from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
spelling flame
n.
[Usenet] A posting ostentatiously correcting a previous article's
spelling as a way of casting scorn on the point the article was trying
to make, instead of actually responding to that point (compare
{dictionary flame}). 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.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
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 {dictionary
flame}). 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)