Spell Check: Devil or Angle?
?? Susan Rooks ?? The Grammar Goddess
Editor/Proofreader: I help nonfiction writers and podcasters (& their guests) look and sound as smart as they are.??Cruciverbalist?? BIZCATALYST 360° Columnist????The Oxford Comma????Dog Rescuer??Spunky Old Broad??
Sharp-eyed readers are already wondering – what the heck? Doesn’t she know she goofed RIGHT IN THE HEADLINE?
Yes. I do know that. I did write “angle,” and spell check accepted it. Why not? It’s a perfectly good word, and it’s spelled correctly. So why wouldn’t it pass muster?
Therein lies the dilemma for many writers: they rely on a wonderful technological tool and then wonder what happened. How could they have gone so wrong? Spell check said everything was OK.
Let’s face it – we are lazy at times, and depending on spell check to do what we need seems so simple. And easy. But sometimes so costly.
We humans need to remain in control. We need to read and reread and reread everything we’ve written. Our eyes are the ones that need to catch the spell check "goofs" (before our readers do). It’s our reputation that’s on the line, not spell check’s.
Here are a few that I have seen recently in blogs – one even in a headline. (The goof was the first one of each of the pairs shown below.)
mangers – managers
loose – lose
it’s – its
compliment – complement
discrete – discreet
advice – advise
digress – degrees
productive – proactive
main stream – mainstream
sweet – suite
stationary – stationery
And yes, the list could go on forever. We are all guilty of this; I use LinkedIn’s editing button with almost every article I post.
So let’s respect the job that spell check does – and let’s be even smarter than that. Let’s be sure that what we’ve written is what we THINK we’ve written.
By the way -- if there's a goof you've made that you'd like to share, please do! Let's all learn from each other.
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I was in the middle of writing a private reply to you about "angle" but as I glanced down... :) Point nicely made!
Editor East of 8th and Mother Church Pew Music Blogs
9 年You are spot on about needing to take the effort of going beyond spell checking. I recently realized that even my own proofreading isn't enough. I found an old cover letter (from a job I did not get) where I had said that I wanted a challenging position as a manger. I proof read everything at least three times after spell check and that slid through. I have read articles about how our brain can skip over those errors because we already know what we think we are saying. It's not only good to have a fresh set of eyes on things, but a fresh brain too.
Retired
9 年Today's sophisticated writing programs help us avoid many common spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors by highlighting them as we write, yet I still find that most people don't take the time to spell check or grammar check their work!
International Speaker | Workshop Facilitator | Storyteller | Musician | Gallup StrengthsFinder Coach | 300+Episodes Podcast Host | Author | Job Interview Coach
9 年I think I'll reread my last post one more time. Thanks, Susan, for another good one!
Value-based Business Development Coach, Author, Innovator to: ? Establish Credibility ? Build Trust ? Generate Revenue. [email protected]
9 年I think spell check is entertaining Susan. Seeing how you asked to share goofs, although this goof is not mine, I think it'll reinforce your points. Thanks Susan. https://linkd.in/1weRuw1