<p>Today I read a blog entry written by an editor-in-Chief of a big newspaper, who spelled “dilemma” as “dillema” (it was quickly corrected but the cache saved the original spelling).
Yesterday, my English teacher used the word “ackward” when commenting my paper.</p>
<p>Am I being idealistic when I think that people who deal with words for a living should not make such errors?</p>
<p>I make errors all the time, and I often see grown, intelligent people who do too, but I guess it’s not as bad when your daily literary experience is limited to a newspaper article?</p>
<p>I’m not talking about typos, it wasn’t “dilmema” or “dliemma.” It was dillema! The person knew the word contains double letters somewhere, and made the wrong choice.</p>
<p>When publishing content, one really should use a spell check program. Keep in mind humans are humans, and people often misspell. Many people misspell, it’s not as much inexcusable as it is irresponsible. </p>
<p>Give the guy a break, people are human, I often catch misspelled words in newspapers and magazines, it happens occasionally, nobody is perfect.</p>
<p>I think you accidentally left a preposition out of this clause. I am sure it was an accident, just as it was an accident your English teacher misplaced a ‘w’. Actually, you should be grateful your English teacher is taking the time to make useful comments about your writing. My daughter’s English teacher doesn’t bother.</p>
<p>Having said that, however, I should add that it would be nice if more people used the spell check feature when they write, including here on cc.</p>
<p>When reading a paper, narrative, argument, or other written exposition, I do find it unsettling when I frequently come across misspelled words, especially commonly used ones, such “definately” or “embarassment.” These are not typos. Not only do I find them easily noticeable and distracting, misspellings stick out in my mind. I find written works, no matter how casual the setting and circumstances, more believable when they contain correctly spelled words and decent grammar usage.</p>
<p>My high school English teacher always wrote “God!” instead of “Good!” I’m sure there was a second “o” hiding there somewhere in her lousy handwriting, but it always gave us a good laugh. I have a few words I misspell regularly, that spellcheck always catches. Occasion is one. My fingers think it should have two s’s. Unfortunately, my biggest problem is typing homonyms. I know the difference between its and it’s, their and there and they’re, but my fingers don’t. Unfortunately spellcheck (not one word apparently, but I’m leaving it as is), doesn’t help homonym problems.</p>
<p>It might help if our language didn’t have the worst spelling system possible.</p>
<p>Some say that Fitzgerald was a terrible speller, always wreaking havoc on his proofreaders. I suppose that if he couldn’t spell worth a snot, then the rest of us poor schlubs can be granted some amnesty.</p>
<p>As an English teacher, when I’m dealing with my students I have a duty to get it right. I should be held to a much higher standard than someone typing a post on an anonymous board. I may be, though, that one refered to here writing “god” on papers, as I seem to lose an O when scribbling fast. </p>
<p>Midmo, “awkward” is about as minimalist as I can imagine; it doesn’t take much time. If your D isn’t even getting that much feedback, that’s a shame (and a poor teacher.)</p>
<p>As far as spellcheck: in my college composition classes, the first point I make is that “spellcheck is stupid.” they get too reliant on it, and don’t realize that if spellcheck recognizes something is a word, it has no clue whether or not it’s the right word. It’s up to the writer to check; we all write homonyms some time, but than we have to do a reread just to look for them.</p>
<p>The other way spellcheck is stupid is that when it sees a non-word, it often offers nonsensical options, yet students have a tendency to click “change” without assessing whether it’s the right word or not, which can lead to some really comical sentences. Again, I remind them that there is only one thinking brain participating in this process-theirs–and they need to know they can’t outsource the discernment to a computer program.</p>
<p>I copy edit for [my</a> school’s newspaper](<a href=“http://thedartmouth.com/"]my”>http://thedartmouth.com/). Misspellings, incorrect homonyms, and grammatical errors annoy me to no end, and yes, I do judge the people who make them. Sorry.</p>
<p>For whatever it’s worth, I find it difficult to take Lynne Truss seriously given that the subtitle of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves contains a grammatical error (it should be “zero-tolerance” with a hyphen).</p>
<p>garland, I think <em>reliance</em> on spell check programs is stupid. However, I don’t think using them as a tool is stupid. The feature I don’t like, and personally never use, is the “click for suggested correction” feature. If a writer takes the time to figure out why a word is marked as misspelled, it can be a learning experience.</p>
<p>As for my daughter’s English teachers: you have no idea how furious I am becoming over the lack of feedback from her English teachers on writing assignments. This has been going on for several years now. What ever happened to teachers who would return a paper full of comments like “that is cliche”, use the active voice here, that sentence is too long, get rid of the double dashes, etc.?</p>
<p>Good question, Midmo, but I teach classes full of college students who apparently didn’t get those comments. :(</p>
<p>When I say “spellcheck is stupid” please understand I am not telling them not to use it, but rather how to use it–as a tool which does not think–the thinking needs to come from them.</p>
<p>(and after going over it several times, I just re-read my first post and realize I have a then/than error…:o) which is why I preach eternal vigilance and rereading…</p>
<p><a href=“and%20after%20going%20over%20it%20several%20times,%20I%20just%20re-read%20my%20first%20post%20and%20realize%20I%20have%20a%20then/than%20error…:o”>quote=“garland”</a> which is why I preach eternal vigilance and rereading…
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And I made a parallel structure error (one does not “make” incorrect homonyms) in the same breath that I admitted to judging people who do. How embarrassing. :o</p>
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