How do I kindly say to a couple of my members that it's not per say, but per se? (One is a fellow administrator) xD I know I make a lot of grammar mistakes myself; however, this one kind of irks me. Does anyone have a short and simple writing guide I could use, maybe with common Latin phrases in it? lol

I have a lot of quirks like that myself. I know it's irritating, but I've learnt to let other people's mistakes wash over me. Especially if they're good writers outside of a few spelling mistakes.

For example, I know one player whose posts are generally 1000 words or more of side-splitting laughterfest, but every now and again she uses a sound-alike word. I'm not going to correct her, because the large majority of her writing is correct, and entertaining to read.

You could probably correct your administrators, because you want them to set a good example. But unless other members are constantly making mistakes, it might be better to let it slide.

If you usually correct spelling errors and stuff, just correct it like normal. However, if this is just some random weird pet peeve thing, maybe you want to make a point of using "per se"--not mockingly, of course--so that they can see how it's spelled. They may get it, they may not get it. But you tried and you don't want to start any fights or anything.

However, you could always put together a guide of commonly misspelled words and include that in it. *nods* I think that's the best way to go. There may be one in the directory already, but I'm not 100 per cent sure.

Why not just do it over IM next time it crops up?

There's no more harm in explaining the difference to them on a casual basis than there is explaining the difference between cannon and canon. Just do it! (tick). Then you've explained it and that's that. People are too sensitive these days and if it's just one word, there's equally no harm in explaining the term especially if you do it in a way that isn't condescending. Just keep it light and polite and don't press it as a huge issue because it isn't, it's a pet peeve.

I'm the same way with 'I could care less.'

It's couldn't! Omitting that crucial n apostraphe t completely destroys the meaning of the expression!

I couldn't care less is correct, in that it properly conveys that you don't give two flying rat poos about blank.

[/end rant]

There are others, but that is my personal pet peeve. If it bothers you, correct them. Just point it out and move on. They can't correct it if they don't know, and at least it's... sort of an honest mistake to make.

"I could care less" has become a colloquialism, though.

It's a sarcastic posititive remark that emphasises how little you care in the same way that a double negative emphasises the absolute negativity, rather than the literal interpretation of the phrase.

We had a thread planned that involved a court martial (as in, a martial or military court) and one player kept spelling it 'marshall'. And as it was being planned in PMs, I casually mentioned the corroect spelling and the etymology - where it came from - without making a big deal of it. And she was all 'I never knew that! Thanks for pointing it out!' and went on to use the correct spelling afterwards, without either if us needing to make a big deal about it.

So maybe just PM her quietly and mention it, in a friendly manner, without belittling her.

It is fine when it is used as a sarcastic remark but I know a lot of people that say "I could care less" when they really mean "I could not care less". That one really does annoy me as it defeats the point of the phrase in the first place.

With the per se issue, either you have to bring it up and deal with it head on, or you could use it a lot and post it correctly. They may spot their mistake and mend their ways. Another option could be during a bit of friendly banter (if that happens, I don't know the relationship you have with them) you could mention it then, they may not realise they are doing it.