www.lifehack.org: “She could sew seeds better than she could sew clothes.”
The above sentence is one that I came across while reading a self-published novel the other day, and is a perfect example why one cannot merely rely on a spell-checking program to ensure that one’s writing is error-free. Although “sew” and “sow” are homophones (they sound the same despite having different spellings and meanings), they are obviously not interchangeable: we sow seeds, and sew clothes.
11 comments:
It is funny how many people don't care to learn how to spell correctly nowadays, especially now that iPhones will guess the word that you are trying to write for you as soon as you start typing a few letters. SpellCheck does catch when you have sentence fragments or the wrong tense verb. I know I only use it as a quick flag while I'm writing to let me know if there is a word spelled wrong and then I make myself retype the whole word all over again without the aide of anything to make sure that I know how to spell it. When I finish the whole paper, I then go through and proof read for the extra words and fragments and such. SpellCheck is the doom of our written language I'm a afraid. Same with ChatSpeak. ChatSpeak ruins the English language for everyone by leaving out letters and abbreviating words into things that don't make sense. I know it is useful because it is faster to type, but that doesn't mean you should use it anywhere outside of texting or online chatting. I write out full words and sentences with correct punctuation whenever I type or text just so that I don't get thrown into the illiterate pile of people. There are elementary school kids that write in ChatSpeak because they are use to texting and such. My mom is constantly asking me to translate from ChatSpeak into normal English for her so that she can write out the real word for them. It is getting ridiculous.
This could not be more true, everyone relies so heavily on autocorrect in their daily use texting and messaging they have a harder time spelling on a day to day basis. I cannot lie and say I haven't fallen victim to this wide spreading problem. I have relied on my phone to correct the words I misspelled but have found it won't always change it to the word I was looking for. I have also noticed how many people start to use texting shorthand in their day to day lives and find it very hard to believe that it has become so popular. It may make texting easier but in real life it just makes you sound less intelligent.
I couldn't agree more. I think that spell check can be useful, but the article points out how often it doesn't correct typos, and that it of course doesn't correct grammar. Proper spelling and grammar is just as important as wearing your best business casual outfit to a job interview. It's a matter of presentation, because it shows that you pay attention to detail and review your work carefully. I know that I definitely use spell check, but always look for mistakes myself since I know my computer won't catch all of them. Because I pay attention to that, poor spelling and grammar piss me off and give me a poor opinion of the person who made those mistakes.
This article makes several valid points about using spell check. It is not always reliable and sometimes does more harm than good. I think the greatest issue though is the lack of responsibility it allows for people to gain. I try to use spell check with the intention of doing better in the future, but with the growing sophistication of spell check on most devices, it has become easier to type carelessly. It seems that the worlds answer to the lack of reliability of spell check isn't to educate it users, but to improve the program and sweep the bigger problem under the rug.
I love spell check! I couldn't survive without it, however with that being said I always make a point to read over my work checking for errors like homophones that spell check wont catch. At the same time though I'm never actually writing something thats going to be published. I understand you don't want mistakes in your writing because it makes you look sloppy, but at the same I feel like people can go overboard with the whole grammar police thing. People make mistakes it happens. If I mis spell a word in an email I send someone I would hope that that person is understanding of the notion that people make mistakes and therefore does not care. As long as you can get your point across then I don't see the point in people obsessing over spelling an grammar.
So many people could learn from this article. I know way too many people who will speed type their way through a sentence filled with grammatical errors, then they'll occasionally look back at the underlined words and fix them before they send off what they wrote, even though their sentence is still filled with obvious mistakes that could have been easily corrected. It's not that they don't know how to type its just that they don't care enough to go back and fix it.
This article is SEW true, and I'm sure I rely on it far too much. I remember the first time I wrote a paper using spell-check. It was amazing. I was never great at spelling, so it felt like a godsend to suddenly have such an easy way to make corrections. As useful as the function was, in the long run I don't think it's been very helpful. I still misspell words often. (In fact, spell-check has already helped me quite a few times in writing this response.) It'd be really interesting to know how improved my spelling would be now if I hadn't relied on spell-check for most of my life.
Spellcheck is definitely a useful tool if used lightly. In other words, it is completely fine to use it as long as you go back and check that you have indeed written in correct English. I won't lie and say I haven't fallen victim to this and always check my papers even the really long ones, but the author does make a valid point. Maybe one day spell check will become more advanced and check for homophones and typos, but for now I agree its best to review your own work.
I am so guilty of relying on spell check, especially when I am writing those papers at 3 in the morning. I think it is funny that there is an article on it since EVERYONE pretty much is guilty in this regard. When I do not have a spell check system, I feel so nervous and a little bit screwed. This article makes a good point, people who rely on spell check really do become too lazy and dependable. If only there was a way for Word and other programs to understand what you WANTED to say...
As someone who was writing a lot of college papers last semester and will probably continue until i graduate i understand and agree that spellcheck is both a blessing and a curse. Too many people do not proof read after using spellcheck but that isn't the only problem. The only full proof way to make sure your paper is written correctly is to give it to a friend. After a while you cant find your own mistakes. You yourself become as useless as spellcheck. Spell check isn't ruining the english language and how we use it. Laziness is ruining the English language. If people put more care into learning how to correctly spell words and how to correctly use grammar then we wouldn't be as bad off. One of my favorite English professors gave me the best advice i have ever heard about English and grammar: You have to know the rules before you can break them. I do find myself falling into this trap of being lazy. Im sure this comment is written incorrectly in many ways but this comment is a college paper or a resume or a cover letter or an email to a potential employer or my thesis. The best way to stay on top of your game is to always be careful in everything you write. As anyone who has texted me will tell you i do not care about my grammar, punctuation, or syntax when texting. Different things make me devote different amounts of time and thought. I think its all about appropriateness of context. That is just me though
I suppose it would be quite ironic for any comment on this article to have misspellings..
Anyways, proofreading is just so important. Good grammar and spelling can keep your resume on the stack and potentially influence what a reader of your work thinks of you and your intelligence. I would go so far as to argue that the quality of your prose is one of the best ways to make a good first impression on somebody. Spellcheck is a great tool, but document editing and revision should not stop nor start with it.
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