Foo - I would guess I spell at a forth grade level.

and I have a college degree. How did I slip through the system. Seriously, if it wasn't for spell check I'd be lost. I totally panic when I have to write someone a hand written note.

It's all Microsoft's fault. Them and their spell check and grammar check. ;)

and I have a college degree. How did I slip through the system.


Yeah, right, blame "the system". It's you that people are evaluating when they read your written material, not your school. Fix the problem. Proofread your material, check spelling in a dictionary, memorize words that aren't obvious in how they are spelled, and use question marks at the end of questions, like "How did I slip through the system?".

Anyone who gets high and mighty about grammer will be subjected to my wife - the editor. Be afraid, be very afraid.

You want totally screwed up spelling? Have parents who are hillbillies and mix it with living in a Spanish speaking country.

MS Word needs a grammar check program for today's modern illiterate.

Sad to say, the grammar checker in the current products of Microsoft is lame, very lame.

I've found MS spell check to be wrong a lot of the time anyway. I would suggest reading more. Maybe just go to a community college and take a few english classes, and don't allow yourself to use spell check.

Sad to say, the grammar checker in the current products of Microsoft is lame, very lame.Indeed. Word has had a grammar checker for a long time, and it has always sucked. Too bad that fact hasn't forced more people to learn proper grammar on their own... :rolleyes:

(Note: Before anyone pokes fun at any grammatical mistakes contained in my post, please know that I do not claim to be an expert, myself. ;))

MS Word needs a grammar check program for today's modern illiterate.

So you're saying if I don't know who my grammar is, I'm illiterate?

you must have gone to yale.

So you're saying if I don't know who my grammar is, I'm illiterate?
No, but if you don't know who your mar is, it's possible you're illegitimate.

Yeah, right, blame "the system". It's you that people are evaluating when they read your written material, not your school. Fix the problem. Proofread your material, check spelling in a dictionary, memorize words that aren't obvious in how they are spelled, and use question marks at the end of questions, like "How did I slip through the system?".

I refuse to take any responsibility. The MAN is holding me back, yo.

and I have a college degree. How did I slip through the system. Seriously, if it wasn't for spell check I'd be lost. I totally panic when I have to write someone a hand written note.
Did you have to speel check that? You seem fine to me.

Duke: The lights are growing dim Otto. I know a life of crime has led me to this sorry fate, and yet, I blame society. Society made me what I am.

Otto: That's bull****. You're a white suburban punk just like me.

I have always found that spelling was of great interest to me. All through elementary school I always won the spelling bees. Not saying I am the perfect speller, but I try to reread before "sending". I guess that you were not all that interested in spelling in school, would that be correct?

If spelling and writing legible were that important then Doctors would learn how.

It's fourth grade, not forth grade.

(Spell check won't help you've confused two different but properly spelled words. See, e.g., break v. brake, road v. rode, there v. their v. they're.)

If spelling and writing legible were that important then Doctors would learn how.

Hey! Doctors can spell...just ask a pharmacist. They can read it.

hukt on fonix wurkd four me.

Ode to the Spell Checker.


Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

Arthur On Gnome

Don't just use spellcheck to fix the errors, take a good look at the word.
If you're like most people, there are a few regular old words that give you fits.

For instance, one of mine was license . I kept wanting to put an 's' before the 'c'. But by making sure I really took note of it when it was spellchecked, I slowly weened myself off the misspelling.

BTW, for anyone using IE, or an IE derivative, IESpell (http://www.iespell.com/) is an awesome browser extension.

Surely "spell checkers" are used only by wizards; perhaps what you really need is a "spelling checker". Here's something I came across a while ago, which might even make such things obsolete:


To all lovers of the Queen's English:

The European Commission has just announced an agreement that English will
be the official language of the EU, rather than German (the other
possibility). As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government
conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement, and has
accepted a 5-year phase-in of new rules which would apply to the language
and reclassify it as EuroEnglish.

The agreed plan is as follows:

In year 1, the soft 'c' would be replaced by 's'. Sertainly, this will make
the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard 'c' will be replaced by 'k'.
This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan now have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the
troublesome 'ph' is replaced by 'f'. This will reduse 'fotograf' by 20%.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to
reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments
will enkourage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a
deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the
silent 'e's in the language is disgrasful and they should eliminat them.

By year 4, peopl wil be reseptiv to lingwistik korektions such as replasing
'th' with 'z' and 'w' with 'v' (saving mor keyboard spas).

During ze fifz year, ze unesesary 'o' kan be dropd from vords kontaining
'ou' and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz year, ve vil hav a reli sensibil riten styl. Zer vil be no
mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand ech
ozer....

- Wil

you must have gone to yale.
Or Purdue!:p

Surely "spell checkers" are used only by wizards; perhaps what you really need is a "spelling checker". Here's something I came across a while ago, which might even make such things obsolete:


To all lovers of the Queen's English:

The European Commission has just announced an agreement that English will
be the official language of the EU, rather than German (the other
possibility). As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government
conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement, and has
accepted a 5-year phase-in of new rules which would apply to the language
and reclassify it as EuroEnglish.

The agreed plan is as follows:

In year 1, the soft 'c' would be replaced by 's'. Sertainly, this will make
the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard 'c' will be replaced by 'k'.
This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan now have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the
troublesome 'ph' is replaced by 'f'. This will reduse 'fotograf' by 20%.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to
reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments
will enkourage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a
deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the
silent 'e's in the language is disgrasful and they should eliminat them.

By year 4, peopl wil be reseptiv to lingwistik korektions such as replasing
'th' with 'z' and 'w' with 'v' (saving mor keyboard spas).

During ze fifz year, ze unesesary 'o' kan be dropd from vords kontaining
'ou' and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz year, ve vil hav a reli sensibil riten styl. Zer vil be no
mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand ech
ozer....

- Wil
undt ve haff vays of makink you talk!;)

I spell at the third grade level. Without my browser's spell check, my posts would be an outright embarrassment.

You're not alone in this. I often have to check the spelling of words. For common words, I just enter "define: word" in a google search bar. If it's not too common, I open up m-w.com.

A few that always get to me: opening, exaggerate, asphyxiate.

I've seen PhDs make ridiculous spelling errors before. Lawyers, doctors, research scientists, etc.

I don't even use spelling checkers for the most part. If a word doesn't look right, I look it up manually. It doesn't take very long, and it feels like it's actually helping my spelling improve, as opposed to just fixing it for me.