Spell Checkers and Dictionaries

[BC <bvconway -at- shaw -dot- ca>]

Another spell-check (actually Thesaurus-check) shortcoming story.

 

Not that I want to put us all into scatological mode, but I just ran a
thesaurus check at dictionary.com on a somewhat non-corporate word, sh*t to
be exact,

and it comes up with the usual array, but minus faeces and excrement.

Microsoft’s Outlook spellchecker, or spell-checker, or spell checker
doesn’t like that f word back there either.

 

Goes to show, the spell-check is only as good as the dictionary, and if the
dictionary has ulterior motives, like trying to save our souls from old
nick (also not in that thesaurus), God bless ‘em, then the spell check
will be obviously compromised, i.e. incomplete, no good.  (Then again,
there is that “Add” button).  And, we all know from linguistics 101 that
dictionary-makers have a somewhat prescriptive bent, in that they
try to hammer the language into stone, when all the time, whether on
the streets of L.A. or in boardrooms across the nation, it is changing
like crazy.  Words like facipulation (stretching the point here):

 

facipulation
To use facilitation to manipulate a desired outcome. Basically it's what
consultants do. 
They get employees to do what their company wants them to do, while making
the employee think it's their idea

 

(courtesy of BuzzWhack.com)

 

Eric Partridge (of Slang Dictionary fame) is likely rolling in his grave.

 

The other thing is that, if you’ve been sitting and typing in the wrong
position, like me, for about 10 years and are wearing a wrist
brace, you’re not going to be as nimble as you want to be on the
keys, therefore more liable to errors.  (The brace tends to restrict
motion somewhat).  For now,  I’ve stopped mousing on the table
itself (cuts off circulation and causes all kinds of problems down the
road) and bought myself one of those under-the-desk slide-out tray
things and, even after 2 days,  I’ve noticed that many of the old
cramps and hurts have largely disappeared.    (The moral there is, 

if you want to improve your spelling, make sure your workstation is set up
properly.)

 

So, the brace may come off shortly. In fact, it better, it looks like sheet.


(Whoops, spelling mistake).

 

---------------------

Bruce Conway

Budding Tech Writer

(and amateur scatologist)

 

 

 

 

 

 

______________________________________

"Teaching is just learning twice"

--- Joseph Phillips (Project Management guru)

 


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