Spell Checkers Still Don’t Work Right - Why Is That?
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I must admit that when it comes to the English language that spelling and grammar are not my strongest attributes. And I admit this failing freely to anyone and everyone, since I know it is true and have come to live with the results through grammar school, high school and college.
And when I type fast, fast to me is anything over 20 words a minute, and since I use a laptop which we all agree has a very small keyboard, misspellings are rampant and corrections are often. Though I do not miss the days of having to use a dictionary, white out or a typewriter I just wish spell check would work.
Last week I received a note from the editor here at Lockergnome, who made mention of several minor spelling and grammatical mistakes in one of my articles. No matter how hard I tried I could not disguise my failings in the world of grammar and spelling errors. But what was odd, was the fact that I employ the following methods to help to eliminate these errors.
- My original articles are type in Microsoft Word 2003. Word employees what Microsoft describes as the world’s best spell and grammar checker. And we all know that Microsoft would not fib to us.
- Next I copy and paste the article into the write area of the Lockergnome/World Press software that also has a spell checker. And I again scan for errors. Which by the way, I don’t think works correctly, since I still have words underlined in red even after the software says it has found no errors.
- Words underlined in red? Yes. You see I also use Firefox 2.0.0.2 that also has a built in spell checker. When it finds a typo it underlines the word in red. A right click on the word brings up a list of words to choose from.
So the blame for any typo’s falls on Microsoft, World Press and Firefox. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Even bamboo shoots under my finger nails won’t change my mind! 
On a serious note, why don’t any of these spell checkers work correctly?
Comments welcome.
Side note: If you think my spelling is bad, you should meet my friend Denny. He spells everything using Ebonics.
Tags: microsoft, firefox, spelling, corrections
3 Comments
Tim Hodkinson
March 8th, 2007
at 7:28am
If it’s any consolation to you, Ron, the mistakes you make are logical ones; you write things the way they would be if English followed consistent spelling rules. I’ve noticed this a lot with people who speak English as a second language (no offense…), they keep forgetting to employ all the exceptional forms for spelling. The reason, of course, is that the rules are exceptional and don’t fit logically with the way most other words are spelled. English is the Windows of language: it works, and many people use it, but it needs a major overhaul to make it as good as Esperanto, the Linux of language. But it’s too late for that.
Besides, pretty soon we’re all going to be spelling things the way you do, and then they’ll have to change the dictionary and your mistakes won’t be mistakes anymore…
Ron Schenone
March 8th, 2007
at 8:26am
Hi Tim,
No offense taken. It’s good to know that I am ahead of our time. I’m hoping this comes to pass sooner than later! It’s hard teaching this old dog new tricks.
Have a good one and thank you for the comments.
Regards, Ron
Dennis
July 14th, 2008
at 9:06pm
You think you are bad I failled high school and college, but I try. Like you I try to improve, but the major do not even try. So you can not blame MS or anyone else, because the people who do not try not know how to use them!