When Spell Checking Leads You Astray Article

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When Spell Checking Leads You Astray

When Bad Things Happen To Good Spellers

Author: Matthew W. Grant

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This article will convince you that you should have written work proofread manually in addition to letting the software take a pass at it.

It's quite obvious that too many people have begun to rely on spell checking software as their only means of proofing their work. The unwritten rules are that anything going to a friend gets sent the way it is typed without the benefit of being examined for mistakes while something destined for a customer or being turned into a boss should be passed through a spell checker and and that is good enough..

I find that spell checking software is great at catching typos such as transposed letters, but that's about it. It will not save you from typing (or rather mistyping) homophones. [You remember those from English class, right? They're sets of words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings such as "they're," "there," and "their."] Spell checking won't save you when your mistyped word happens to be another real word. Another potential pitfall is letting the spell checker automatically correct as you type. It may "correct" your typing error, but change the word to something else entirely. If "ewe" don't believe me, read on.

Would you want the following example representing your company to your customers or prospects?

To Out Values Customer;

We got your e-male about yore missing shipment and are sew sorry for ant incontinence we may have caused. Where not shore how your order got miss placed hair? But were looking into it. Wheel chip it write out fro you too day fro our wear house. Thanks for undertaking!

Spell checking software approves. Test it for yourself and you'll be shocked. Spell checking software is a good start, but it's not the final solution. The software is a complement to, but not a replacement for, proofreading and editing the old-fashioned way.

An editor would know the appropriate corrections called for in the situation.

To Our Valued Customer:

We received your e-mail about your missing shipment and are so sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We’re not sure how your order got misplaced here, but we're looking into it. We’ll ship it right out for you today from our warehouse. Thanks for understanding.

Would you want to turn this into your professor?

Is it jest a myth that hour frost precedent shopped dawn a cheery tree? Scholars have rebated this store four ages, but to day wheel come to a definitive concussion.

An editor would know the appropriate corrections called for in the situation.

Is it just a myth that our first president chopped down a cherry tree? Scholars have debated this story for ages, but today we'll come to a definitive conclusion.

Again, try it in spell check. Go ahead. I'll wait. I hope these examples have convinced you that spell check is only the first step in the proofreading process.

About Author

Are you looking for a proofreading service? Please visit author Matthew W. Grant's site, A+ Editors, at (http://www.APlusEditors.com).

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