History Main / YouMakeMeSic

* A mid-'90s [[WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks Chipmunks]] Country Collaboration album had Simon paired with Aaron Tippin singing his big hit, "There Ain't[[labelnote:*]]Isn't[[/labelnote]] Nothing[[labelnote:*]]Anything[[/labelnote]] Wrong with the Radio". (Simon kept correcting the lyrics while he was singing the song, earning Tippin's ire.)

'''Student:''' Oh, I'm sorry. Can you tell me where the law library's at, asshole?

** In one strip, she even explains to her son Peter that she does it because, as an English major and professional writer, she values proper use of the language. He replies, "You're coming through real clear." (Andy: "Apparently not.")

-->'''Asuka''':''"C'est dur. Je fais beaucoup errr...d'efforts. Je remercie vous."'' ''[It is hard. I'm making many, errr...efforts. I you thank (I thank you).]''\\
'''Guillaume''' (applauding):''"Not bad! Except for the thanks. It's 'je vous remercie'. You just got the words the wrong way."''\\
'''Asuka''':''"Damn! I'll never get it right!"''

--->"I took his body down, and—and I was screaming at him to wake up, and he was just—just laying there and—and it just felt like—like it was my fault."

** The Auditors are always like this, due to OrangeAndBlueMorality. When a character asks if he can offer an Auditor a drink, the Auditor considers the question for a moment, then states that yes, he believes the man is capable of making that offer.

* At the Council of Constance (1412–23), one of the Cardinals had corrected an error of UsefulNotes/{{Holy Roman|Empire}} Emperor Sigismund's Latin grammar, to which he replied: "Ego sum rex romanis et supra grammaticam" ([[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem I am the king of the Romans and above grammar]]).[[note]]Double irony, because it's also wrong, the correct Latin expression should have been "Ego sum rex Romanorum..." and so on. Then again, [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem refer to his comment]].[[/note]]

* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070528 Agatha gives back his book to Vanamonde]] with "[[MotorMouth Allthe]]''[[MotorMouth spellingcorrection]]''[[MotorMouth arein]]''[[MotorMouth red]]''" during a CaffeineBulletTime.

** When Mr. Burn's son applies for Yale, he does poorly to the point that, for Yale to accept him, Mr. Burns would have to donate the equivalent of a private airport. Where did it start?

** In ''Discworld/TheTruth'', when William is in the watchhouse cell, he kills time by correcting the spelling in the graffiti.

** Subverted in ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}''. One character objects that people are hanged, it's dead meat that's hung. The other thanks him for the correction then reiterates that the victim in question was strangled and then hung. [[spoiler: This warped humor is the first hint that this character is the villain of the book.]]

** Sister site ''Not Always Friendly'' [[http://notalwaysfriendly.com/theyd-had-a-friendship-of-note/33560 has this story,]] where the submitter annoys an ex-friend by correcting a poorly-written, insulting note.

* ''Series/HankZipzer'': In "Hank's New School", Hank is protestinghis parents' decision to take him out of Westbrook by waving a placcard at the breakfast table. Emily's response is to glance atbriefly at his sign and murmur:
-->"Your placcard's spelled wrong."

* The scene in Season 1 of ''Series/TheWire'' where [=McNulty=] and Rhonda Perlman present their request for a continuation of their wiretaps to Judge Phelan sees the judge delighting in making Jimmy squirm by listing his various spelling and grammatical errors, before granting them what they asked for without a word of complaint.

* Similar to the joke below, in the film ''Film/WithHonors'', Joe Pesci's character is getting fed up with a Harvard professor's attitude and stands up to leave the lecture hall, asking "which door do I leave from?" When informed that, at Harvard, they don't end their sentences with prepositions, he responds, "all right, which door do I leave from, asshole?"

* The Marquis de Favras, upon being handed his death warrant, was quoted saying, " I see that you have made three spelling mistakes."

The trope name is a [[JustForPun pun]]; the word "sic"[[note]]Literally Latin for "thus", as in "found thus". Sometimes Backronymed as "spelling is correct" or "spelled in context".[[/note]] is used in quotation and transcription to indicate that a (supposed) spelling or grammatical mistake was made by the original writer/speaker, not the person quoting/transcribing them.

Oh, and by the way, "thru" is not an acceptable alternate spelling of the word "through", though according to [[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thru Merriam Webster]], it is[[note]]Americans...[[/note]]. Go figure.

--> ''You're Mum''

* ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey'': Sarge and Beetle stop at a "DOUGNUT" shop, and point out the missing H. As they leave with a bag of donuts, the seller muses that [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity he's got more business since removing the H]].

** The protagonists spray "Canada sucks!" and other anti-Canadian insults on the side of their truck and are pulled over by a member of the Ontario Provincial Police who then, because Canada is officially bi-lingual, forces them to also spray it in French.

* ''Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix'': "The word is 'unalienable,' not 'inalienable.'" "I'm sorry, Mr. Adams, but 'inalienable' is correct." This after the huge fight over slavery. Something similar must have happened in the real-life events. Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence clearly shows the word "inalienable," but by the time the document had reached the printer it had been changed to "unalienable."

* Classic knock knock joke:

* In the Book of the Radio Satire Show ''Week Ending Cabinet Leaks'', Carol Thatcher's draft autobiography is covered in blue-pencilled notes from the publisher, which is fair enough. But at the end, they've written "C Minus Minus. Must try harder".

* In the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novel "Flight of the Eisenstein", while Garro's ship is attempting to desert the Warmaster's fleet and BringNewsBack, an [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious comms officer]] insists that it's [[TheMutiny an act of mutiny]]. The captain's sole reaction is to correct him: it's not mutiny, it's barratry, because it's the captain doing it.

* There is also an episode of ''Series/{{Monk}}'' in which the title character tries to get a job at a magazine, so he arrives at the interview with a whole stack of papers containing the errors in one issue of the magazine. Also, some of those corrections are debatable and may no longer apply, such as his complaint against the word "decimate". While the original use did indeed mean "to reduce by a tenth", specifically in relation to a punishment in the Roman legions, the modern use of the word pretty much means "to destroy completely" and has already been included in most dictionaries. Note that he does get the job but immediately quits, as he still wants to be a cop.

'''O'neill:''' Oh, no, I can. I just choose not to.

** In fairness, the letter had rambled for ''at least'' 18 pages (front and back), explaining why Ross was defensive about falling asleep while reading it at 5:30AM.

* In ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Hodgins signed for Zack's package, and flirts with the delivery girl.

'''Chief:''' Well, why don't you tell me how to properly say this? If you share any official information about this case with your father, or let him anywhere near any new evidence, then the two of you will have to find another police department to work for, and I will personally see to it that each of you is charged with obstruction of justice.\\

* ''Series/TheLatestBuzz'': In "The Pet Peeves Issue", Michael complains to Rebecca that she is always correcting his grammar. She then points out that he ended a sentence with preposition.

'''Danny:''' Oh yeah? Well I used a '''bloody hyphen!'''

* ''Series/AquiNoHayQuienViva'': Juan Cuesta, as a teacher, is shown to be obsessed with ortography. He once reduced the grade of a student in a exam because the kid spelled his own name wrong, and got arrested because a policeman caught him ''correcting the typos of a graffito''.

* Taken to extremes in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4|APromiseUnforgotten}}'' -- upon discovering typo in a newspaper article, Val decides that the best course of action is to ''invade the Information Bureau'' in order to get it fixed.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', the terminals in the LOB building reveal that the company is carrying out illicit weapons research for the Chinese, and the management fear the place inevitably being stormed by the government. A final email reading "MAN THE DOORS! THE FEDS ARE HERE!" is met with a snippy response about the company policy against using all-caps in emails.

* The WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue to ''Webcomic/GetMedieval'' stated that, ten years after the main events, the comic books Neithe writes always contain a thank-you to Asher in their acknowledgments... "and his articles often contain lists of her mistakes." Neithe is shown laughing heartily as she reads what's apparently one of those lists.

* Sex columnist Dan Savage will occasionally respond to hate mail simply with grammar corrections. He's also inclined to correct his own errors in his blog, when pointed out.

'''Donbot:''' From the context it is clear what you mean.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': Penny, in voice-over, says the only reason she didn't pull this trope on the DrillSergeantNasty in episode "Diary of a Bad Girl" was because her mouth was full of the cookies she stole, when he sarcastically asked, "Got no milk?"

Do this on a forum and the comeback is likely to be "GrammarNazi". Or "[[RougeAnglesOfSatin grammer nazee,]]" as the case may be. Or perhaps, "[[AlliterativeName Grammar Gestapo,]]" if you will. Responding that you were correcting their spelling and not their grammar is [[SchmuckBait just asking for it]].

Oh, and by the way, "thru" is not an acceptable alternate spelling of the word "through," though according to [[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thru Merriam Webster,]] it is[[note]]Americans...[[/note]]. Go figure.