Redstone
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Sat Mar-04-06 11:58 PM
Original message |
Would it KILL you to use the goddamn spell-checker? |
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I've been reading an otherwise-excellent book about color correction and sharpening in Photoshop this evening, but have had to grit my teeth each time I see the word "dependant."
Spell-check is free. It only takes a few minutes, even for book-length text. Use it!
Sorry, guys, that's all I can contribute to this evening's discourse.
Redstone
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CaliforniaPeggy
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:00 AM
Response to Original message |
1. I'm so sorry, my dear Redstone...... |
Benfea
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:01 AM
Response to Original message |
2. That's really inexcusable in a printed book |
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What were they using for editors? 14 year olds from AoL chat rooms?
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Redstone
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:12 AM
Response to Reply #2 |
7. I don't think there actually ARE any editors anymore. |
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Judging from the shocking number of typographical and factual errors in the average book these days.
And I do not think I'm being picky. If someone had the time to compare books from, say the 1970s to books from the year 2000 on, I think the number of errors in the newer books would be enough to give those editors from the 1970s a coronary.
Redstone
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XemaSab
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:16 AM
Response to Reply #7 |
Benfea
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:17 AM
Response to Reply #9 |
11. Be sure to ask her what happened between the 70s and now. -NT |
XemaSab
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:18 AM
Response to Reply #11 |
12. Uh... she had me and stopped smoking weed? |
Benfea
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:20 AM
Response to Reply #12 |
13. Tell her to kick you out and start smoking weed again. |
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;)
Tongue firmly in cheek.
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Redstone
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:20 AM
Response to Reply #9 |
14. And? Tell me more. Does she insist that the authors run their |
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manuscripts though a basic spell-checker before she edits them?
I'm genuinely interested in your answer to this, and your mom's observations on the general state of editing in the 21st century, if you could pass them along to us...
Redstone
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XemaSab
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:27 AM
Response to Reply #14 |
17. She politely asks them to and they blow her off |
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And she thinks editing has declined, and when she sees typos in the New York Times and in supposedly well-written books she's appalled.
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RebelOne
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Sun Mar-05-06 06:39 AM
Response to Reply #7 |
21. I am a copy editor and I read and re-edit magazine stories after |
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the editors are finished with them. You would not believe all the errors that the editors miss.
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SofaKingLiberal
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:02 AM
Response to Original message |
3. I thought you were talking about posters here. |
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But a published book? There's no excuse for that BS.
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Oeditpus Rex
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:08 AM
Response to Original message |
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because it was "just a chat room."
Then it was okay because it was "just a message board."
Now, maybe it's okay because it's "just a tech manual."
The dumbing-down of America.
:cry:
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hfojvt
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:13 AM
Response to Reply #4 |
8. how is not relying on a computer to check your spelling |
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"dumbing down"? Spell check just makes bad spellers look as smart as the rest of us. Its not fair I tell ya. It just ain't fair! (Is their an apostrophe in aint?) :hide:
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Redstone
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:21 AM
Response to Reply #8 |
Oeditpus Rex
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:38 AM
Response to Reply #8 |
19. That spell check exists |
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is part of the dumbing-down, let alone that it too often goes unused or is taken as given.
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WritingIsMyReligion
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Sun Mar-05-06 10:55 AM
Response to Reply #4 |
hfojvt
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:10 AM
Response to Original message |
5. maybe they have declared their independance |
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from spelling rules. Spell check is not totally dependeble. I tried it on DU once and my computer locked up. That may have been when I was still on dial-up.
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Redstone
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:17 AM
Response to Reply #5 |
10. No, spell-checkers are not 100% dependable. That's why I always use |
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the two ultimate checking methods on things I write (things I'm getting paid to write, that is; not DU posts):
1) Let someone else read it, and
2) Read it aloud.
But for Christ's sake, if you're going to have your words printed in a book, at least use the damn spell checker.
Redstone
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hfojvt
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:34 AM
Response to Reply #10 |
18. unless they have gotten better - they are not 100% dependable |
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for example "Is their an apostrophe in aint?" Spell checker might not even include ain't in its dictionary, even if I prefer to unprofessionally use it (and in a novel it is totally appropriate to have characters who do not talk like English teachers). Second "their" is not spelled wrong there, but it is not the correct word either.
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Rabrrrrrr
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Sun Mar-05-06 07:00 AM
Response to Reply #18 |
25. Who cares if they are better are not? If a person is writing, esp. |
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Edited on Sun Mar-05-06 07:02 AM by Rabrrrrrr
for publication, there is no excuse for not having the spelling checked by yourself, a spell checker, AND an editor, and there is no excuse for typos making it into the final publication.
America is dumbing down - just as Oeditpus Rex said. First it was message boards being okay to be sloppy, then apparently tech manuals, and now it even seems okay in newspapers and books, and pretty soon I'm sure we'll be back to the pre-1800s, when everyone spelled words however they felt like it.
It's just fucking laziness, pure and simple, and a total disrespect for the medium of communication, and a total disrespect for the people with whom one is trying to communicate.
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WritingIsMyReligion
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Sun Mar-05-06 10:56 AM
Response to Reply #25 |
35. And a total disrespect for the art of writing. |
Rabrrrrrr
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Sun Mar-05-06 06:25 PM
Response to Reply #35 |
Katherine Brengle
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:10 AM
Response to Original message |
6. I hate typos in books--makes me want to puke. |
0007
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Sun Mar-05-06 08:42 AM
Response to Reply #6 |
28. Third world mentality! |
Katherine Brengle
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Sun Mar-05-06 09:44 AM
Response to Reply #28 |
29. I truly have no idea what you meant by that... n/t :) |
0007
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Sun Mar-05-06 11:18 AM
Response to Reply #29 |
36. I mean that it is a very common thing found in third world counties, |
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or at least the ones I've visited.
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Rabrrrrrr
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Sun Mar-05-06 06:28 PM
Response to Reply #36 |
38. And that's just what the republicans want us to be - a third world country |
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because then they can really take over the land, the factories, the businesses, and the government, and turn most of America into the serfs and peasants that those evil fucks need to satiate their greed and egos.
It's the reason they wage war on education and intelligence and intellectualism and critical thinking.
And the truly sad thing is that 90% of America thinks not only that that is okay, but that it is the best way, that it is an excellent way, and they are willingly handing their lives over to what amounts to a satanic ideology.
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TennesseeRain
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Sun Mar-05-06 12:25 AM
Response to Original message |
16. As a matter of fact, I think it might. |
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It just might be the thing that does me in.
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ContraBass Black
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Sun Mar-05-06 08:18 PM
Response to Reply #16 |
42. Somebody had to say it. |
RebelOne
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Sun Mar-05-06 06:37 AM
Response to Original message |
20. Believe it or not, but in my American Heritage Dictionary |
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right after the entry for dependent, it reads "Also dependant." That's why spell checkers don't pick it up.
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Oeditpus Rex
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Sun Mar-05-06 06:36 PM
Response to Reply #20 |
39. It should be remembered |
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that dictionaries reflect popular use, not necessarily correct use.
There's a difference between "correct" and "acceptable."
Or should I say "acceptible"?
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Robeson
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Sun Mar-05-06 06:43 AM
Response to Original message |
22. I try to, But are we evil if spell-checker doesn't pick it up?.... |
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...does that put us on the dark side?.....:shrug:
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DeepGreen
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Sun Mar-05-06 06:48 AM
Response to Original message |
23. dependant is a variant of dependent |
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Webster shows dependant as a variant of dependent. So, it is possible that a spell checker might not catch it. The spell checker for this message did not.
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LisaL
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Sun Mar-05-06 09:51 AM
Response to Reply #23 |
31. It's not just possible spell-checker won't catch it. |
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There is no way spell-checker would catch it. It's an actual word. How on Earth would spell-checker catch it?
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TheBaldyMan
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Sun Mar-05-06 06:59 AM
Response to Original message |
24. what about british vs american spellings ? |
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through habit I routinely use and abuse the UK version but have no problem reading american spellings, there is sometimes a little difficulty with idioms and the like. US spellcheckers are hopeless when I use them.
Surely the line is crossed when ambiguity creeps in because something is badly phrased or spelled. I'd rather read something that was well written but badly spelled than have a grammatically perfect piece of nonsense.
"Reading maketh a full man, conference maketh a ready man and writing maketh an exact man"
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In_The_Wind
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Sun Mar-05-06 07:01 AM
Response to Original message |
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:shrug: But sometimes I even confuse spell-check.
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Minnesota Libra
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Sun Mar-05-06 08:09 AM
Response to Original message |
27. In a book-no doubt written on a computer-that's inexcusable but....... |
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.....here on DU I just plain forget sometimes.:shrug: Will try to remember in the future because even I find it's hard trying to read around misspelled words sometimes.:spank:
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LisaL
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Sun Mar-05-06 09:50 AM
Response to Original message |
30. Spell-checker won't get this one, considering dependant is a word. |
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Edited on Sun Mar-05-06 09:53 AM by lizzy
4 entries found for dependant. de·pen·dant Audio pronunciation of "dependant" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-pndnt) n.
Variant of dependent. www.dictionary.com
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Burma Jones
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Sun Mar-05-06 09:55 AM
Response to Original message |
32. Yew R eh Esspeleeng Gnat Zee |
UrbScotty
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Sun Mar-05-06 10:53 AM
Response to Original message |
33. Yes it wood kil mi! Im Dann Kuayl. (nt) |
LynzM
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Sun Mar-05-06 06:38 PM
Response to Original message |
40. That bugs me to no end, as well |
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One of my text books for last semester hadn't even had first-round editing, I swear. Drove me freakin' batty. Things like missing punctuation at the end of sentences, words spelled incorrectly (ok, only some, it was a British text), grammar errors. But spelling, especially. Drop the whole damn thing into MS Word if you've got no alternative, and use that. The internet is one thing, a published text is another.
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SOteric
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Sun Mar-05-06 07:18 PM
Response to Original message |
41. Nope. It probably wouldn't kill anyone to use a spell-checker. |
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But, it might kill you to be getting so wound up over spelling errors.
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