Goodness of Troy. You seem quite upset about the whole thing. Please do not feel offended by the following... I agree that people who
only look at the spelling are quite annoying since they are not really listening to what you have to say; only waiting for a chance to show their superiority in the language. Those people are really easy to spot, and honestly,
there are none here.
Here you have a group of people who are truly interested in the English language and all its nuances. You have punsters and pedants and everything in between. If an error is brought to our attention, it is not to ridicule, but to inform. To date, I have not seen any knuckle rapping pertaining to incorrect grammar or spelling. I have seen the wink-wink, nudge-nudge type of jibes that often pass among friends – all in good humour. Especially since most errors are of the obvious "3:30 in the morning after pulling an all-night AWAD session" mistyping
– and we know it.
You seem to have had a tough time of it growing up and anyone who rises through sheer will deserves to be commended. But doesn't education continue throughout one's life? Is it preferable to write incorrectly because it was hard to learn, or to continue learning in order to write correctly? This one is up to you.
Please remember though, that this is a board about words – and words are important to us. For example, what we were talking about in this thread are editors who left glaring errors in books we have read. An editor is supposed to know the language inside-out, and if he is unsure about something, he is supposed to have the tools to figure it out. Finding an error in a book shows a lack of professionalism by that editor. It was not an attack on you, nor was it aimed at you at all. I am sorry you felt pinpointed.
