They walk among us. Those who would correct you on minor grammatical grievances. “Actually, it’s Mum and I, not Mum and me.” Giving you shit for ending a sentence with a preposition. Decimating you over your run-on sentences and improper use of the Oxford comma in office emails.
Now, you have reason to slight them. A study out of the University of Michigan (appropriately named ‘If You’re House Is Still Available, Send Me an Email’) found that those most likely to correct spelling and grammar errors in emails were those who “are less tolerant of deviations from convention.”
‘Less tolerant of deviations from convention’… hmm… you could probably say that with less words. Jerk? Arsehole? Those work. And these people would respect a little economy with language, right?
The study presented a group of 83 people with emails that contained either spelling or grammar errors, or no errors at all. Then they were invited to score the perceived intelligence of the sender. Those who considered themselves introverts and unresponsive to change were more likely to rate the sender as unintelligent.
We couldn’t possibly make the allegation that all people who slide into your Facebook posts to accuse you of contributing to the slow withering of the English language are the worst. We would never make that allegation. But the data supports it.
Source: Daily Dot.
Image: The Simpsons.
