Does it make you cringe when people speak bad...or, more properly, badly?

Yes, I hate it! It makes me cringe when people speak OR write with bad grammar. If it's someone I know well then I can't help correcting them. I live in England and I hate when people say things like "I would of done that" instead of "I would HAVE done that" and when they use double negatives like "I ain't got nothing". The worst thing though is bad spelling, it makes me want to scream!

I don't cringe every time people speak or write poorly, it depends on the circumstances. With people who's first language isn't English I am very forgiving of such things, after all I know if I were to try to use their language it would be much worse. However in a professional setting such as you describe that would definitely make me cringe.

I cringe everytime I respond to a post here. My grammar skills are not very good and without spell check on myLot I find myself using my yahoo mail to spell check myself. The good thing is that I am improving my skills..oh by the way I'm a native Texan that is paying for his distaste of english classes as a young boy.

I do cringe when people I feel should "know better" express themselves poorly. I am talking about people like my former brother-in-law, college educated with "high honors," working in a writing-intensive field... yet always tried to comes across as a country hick. He would certainly be someone not beyond saying "Ah might coulda writ it better, but ah wuz fixin' to leave out." More than the language, itself, what bother's me is the seeming "glorification" of a lack of education and worldliness as "cool." And I'll be the first to admit that back when I was in school and college, those who worked hard and made good grades were generally considered UNcool... Does make you wonder about where humanity lays its priorities.