Re: general topic of spelling

["West, Michael" <Michael -dot- West -at- gsjbw -dot- com>]

> What your thoughts on the general topic of spelling difficulties in
> written English and the preparing of technical documents?

There is very little to discuss
with respect to spelling mistakes.
Technical documents should not contain
spelling errors, any more than any 
other document we inflict upon the 
public should contain spelling errors.

Most automated spelling checkers will 
perform adequately, but they are not 
psychic, so you have to know whether 
"affect" or "effect","averse" or 
"adverse", "appraise" or "apprise",
"e.g." or "i.e.", is the right choice 
to convey your meaning. It is the 
business of writers -- technical or 
otherwise -- to know such things.
These are not "spelling" issues; 
they are literacy issues.

Grammar checkers are helpful if you 
know how to use them. Most people 
do not. A writer should. All they can
do is recognize structures that 
frequently create confusion or 
ambiguity or verbosity and give you 
a warning about them. They cannot do 
your thinking for you or serve as a
substitute for a thorough understanding
of the elements of good style.

A related area that does offer some 
room for discussion is that of 
regional versions of English ("centre" 
versus "center", for example). Here 
you are not dealing with "error" but 
rather with marketing issues and 
regionalization problems.

Another related issue that can be 
discussed and debated ad infinitum is 
English usage. Which is to be preferred:
"none is" or "none are"? But there is a 
significant difference between usage 
issues and spelling mistakes. Never 
equate the two. One is the result of
sloppy editing, while the other is a 
natural result of the growth and spread 
of language.

-- 
Michael West

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