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.

