Communication Breakdown?

There are times when people unintentionally use the wrong words. There are times when they use the right words, too. Now, there are people who use every opportunity to correct other people’s speech. This includes grammar, pronunciation, and word choice. Here are a few thoughts in this regard.

Whenever someone is talking, the purpose is to communicate something. Period. So, when someone misuses a word, or uses improper grammar, let’s try not to correct them if they are getting their point across. If, however, what they are saying is unclear, it is fine to politely ask for clarification. Sometimes this leads to them asking about their own misuse of speech. It is only at that point that it is acceptable to correct someone, with one exception…

When you are around someone who constantly corrects others’ speech, we often have a tendency to want to correct the person doing the correcting. We can do this by saying something to the person being corrected. Something to the effect of, “That’s okay, I knew what you meant, and that is what counts”. The main reason to do this is to make the person being corrected feel more at ease. The secondary reason is to gently remind the person doing the correcting that it is more important to get an idea across, than how it is made.

Of course, there are exceptions to this too. Maybe the person doing the correcting has knowledge of what the other person is talking about, and has to correct them to make sure the point is clear. This gray area may be okay. There are also times in a professional setting when someone who continually makes errors in their speech needs to be corrected. That is also okay.

After saying all that, I have to add that I kind of like being corrected. It helps me communicate better. Sometimes I realize my mistake right away, and correct myself. Sometimes I accept the correction without question. Other times, a correction causes me to investigate further, once again helping me improve my speech.

I will be the first to admit that there are probably several glaring grammatical errors in the above paragraphs. If there are, I apologize, and please let me know. Hopefully I was able to communicate my thoughts…Well?

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