Language peevage.

[corrvin]

1) The proper way to refer to an adult female human being is "a woman." "A women" is ignorant. I find it difficult to believe that someone's reasoning is at all thought-out when they can't even manage to spell a word on my second-grade child's reading level.

1)b) If you consistently have trouble spelling a word, write it down. Write it on a sticky note and stick it on the side of your computer monitor. Hell, write it on the monitor in pencil, if you have a beige monitor. I can spell "tyranny" and "initiation" because I wrote them down correctly and looked at them for about six months every time I had to spell them. If the side of your monitor fills up, maybe you should start studying spelling.

Yes, adults should study spelling if they're that bad at it. You may think that spelling only affects your written work, but non-standard spelling is frequently linked to sloppy pronunciation-- if you don't know how to say something clearly, you'll obviously have trouble spelling it! I think if people listened to someone speaking clearly, they'd have an easier time remembering to write "dominant" instead of "dominate." Also, "woman" and "women" are pronounced differently where I live, so unless someone speaks a strange variant of English, they have no reason to mistake one spelling for the other.

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2) I really get annoyed when I answer the phone with a greeting other than "Hello" and the person's immediate response is "Who is this?"

Yes, "To whom am I speaking?" is grammatically correct, but you can be grammatical and rude at the same time, and that's rude. Why? Well, it forces me to figure out who you are and what you want.

Example:
Me: Good evening, Bob's Weasel Washing.
Caller: This is Bob, who is this?
Me: Oh, this is Corrvin at your answering service.
Caller: Hi Corrvin, I had a question about a message the service left me earlier.

Me: Good evening, Bob's Weasel Washing.
Caller: This is Jean, Bob's mother, who is this?
Me: Ma'am this is his answering service, Bob has left on a service call. May I reach him for you?

Me: Good evening, Bob's Weasel Washing.
Caller: I was looking for a place to wash my ferret, who is this again?
Me: Bob's Weasel Washing, but we also do ferrets. I'd be glad to contact a technician for you if you like, can I get your name...

See, there are three different answers, all correct for the circumstances. What if I can't tell what you want-- do I give out answers one at a time, and force you to "interrogate" me, or do I blurt it all out at once?

Me: Good evening, Bob's Weasel Washing.
Caller: Who is this?
Me: Um...this is Corrvin at the answering service for Bob's Weasel Washing.
Caller: This isn't Doug's Dog-matic Dog Wash?
Me: No, it's Bob's...
Caller: I wanted to talk to Doug.
Me: Doug who works for Bob's Weasel Washing?
Caller: No, Doug's Dog-matic.
Me: I think you have a wrong number.
Caller: No I don't*.
Me: Well, this is Bob's Weasel Wa--
Caller: Well, why did you answer then?!?**

(*actual response from multiple callers when told this)
(**another actual response)

I'm really, really tempted sometime to answer "To whom am I speaking?" with "It's I."