Indigo, I dunno (not an acceptable spelling!), I guess I think not forgiving
when one asks to be forgiven for a correction is more rude than having the
temerity to make the correction.  But maybe that's just me.  It seems to me
that scolding someone for the kind of messages they send is more of a public
admonishment than merely pointing out an error.  Notice that I called it
scolding, which I think is a fair characterization, and I'm not trying to
exaggerate the tenor of your complaint.  But I disagree that corrections are
necessarily rude.

I knew I was risking flames when I provided two "corrections" within such a
short span of time, and when I saw a message from you, I guessed what it was
going to say.  I thought long and hard before sending the mia/mea message.
But I was sincerely trying to be helpful, because these weren't
run-of-the-mill spelling mistakes.  Long ago I stopped pointing out ordinary
spelling errors and incorrect word choice (except when it created confusion),
with one lapse ("Here! Here" for "Hear! Hear!"), which I admit may have been
overdoing it.

I've received corrections on email lists when I've made factual errors,
miscellaneous gaffes, mistakes in dates, etc., and spelling inconsistencies
(I've made my share), and I believe I've been appreciative of the information
and accepted the corrections with grace.  I don't consider them public
"admonishment."  If I make a public mistake, I expect public correction.  One
thing I won't do is attack someone for making a correction or say it's petty
and rude to do so or taking up valuable space and time on the list, and I'll
defend anyone who gets flamed for a tactful correction.  I've been known to
ask whether a topic is appropriate for the list, and I've joined in the
discussion after someone got scolded for a supposedly inappropriate comment;
but I don't think I've ever done any scolding per se--except for people
ridiculing others.  Some may recall a previous flap about Latin when a
correction (not originally made by me) for a translation was ridiculed as
petty.

Last year in a lecture I misidentified the subject of a slide, and a member
of  the audience corrected me privately (with a smirk).  My reaction was, "I
wish you had said that when everyone was still here", so that all could have
had the benefit of the correction.  And I'd have had the opportunity to agree
with the correction: some who knew I was wrong, but didn't speak up, probably
thought I was addled.

I don't worry about typos--I maek plnety msyefl (and people have gleefully
pointed them out, which doesn't bother me--I consider that normal give and
take).  But "Yates" and "mia" clearly weren't typos.  I agree that it's petty
to give too many spelling corrections and I try to stifle the urge.  However,
you gave a quote and an attribution, and since people like to re-quote pithy
sayings, I think it's useful to get it right rather than perpetuate a
mistake.  For all I knew, your source might have misspelled Yeats and it
wasn't your error at all.  Of course the error is understandable, and
everyone makes mistakes--no need to be sensitive about it.  Never having
heard Yeats's name pronounced, I used to say "YEETS" instead of pronouncing
it "Yates."  I still recall with gratitude the person who corrected me.

The point of correcting "mia culpa" is similar, plus the fact that Latin
quotations usually connote erudition, which ups the ante, so I try to get
them right and usually look them up to be sure.  Again, some source might
have made the original error, not our colleague.  Since "mia" is a proper
Italian word, confusion is understandable.  I appreciated the message from
William Maurer about taking greater care with e-mail messages, but I wish to
point out that a spell-checker probably wouldn't have helped in these
instances.

I think the appropriate response to a correction is "thank you."  Indigo,
thanks for your advice, but I hope you see my point.  No public admonishment
was intended, just getting the name and the Latin phrase right.

David Haberstich

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