What is the etiquette on highlighting incorrect words in posts?
As formal writing declines and English becomes more of a spoken language than a written language I increasingly come across posts on forums (fora?) and in social media that use a word which might sound correct when spoken but is incorrect, or even contradictory, when written. A couple of examples are writing "off course", not going the way it should, when you mean "of course", going exactly the way it should, or writing "except", ruling something out, instead of "accept", ruling something in.
I know the intended meaning is usually clear from the context and also that it is completely unacceptable to shame or ridicule someone for a perceived mistake. I also know, having spent my working life corresponding on litigation, that I am particularly sensitive to the issue, although not myself immune from making mistakes. However, ignoring the issue feels like complicity in the decline of written communication when an intervention would be a small step in arresting that decline and might even be useful to the author.
So, is it acceptable to politely suggest why the wrong word has been chosen and why another word might be correct, or is a letter to The Times signed "Outraged of Tunbridge Wells" a more appropriate response.
The wisdom and guidance of the elders of the Beta community would be most welcome on this thorny issue.
