welcome!

[Logical]

55. A or b are arrogant as hell. And condescending. Wow. Nt

[PersonNumber503602]

57. hehehe

Well, 'B' wasn't meant to be at first, but I have problems with not being an arrogant jerk. I'm not even gooder then the average peoples when it comes two speling and grammer. In fact, I'm pretty sure I suck at it. So I appreciate it when people point out my blatant errors in a constructive manner.

[Deadshot]

42. It's pretentious and rather annoying.

[rock]

47. Nope

Although you're post was. Welcome to DU.

[Logical]

54. i don't think I would enjoy your company. Nt

[rjsquirrel]

29. That looks like very serious science... Not

As a science professor I laugh hard at social psychology when it pretends to the certainty of "science." Do you know how much scandal there is over the non-replicatability of such research? As in almost none of it can ever be replicated? The definition of variables is already random and biased. The controls are a joke. Personality scales and the like have a long history of pseudoscience behind them.

So no, "science" didn't really find out anything here.

And good spelling and grammar remain important for civil and clear discourse.

In a way, sort of everything that's wrong with America is summarized in a mandate to be nice to uneducated morons with bad English and worse ideas. If you can't write a decent sentence you can't think about complex subjects. You are in Trump's "poorly educated" class. And he loves you. A stirring defense of ignorance in the name of civility is the definition of Idiocracy.

TLDR: get a brain MORANS.

[Albertoo]

31. The title of this thread contains one grammatical error.

The sentence

Study says those who call out grammatical errors are in fact scientifically 'jerks'

should end with a full stop.

[MattSh]

32. What does that make people who don't use this?

Yeah, it doesn't catch everything, but it's clear that some people couldn't even take the time to use it...

[Flyingbird5066]

33. I thought Rubio was a jerk when he corrected trump's texting grammar

What kind of a loser corrects texting grammar?

[PersonNumber503602]

36. There are differences between typos and simply not knowing how to spell

If someone is constantly misspelling a word because they do not know the difference between something like "than" and "then", that's not the same as an occasional tyop. I personally welcome it when someone points out recurring errors on my part. That's assuming the person doing the "correcting" is doing it to be helpful though.

[ornotna]

38. If this wasn't a double blind study

Then at best what we have here is a SWAG.

[Deadshot]

44. There's a lot of hurt over this article.

Devil's Advocate:

Is it really important if people spell words correctly or use proper grammar in a roommate ad? "Correct" grammar (which is actually called prescriptive grammar) isn't important in an informal setting. It's only important in formal situations, such as speaking to a supervisor at work, writing a technical report, or addressing a professor. It's not important in informal situations, such as talking among friends, texting, or social media.

It used to drive me wild when people would use the incorrect form of "they're", "their", or "there" on social media, but I've learned to shrug it off. Now it only drives me nuts when I see it in more formal situations, such as news articles or research papers.

Something I've learned in my graduate-level linguistic courses: the only correct grammar is the grammar of one individual.

[Johonny]

45. I like when a study matches up with my life experiences :)

[noamnety]

46. I don't care if it makes me a jerk or not -

I'm still annoyed that nobody acknowledged my grammar call-out over here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511616857

[awoke_in_2003]

49. I wish I could remember the rules

on who and whom.

[kentauros]

50. "American English carnival slang, of -uncertain origin.-"

jerk (n.2)
"tedious and ineffectual person," 1935, American English carnival slang, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from jerkwater "petty, inferior, insignificant" {Barnhart, OED}; alternatively from, or influenced by, verbal phrase jerk off "masturbate" {Rawson}. The lyric in "Big Rock Candy Mountain," sometimes offered as evidence of earlier use, apparently is "Where they hung the Turk {not jerk} that invented work."

Why yes, I am a word-nerd

[2pooped2pop]

51. Lol sew perfect

Eye totally agree.

[Darb]

58. Am I a jerk if I.....

politely correct those that I believe would want to be speaking correctly? And leave those that like to waller in their own ignorance the hell alone to do so?

[Orrex]

59. I fel the same wae abowt speling