The first three examples are things that have actually happened multiple times at multiple parties/gatherings - mostly in college, grad school, and the dozen or so years following. In all those cases, at least one person interrupted another person's story with a direct correction
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Interesting poll, B. I generally err on the side of saying nothing, if for no other reason than I find people passing on urban legends or misinformation ALL THE TIME. It's surprising just how often people misremember or just make stuff up. And folks who correct are often not that well-informed themselves. (And I say this as an academic, in a field in which folks theoretically are concerned about knowing things and getting it right.) Life is more like the game telephone than you'd think. :) M.
As to urban legends, I do find it interesting that, on some level, the entire point of the story is to be passed along as if true - or at least to be entertaining. Granted, when looked upon factually, it is still misinformation, I find the phenomenon fascinating
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When people mispronounce words that are rather well known it irks me but I don't generally correct people unless I know them well and the situation is one where they won't get offended. For example, with my niece, because she's in french school, sometimes she mispronounces english words she's not familiar with, so I'll correct her. On the other hand, I won't correct my mother because she gets annoyed (probably because we used to make fun of her as kids:[). If someone says something completely wrong (peroxide in drinking water wrong) I'll say something but like you, I use humour and/or try to be as subtle and nice about it as possible. I always strive for nice:)
We are very much alike, really. I cannot bear to hurt people's feelings. Also, I feel strongly that being bitchy about something is often counter productive. Seriously. When people rudely correct me or tell me how I should act/behave/think, I have this perverse urge to do just the opposite.
If someone is passing along an urban legend unknowingly, I'll let them know, but I'll be laid back about it. I rarely correct someone's pronunciation unless they're going to embarrass themselves at some later date, and I'll choose my time and place; I never correct someone in front of strangers or acquaintances.
I don't mind being corrected, but I'd prefer not to be interrupted, just as I wouldn't usually interrupt someone else. If it's a friend or immediate family member, I don't mind as much.
I'm with you about being interrupted. I feel it really disrupts the flow of conversation - even when someone else does it to another person in my presence. It's as if, at the moment, the whole focus shifts not to the storyteller's story, but to centering around the correction. For that reason, like you, I try not to say anything at the time.
And a huge "YES" to only correcting pronunciation when someone might embarrass themselves later. Besides, I've often found that there really are multiple, acceptable ways of pronouncing a a given word. My MIL once interrupted to to ask why I pronounced the "hematite" as I did and it turned out that my way was perfectly correct. Another time I suggested that "normalcy" was pronounced a certain way only to find out that it could be pronounced two ways. I felt really stupid.
Canadians have a more British pronunciation for some words and their very own take on some others. I never corrected anyone, thankfully, because I soon realized that how they were saying the word was the Canadian standard, and I was sounding wrong.
I think urban legends can be fun to listen to, especially to hear the perspective of multiple people who may have heard it. Hey, for that matter, I even like to tell them myself, knowing they're urban legends! What can I say? I'm Irish, so by nature, I'm a storyteller. I don't like to be the spoilsport who ruins everyone's fun.
I'm more apt to correct things like grammar and pronunciation, but I don't do it very often. I try to limit it to people I actually know because they tend to know that I mean well. I wouldn't feel comfortable having a stranger correct me, after all, so I try to stay out of it with strangers.
. I try to limit it to people I actually know because they tend to know that I mean well. I wouldn't feel comfortable having a stranger correct me, after all, so I try to stay out of it with strangers. EXACTLY
The funny thing about pointing out urban legends is that it almost defeats the purpose of the story being an urban legend. That is how they get develop in the first place, is it not?
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As to urban legends, I do find it interesting that, on some level, the entire point of the story is to be passed along as if true - or at least to be entertaining. Granted, when looked upon factually, it is still misinformation, I find the phenomenon fascinating ( ... )
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I don't mind being corrected, but I'd prefer not to be interrupted, just as I wouldn't usually interrupt someone else. If it's a friend or immediate family member, I don't mind as much.
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And a huge "YES" to only correcting pronunciation when someone might embarrass themselves later. Besides, I've often found that there really are multiple, acceptable ways of pronouncing a a given word. My MIL once interrupted to to ask why I pronounced the "hematite" as I did and it turned out that my way was perfectly correct. Another time I suggested that "normalcy" was pronounced a certain way only to find out that it could be pronounced two ways. I felt really stupid.
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I'm more apt to correct things like grammar and pronunciation, but I don't do it very often. I try to limit it to people I actually know because they tend to know that I mean well. I wouldn't feel comfortable having a stranger correct me, after all, so I try to stay out of it with strangers.
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The funny thing about pointing out urban legends is that it almost defeats the purpose of the story being an urban legend. That is how they get develop in the first place, is it not?
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