<p>I find just lately that my mind seems to misread things more often than in the past. For instance, when I saw the name of this thread I read it as “Ugh… proofread your dope”. The first time I clicked on the thread was from curiosity about what on earth *that *could be about!!</p>
<p>Maybe it is because typos seem to abound nowadays that my mind converts things automatically (and often wrongly). Or maybe it is because I am getting old.</p>
<p>Spellcheck does prevent many errors in hard to spell words; however, I think it adds as many, or close to it, in other ways. As has been pointed out, it does not flag homonyms. Additionally, it flags words it does not recognize, and many a lazy writer just clicks on the first suggested word without giving it a thought. I’m willing to bet that that is how the person mentioned upthread ended up saying that she attended “Loyal” University. She probably typed Loyola and lazily clicked “change” when it was flagged. The wrongly corrected words in my students’ papers are funny, but exasperating.</p>
<p>I think Spellcheck breeds a certain linguistic carelessness–“I don’t need to look words up, I don’t need to check if all my correctly spelled words were the right ones, and if it says to change something, I will.” Less thinking, more errors.</p>
<p>I can tell you that the auto correct on this iPad introduces more errors than it gets words right. So if you all find any mistakes in my posts, they are not my fault.;)</p>
<p>I think predictive text is rather terrifying, especially in a work context.</p>
<p>The best way to avoid errors is to have someone else proofread your work. When it comes to your own writing, you “see” what you meant to write, rather than what you actually wrote, because that’s what’s on your mind. Another set of eyes will spot errors far more easily. (There’s a reason publications pay proofreaders!) If that’s not feasible, at least put the work aside for a day, or at least for a few hours, and come back to it with a fresh mind–you’ll do a far better job proofreading.</p>
<p>Spelling errors jump off a page at me, almost like they’re bolded. I still struggle with subject/verb agreement.</p>
<p>Apparently now it’s gone to my mouth. I was in public two nights ago at a nice, crowded place and people were talking about turkey. I had a brain freeze midway through a sentence and I changed mid stream from saying tofurkey to turducken - and I combined them and said loudly “to-f’cken”. Hubby’s jaw dropped - I never say the “f” word, ever, maybe he’s heard me say it a couple of times in 20 something years - lol. I told him to just wait til I was a senior and really lost it, I’d be cursing like a sailor. Maybe for those who drop the f bomb regularly it’s no big deal - I was just glad my mom wasn’t around to wash my mouth with soap.</p>
<p>I would notice typos/grammar errors - it wouldn’t necessarily put a person out of running for a job unless I was looking for a reason to weed out a lot of applicants.</p>
<p>SCMom: for days, when I would pass that thread, “how frat are you?” I read it as “how FAT are you?” </p>
<p>I read college apps and kids make mistakes. It’s nowhere near as bad as coming across as pompous. Or plain nutso. I agree that this probably won’t put DS out of the running. So many managers make similar mistakes of their own. He should approach the interviews with confidence and ready to show he’s a great hire.</p>
<p>Oh my, lookingforward, that is how I have been reading it too! I did not know it was frat until you just pointed it out. </p>
<p>Also, auto correct is an evil monster. Messes me up quite frequently. Especially when it insists on using a word I do not want to use and I cant figure out how to override it!</p>
<p>Uh-oh. Mea culpa. See how we get confused- it is fat. I just went and looked for the thread. Maybe I’m confusing it with something else. Or, maybe it was late when I thought I had the epiphany. Maybe I should have checked first.
Just goes to show you…</p>
<p>I HAD to put this on here for all of the grammar people…
I wish I could see your faces when you read it!! </p>
<p>[Anti-Alabama</a> t-shirt references Jerry Sandusky case, has unfortunate grammar error | Off the Bench](<a href=“http://offthebench.nbcsports.com/2012/06/23/anti-alabama-t-shirt-references-jerry-sandusky-case-has-unfortunate-grammar-error/]Anti-Alabama”>http://offthebench.nbcsports.com/2012/06/23/anti-alabama-t-shirt-references-jerry-sandusky-case-has-unfortunate-grammar-error/)</p>
<p>LOL.</p>
<p>I love things like that.</p>
<p>Just reminded me of coming across an old exercise book from my early high school days which were long long before computers and spell check. it was biology and I had written an essay about something (we never had multiple choice back in my day). I used the word “orgasm” instead of “organism” several times. The teacher had put some exclamation marks by it. I had to laugh when I saw it, I doubt that I had a clue back then why she was putting exclamation marks instead of just underlining it.</p>
<p>Of course, spell check would not have picked that up anyway.</p>
<p>In re: the unfortunate t-shirt: The then/than mix up is one of my pet peeves. Here we see its potential complications.</p>
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<p>This is a prime example of the sinister conspiracy between adjacent keys and spell-check. I also have been a victim.</p>