Spell checker misery.

[KemppiFrog]

Great thread, still chuckling. References to 'merkins' make me laugh (mrs kf is from there) they actually speak Elizabethan English, but do over complicate it recently. And their spelling is a bit more rational. Color= Colour. Ours is more French.
As for spell checkers (wasn't that the title?) I keep paper dictionaries handy. Found out I was slightly dyslexic after years of battling higher maths. But I can 'see' any drawing as a finished product in HD. Swings and roundabouts. But my maths hiccup cost me a place at Kings College in London to do Mech Eng. Still, life has panned out differently. Better or worse? No idea, but certainly different...
KF

 

[Shox Dr]

Paper dictionaries are not worth the paper they are printed on, to a Dyslexic. The main problem been you need to know how to spell it to find it.

 

[julianthegypsy]

The misuse of unique is something that grates with me too, the worst example I've heard being "very unique". No it isn't! It's like describing someone as being "a bit pregnant". You either are or you aren't for crying out loud. I'm not usually that pedantic but it has me reaching for a frying pan.

 

[KemppiFrog]

Yes, and the other one is 'decimated' now used to mean virtually wiped out. It fact it means 1 in 10, from the Roman punishment if a legion disobeyed orders.
As for paper dictionaries: I use this PC for three languages and the spell check does not work for two. As my dyslexia is mild, finding words is not a problem, it is just the odd mix of letters.
KF

 

[MattF]

As for paper dictionaries: I use this PC for three languages and the spell check does not work for two. As my dyslexia is mild, finding words is not a problem, it is just the odd mix of letters.

It's when you come across the likes of chutzpah, (check the pronunciation with the dictionary ), that the dictionary searching can become a tad frustrating.

 

[ajlelectronics]

I can see the frustration with that. I think that some of the spelling issues are cause by poor pronunciation sometimes. Look at the times we see "would OF" and the like. One of my associates uses "simUlar".

 

[Dev]

Interestingly, English is the most difficult language if you have dyslexia. The condition is not nearly so common in the speakers of any other language.

 

[CRB]

I can see the frustration with that. I think that some of the spelling issues are cause by poor pronunciation sometimes. Look at the times we see "would OF" and the like. One of my associates uses "simUlar".

There was a piece on the BBC News some time ago, about a school in Essex, and how they taught English. The pupils/students were around seven years old and were subjected to a spelling test.

The precise words escape me at the moment, but suffice to say that the spelling imitated the pronunciation too closely.

Should have done a search first

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-16831384

Heaven knows what would have been made of Larn yersel Geordie.

.....and him offof the telly annoys the bleedin' life out of me....

 

[rtbcomp]

Loads of people use "insure" instead of "ensure", especially politicians being interviewed on the radio.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Dispatch instead of the correct dEspatch, unless discussing military papers. Then we have "momentarily". It means FOR a very small amount of time, as in a momentary contact. It is used by Steve Wright and Amazon to mention just two, to mean IN a short time. My complaint email to Amazon was ignored.

 

[Dev]

Some word do come to have a generally accepted meaning even if it differs from the original one.

'Chauvinism' for example. There's no point correcting people who use it as a synonym for sexist. Even though that's not what it means it's become commonly understood.