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 When Spell Checking Leads You Astray

It's becoming increasingly clear that too many computer users are solely relying on spell checking software as their only means of proofreading. The rule of thumb most people go by is that anything going to a friend gets sent the way it is typed without the benefit of being examined for mistakes as opposed to correspondence going out to a colleague or being turned into a teacher should be checked by software. People believe that level of scrutiny is sufficient.

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 post world. 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 message going out to your customers?

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!

That information gets through spell checkers with flying colors. Test it for yourself and you'll be shocked. Spell checking software is a good start, but it's not the final solution. Don't dismiss the contribution of manual editing and proofreading.

A writer would know the appropriate corrections needed.

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.

Imagine a teacher receiving this.

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.

A writer would know the appropriate corrections needed.

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.

Don't be shy, run it through your spell checker and see what happens. Go ahead. I'll wait. I hope these examples have convinced you that spell check is only the first step in the editing process.