spelling flame

messaging A Usenet posting ostentatiously correcting a

previous article's spelling, possibly as a way of casting

scorn on the point the article was trying to make, instead of

actually responding to that point (compare dictionaryflame). Of course, people who are more than usually slovenly

spellers are prone to think *any* correction is a spelling

flame. It's an amusing comment on human nature that spelling

flames themselves often contain spelling errors.

[Jargon File]

(1994-11-22)