I think dependence on autocorrect and spellcheckers has made many people sloppy in their writing. The first thing I do whenever I get a new computer, or a new image installed on a computer, is turn off all the autocorrect and autocomplete functions. On a Windows machine, this is easier said than done, as it seems everything is hidden in at least two places in each application. There is no universal place to turn it all off, so one must do it separately for Word, Excel, Outlook, etc., and in multiple places in each as well. It’s tedious, but I find it necessary.
There are two reasons I find it necessary. First, their grammar functions quite honestly, pardon my slang, suck. I wish I’d kept the examples it tried to stick me with earlier this week where it wanted to put commas where no commas belonged or to change the verb of something that was singular to a plural. It was driving me crazy. Fortunately, I only let the grammar functions suggest, never replace.
Second, I find the dictionary in my head is much more comprehensive than the dictionary in most computers. Ridiculous considering the memory available in computers today, but it is true. Most of them will throw the red squiggle under compound words and their suggestions break them apart. A lot of perfectly good plurals are missing as well. You type in the plural and it suggests a space between the word and the letter S. Really?
There are an amazing amount of websites dedicated to the foibles of the autocorrect function, which will turn one perfectly good word into another one. If you are not easily offended, here’s a collection of some really amazing ones.
Some of my personal favorites, though, come from people who don’t proofread their work and depend on spellchecker to catch their errors. I worked at a state agency that once had a memo come out from the Public Information Office, but left the “L” out of the word “Public.” Fortunately, it was an internal memo. Most people never noticed it until they sent out an apology memo afterward. Then there was the letter about the “underserved population.” This one might have been an autocorrect error, but it was printed as “undeserved population.” Not the same meaning at all.
And a new example, harping back to my first grammar rant, that I found while researching this one. This is a beauty. It’s a headline for Tails magazine. Their subheading for a cover article on Rachel Ray read, “Rachel Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog.” Just proves my point that those commas are NOT optional.
So please, friends, proofread your work. Do it more than once if you have time. The gremlin typos will still creep in from time to time, but their incidence will be so much less!
Internal Jukebox: God of Wonders, which Greg Mikeska was teaching us in choir Wednesday night for use in church this Sunday.