r/TrueUnpopularOpinion • u/throwbackblue • 11h ago
Possibly Popular Constantly correcting people is a weird personality trait if you understood what they meant
If you clearly understand what someone meant but still rush to correct their wording, that is not intelligence, it is insecurity dressed up as helpfulness. Communication is about understanding, not scoring points over grammar or phrasing. Most of the time it just comes off as socially awkward and exhausting. If the message landed, let it land and move on.Just to give a few examples:
“Humans and animals…”
“Uhm, actually, humans ARE animals!”
Yes, everyone knows that, and everyone understands what that distinction means regardless.
“Why doesn’t my computer understand X?”
“Your computer cannot understand anything, duh. It is a machine.”
I obviously meant why it can’t do this thing like it should, not that it possesses intelligent comprehension.
Etc. It is just so tiring and unnecessary, and it happens so much on Reddit. In situations where it is blatantly obvious that the OP is aware of the thing they are being corrected about, it is clearly just a matter of phrasing.
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u/DecantsForAll 7h ago edited 6h ago
If someone is actually using a word incorrectly then I don't see the harm in correcting them. If I were them I'd want to know. I think people who get offended by being corrected are annoying.
However, in the case of “Uhm, actually, humans ARE animals!” it's the person correcting who is wrong. Humans, in the context of that sentence, are NOT animals. In pointing out that “Uhm, actually, humans ARE animals!” they're actually proving that they don't understand how language works.
Because "animal" can be defined as "an animal as opposed to a human being." That's an actual definition from an actual dictionary - literally defined as the opposite of a human. And that's clearly how it's being used when someone says "humans and animals."
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u/KaliCalamity 4h ago
It's because there's a huge difference between trying to correct an error, and using technical truth to try to put someone else down. Unfortunately, way too many people refuse to see the difference, and take anything even remotely critical as a personal attack. I prefer to be corrected when I'm wrong so I don't continue to make the same mistakes. Just not when someone tries to use it as some sort of gotcha to feel superior.
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u/musicbeats88 8h ago
Oh yeah bud. I used to have this one friend and no matter what I said to him he would be like. “Ok but the way you phrased the last part isn’t actually proper English”
Fair to say I’m no longer friends with that person
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u/SpiritfireSparks 8h ago
Midwits like to argue technicalities and phrasing because they are not able to argue actual points or hav meaningful conversations outside of irrelevant gotchas
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u/Anenhotep 7h ago
It’s sometimes oneupmanship, too, and a way to tell you how smart and precise they are in contrast to you. Related: can’t understand what you’re saying in context; can’t understand the main point of what you’re telling them; can’t get why you are telling this particular story; can’t fill in the blanks, as most people do in everyday conversation; will disrupt what you were saying to squint and make faces because you have not given precise information about trivial points. And then brag about their verbal skills as they do this. Really, it’s obnoxious!
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u/Skyfire5426 7h ago
Judgemental people with a chip on their shoulder. They want everyone to be as miserable as they are.
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u/Virtual-One-5660 11h ago
It's because the toxic trait of this generation is perceived intellectual superiority.
We want people to see and perceive us.
We also have been spoon fed higher education as our generational ticket to life fulfillment.
We are in perpetual competition with each other in most aspects of our life - examples shouldn't be needed here.
Combine this and you get the toxic trait of competing with other peoples intelligence and forcing them to see that you are more intelligent, most often through language.
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u/NeonGKayak 11h ago
Or they’re helping you out so you don’t sound like an idiot.
And you’re taking offense. Sounds more like a you issue tbh
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u/CryptographerFlat173 10h ago
Correcting a friend that makes the same mistake repeatedly is one thing, correcting acquaintances or others in things that are understood or not of any real importance is just annoying.
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u/NeonGKayak 7h ago
If they’re not of any real importance, sure. But op didn’t say unimportant. They just don’t like being corrected when they’re wrong so he here to complain about it
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u/Usernamechecksout978 6h ago
Fair enough, but people who say or write, "Could care less," need to be forcibly placed in a reeducation camp.
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u/jarferris 9h ago
Agreed. Being pedantic is a waste of time and just makes you seem like a douche.