Does anyone else have a freak out because of bad grammar?

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Incorrectly used grammar or spelling mistakes cause me to shake, pull my hair out and even have panic attacks. Is this unusual? It gets wore when the offending person is a figure of authority. I just need to point out their mistakes. People often misinterpret this as being rude when I am actually just trying to correct them and avoid further stress. Has anyone else experienced this?

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." - Socrates

Nocturne, since I copied this quote from you, I think it is fair to ask what you think Socrates would say about your preoccupation with other people's grammar?

No, I don't correct grammar. Its honestly different for each aspie as we have interest in different things. Sometimes I find it cute when my coworker uses broken english however its a cultural thing. It can take practice but eventually you can begin to work beyond it. If its your quirk then you may just have to embrace it and find people that accept this quirk about you.

A very good point. Going by this quote I think it is safe to assume that he would not agree with me. I agree with this also, And I wish I wasn't so preoccupied with grammatical mishaps.
Indeed, I know very little, yet in my mind I imagine Socrates giving me a cheeky little 'thumbs up'.

I don't have a panic attack or physical symptoms about it, but it does really annoy me and I have to put it right and it often stays in my mind for a while. I have sent faxes to people that have written to me pointing out their mistakes (grammatical, spelling, typos and factual errors) on quite a few occasions recently. I even tell people on the phone about errors in their letters.

I'm even embarrassed to admit that if I quote someone's post on WP I frequently can't resist correcting their mistakes in their quoted text before I type my response and post it.

It does anger me, but not to that extent. Everybody makes mistakes, and not everyone checks what they have just written ( including me. ) But I always want to point out the mistake.

I also have a t-shirt that mocks a common grammatical error, love that t-shirt.=D

As a non-native speaker of English, I am not absolutely confident with my grammar and spelling. However, I do find mistakes annoying, especially when the mistakes make it harder for me to read the text. I notice native speakers sometimes make mistakes in a way I would never do. For example, mixing up "there" and "their".

I don't correct them. I actually enjoy not telling people their mistakes. I just let them make the same mistakes until they correct themselves. My boss keeps saying (and even writing) "between [someone's name] and I". I just laugh about it.

Another reason for not pointing out other people's mistakes is because I might also be making mistakes sometimes and it would be embarrassing to point out their mistakes and to make mistakes myself.

I can deride myself for my own errors too. Finding other peoples' errors annoying doesn't guarantee not having them yourself! It's a bit like being annoyed by another Aspie's monologues when you monologue yourself

I used to, but it was made clear that my behavior in this regard sometimes amounted to bullying, so I stopped. I felt that it wasn't worth it to transfer my anxiety and discombobulation to someone else just to get rid of it.

I know it's hard to let those things slide, but it's probably worth it to try in many circumstances. My own rule is that as long as I can make sense of it, it's fine. And if I can't make sense of it, it's easier to ask "Could you rephrase that?" instead of trying to correct them.

Over time, it's become less of a thing for me, and I don't really notice a lot of it like I used to.

No, but I have known people to "freak out" when their bad grammar (spelling and punctuation, too) is corrected.

My God we are crazy!

I hate that people don't seem to know or care about how to spell, that it makes them look very uneducated and stupid, and when I make the occasional spelling or grammar error online I get so so humiliated I feel like my head will burst into flames! The only person besides me who has an even worse thing about it is my brother. He's always loved pointing out my faults, and one time I was so annoyed I started deliberately speaking broken English and used the word AIN'T!! ! *gasp and double gasp*

I don't get too bent out of shape over grammatical or spelling mistakes if there are only one or two in a paragraph. I certainly make my share of mistakes so I can't complain too much.

What does bother me a great deal is when the mistakes becomes so frequent or egregious that I have a hard time understanding what the person is trying to write or say. It's a bit like walking on a sidewalk and tripping over a broken section. It interrupts the natural flow of reading and makes me have to back track to understand the message.

I suppose I should be more forgiving. In my early twenties my grammar was so bad I could hardly communicate. I spent many years learning to write and, while my prose doesn't always flow smoothly, I try to communicate clearly and well. I can certainly understand that grammar can be quite difficult, but I guess I'm a bit like a person who has quit smoking; I become insufferable around people who have the bad habits I have worked to overcome.

Sometimes when I'm on this site I'm reminded that some of us are learning disabled and will present with bad grammar.

I once wrote a paper and the teacher said she has never seen so many grammar mistakes in her life on one sheet of paper.

Grammatical errors always make me cringe inside. However, I only correct people I know very well who I know actually care about improving their grammar. I don't like to look condescending or pretentious, especially because I realize that grammar and spelling are skills that not everybody has. I fail at lots of things. We all have strengths and weaknesses.

But due to the nature of this thread, I feel compelled to say...

The sentence I quoted above should read, "I wish I WEREN'T so preoccupied with grammatical mishaps." Past subjunctive.

Last edited by OddDuckNash99 on 14 Feb 2013, 8:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.