Hypercorrectness is a language rule based on false assumptions. A classic example is a teacher insisting that "I" be substituted for "me" in the sentence, "He had dinner with mother and me." ("me" is correct because it's the direct object) Another way to check this is to quote the sentence without the other person, therefore you would not say, "He had dinner with I."
"Hyper" and "hypo" are combining forms from the Latin meaning "over" and "under." "Hypercorrection" literally means over + correction. The meaning of a word like "hypercritical" retains its literal meaning. Ironically, Hypercorrection is done from a motive to be correct.
Hypercorrectness is restricted to language, but as in hypercorrectness, many rules not related to language are based on false assumption. The nonlanguage items will be placed under the category "other pure unadulterated bullshit" (OPUBS). In many cases, rules are simply an established set of opinions. It's such a shame when people cannot understand that their opinion has not been proved to be the right thing to do for all people. Some may ask what makes me think I'm right about all this. Actually, I'm not sure, this is just my opinion.
If you would like to post your ideas to this site, our e-mail link is given for your convenience. This topic seems to be virtually limitless, therefore we've decided to publish it on the Web.
Unless mentioned otherwise, definitions are from the Merriam-Webster; Zane Publishing, Inc.