[Tangurena2]

Language is a tool. If you are careless with one tool, it is extremely likely that you will be careless with others. This is why the military gets very picky with trivial issues like making your bed (or "rack") - if you're careless with the little (and easily checked) things, you're likely to be careless with the important things.

> The brown M&M’s principle is the idea that small details can sometimes serve as useful indicators of big issues.

> This principle is named after a rock band (Van Halen), who had a “brown M&M’s clause” in their contracts with event organizers, stipulating that the organizers must provide M&M’s in the backstage area, but that there must be no brown M&M’s available. This small clause gave the band an easy way to check whether organizers actually paid attention to all the details in the contract, which was important given how complicated and potentially dangerous the band’s production was.

0 - https://effectiviology.com/brown-mms/

1 - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/brown-out/

That said, I've worked with many immigrants and had many as girlfriends. I'm very tolerant of the sorts of mistakes that second-language learners make (I've learned and forgotten many languages). I'm far less tolerant of native English speakers who can't be bothered with their native tongue.

[ryandrake]

This is the way I see it, too. It speaks to someone's attention to detail. If you are going to use "there," "their," and "they're" carelessly or interchangeably, or "your" and "you're," or "than" and "then," what else are you going to do carelessly on the job?