Mute the autocorrect: Why fixing someone’s English is no longer cool

Correcting someone for their grammar or pronunciation is now considered elitist. Why be a show-off when you could just have good conversation?

Those railing against the phrase, delulu is the solulu, what’s the fight about, exactly? Sure, being delusional can’t be any solution for long. If the problem is with the made-up words delulu and solulu, gather around. There’s so much to unpack, this may well be a YouTube unboxing video.

Gloria from Modern Family has epic struggles with English.

Delulu doesn’t show up in any dictionary. Solulu isn’t uttered within hearing distance of King Charles. Is that reason to stop and correct someone who’s used the phrase? King Charles probably wouldn’t do it. Interrupting someone, unasked, to fix their grammar, pronunciation and usage, is no longer considered cool. On the contrary, it’s increasingly seen as classist and unnecessary. No one likes a show-off.

“If one chooses to look down on those who speak improperly in casual interaction, that might be elitist,” says Devina Krishna, assistant professor of linguistics at Patna Women’s College. “The goal should be the desire to empower each person to express themselves clearly.”

Let’s put it simply, for the benefit of those clutching their red Wren & Martin textbooks. What Krishna means is that if someone’s words have made sense, if their message has been conveyed, it ain’t broken. So don’t jump in to fix it.

Travis Kelce’s last name is pronounced Kels, though the family will answer to KelSee. (Shutterstock)

Intent is tricky. In college, a batch mate once hauled me to the dean’s office because I corrected their pronunciation of the word anchor (They said AanChaur). I found out, more than a decade later, that my friends and I had been labelled elitist because of it. As with unsolicited advice on any subject, well-intentioned language fixes almost always backfire.

English is going through an identity crisis of its own, anyway. The world is realising that England’s idea of the language is no longer the default, especially when cultures have adopted and adapted it to their own ends. For decades, Indian speakers were shamed for using prepone as a counter to postpone. It made sense, after all. Dictionaries finally relented, adding it to the lexicon in 2010.

Nigella Lawson mispronounced microwave (MeeKroWaVay) in a now-viral video. (Shutterstock)

For anyone making sense of a global world, the struggle is real. The Captioning Group, a closed-captioning company, compiles an annual list (on behalf of language platform Babbel) of terms that newsreaders, politicians, public figures, and others have struggled to pronounce correctly on screen. This year’s zingers: SZA (Siz-uh), the stage name of singer-songwriter Solána Imani Rowe; Travis Kelce (Kels, though the family got tired of correcting people and will answer to KelSee). Folks also struggled to say nepo baby (NehPo BayBee).

Autocorrect is bad enough when texting. (We never mean ducking!) . It’s worse when someone derails a perfectly smooth conversation to point out that you meant fewer and not lesser, with respect to an uncountable noun. Grammarly, the cloud-based typing assistant that is literally in the business of cleaning up language, has a whole blog post on whether it’s polite to do it in polite conversation. The short version: It usually isn’t. “Whenever you feel the urge to correct someone’s grammar, take a step back and ask yourself, ‘Does this person want to be corrected?’ If the answer is no, or even just maybe, keep your knowledge to yourself. Sometimes it’s hard, especially if an error is repeated over and over again. But remember that an essential part of good communication is building good relationships, and correcting people’s grammar without asking often hurts relationships rather than helping them,” says the post.

Some errors are unforgivable. Like the punctuation in the poster of this 1994 movie. #WhenYouSeeIt.

However, if a friend keeps using “till date” in emails and is wondering why she isn’t getting cleared for international job interviews, jump in. Let her know that “to date” is the accepted usage. “The autocorrect gene is actually a product of conditioning and usage,” Krishna says. “Language evolves. New experiences require new words to refer to them. It may happen that so-called fashionable terms become are superseded by other ways of speaking.”

On Instagram, content creators gleefully own their struggles with English. Reels start with “Your Bihari/Punjabi/Konkani/ accent is so sexy. Say it again,” and celebrate the heavy accents ComPooTer, AmReeKa, Aapple.

Worcestershire (Wooster, that’s it!) is the author’s worst nightmare to pronounce at grocery stores. (Shutterstock)

I’ve had trouble with people pronouncing my last name correctly. No one yet has said Kuenzang right the first time around. As long as they spell it right and my emails reach me, it doesn’t matter. And I’ve stumbled with people’s names plenty. I still can’t correctly pronounce the full name of William Richmond Basaiawmoit, lead singer of the Shillong Chamber Choir and my favourite person to interview. I’m stumped by epitome (EpiTohMe?). Worcestershire (Wooster, that’s it!) is my worst nightmare. I’ve stopped saying it at the grocery store.

For anyone who knows they’re making a mistake, an online search can sort it out in minutes. For the delulu, there’s no solulu. Why ruin a good conversation when you can hold up your end of it?