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Wondered what the heck I was talking about, din't you? A co-worker frequently uses the phrase "coming to fruition" - only she says "fruitation." Which drives me crazy. I've tried using it correctly in front of her, but I'm convinced she doesn't even hear the difference. Question: Is it a kindness to take her aside and tell her she's got it wrong? Or is it picking nits and something I should grin and bear?
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I'm with Max. It must be done! (I really should enrol in Nit-Picker's Anonymous, I know. Just can't fight it. It's like my aversion to apostophe misuse - don't get me started on THAT one!  )
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I disagree to some degree about correcting the speech of co-workers. It really depends upon your relationship with the co-worker. If the person has a testy temperament, I wouldn't say a word. There are a lot of other considerations, too. Speech is personal. Imagine correcting Mrs. Malaprop.
I once worked under an assistant principal who had a great sense of humor and naturally commanded loyalty from us. Many people misprounced her last name. One time I asked her about that fact. She expressed that her name had been misprounced so many times that she let it go because it didn't bother her. She was easy going of nature and hard to take offense in general. I thought that there was some wisdom in her letting the correct pronunciation of her name be one of the things she chose not to deal with, and, instead, focus on the more pressing things at hand. My name is often mispronounced, as a matter of fact (you'd be amazed at the many variations I hear of "Dub-Dub")--but I leave the matter alone because of her example.
I worked under a principal once who said "pacific" for "specific." He was a darling man, and anytime he talked to the faculty and said pacific, we'd just grin. I don't think anyone ever corrected him--we enjoyed grinning too much in those meetings, which are generally a bore.
However, if you have a good relationship with this co-worker--a friendly one and she's the kind of person who doesn't take offense easily--a word in the right direction as a matter of interest might be ok to mention. If she were a word hound as we are here, then she'd definitely appreciate the correction as we do here.
End of my little opinionated point of view,
Dub-Dub (and that's the correct spelling and the correct pronunciation is Dub-Dub)
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A great deal of tact should be employed in correcting a co-worker, lest one acquire an enemy needlessly.
I takes a fine nature in both parties to have such a correction made and accepted cheerfully.
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I really should enrol in Nit-Picker's Anonymous, I know. Just can't fight it. It's like my aversion to apostophe misuse - don't get me started on THAT one!
I could not agree more, it is criminal the way people misuse apostoves.
Note: I would normally refrain from picking nits off someone I don't know, but the context made it irresistible. Also, as a compatriot of the esteemed Mr. Stales, I've no doubt you can take it. And since I haven't said it before - Welcome zootsuit!
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What kind of stove is an apostove?
I could not agree more, it is criminal the way people misuse apostoves.
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Oh, and on the actual question that started the thread:
I am an inveterate picker of nits of all sorts, and this would drive me absolutely nuts. But I have to agree with bill - if you can handle it in an exceptionally diplomatic way, and if the recipient of the correction is a stalwart soul in a tireless quest for self-improvement, then you might not sour your relationship with the person - but it'll still probably backfire.
I had a brilliant professor once, extremely articulate and in solid command of his language skills, whose great fault was that he said "anthropocentric-centered" - and he found more occasions to use it than you might think. I wrestled with how to correct him for a long time, talking about it with classmates, and in the end decided he would probably be okay getting through life with that one truly annoying tic of speech.
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I could not agree more, it is criminal the way...
... I thought for sure the nit you were going to pick was about Nit-Picker's Anonymous
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Unless the person has to speak publicly on behalf of the company and would thereby cause embarassment to all, I think you should let it drop. Lots of people say lots of incorrect things that annoy me - nuc-KYU-ler, e.g., but I try to ignore it. Also, I know some people get irritated with my speech patterns - I often pronounce things incorrectly "Lou-uh-vll" "y'all" "fer." Somethings I will pronounce correctly if I think about it a second. If I catch myself, I'll say oil and not ole. One of my Indian buddies expressed intense annoyance at my pronunciation of Van-tast-ic. (I didn't mind him ragging me in this way and I think that while it irritated him, he also found a lot of amusement in correcting my English.)
I have this friend once, a Mensan, who no matter what another person is saying he feels he has to correct it. He was at work once and the foreman was giving them speech about the "place-cards." He was saying "place-cards this" and "place-cards" that. My friend interrupts him to say (and he can be *intensely* unpleasant while convinced that he is being very nice) "the word is PLACK-ARD." His boss was not happy.
I'm sure you would treat your coworker with much more sympathy, but I still think that unless you're very close to the person or it is a matter of professional image, that you should just let it drop. Many, *MANY* times I hear people say things and the image of Slip Mahoney comes to mind. I can't help but smile - but I never speak.
k
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