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A couple of items that have come up at least twice recently, that I hope people will keep in mind.
DEFINITELY -- For some reason, spellcheckers frequently mistake misspellings of "definitely" for "defiantly" (challenging, or aggressively contrary). In most cases, "definitely" is, uh, definitely the word they're looking for.
PRONE/SUPINE -- Lately, a couple of stories have had a character topple "prone" onto their back. "Prone" is on one's stomach, face down. It's "supine" that's face up, on one's back. Mnemonic: "supine" has "up" in it.
Hope that helps.
Eric
Yeah, people are...
Yeah, people are prone to make that mistake.
Janet
Mistress of the Guild of Evil [Strawberry] Blonde Proofreaders
To be or not to be... ask Schrodinger's cat.
Year.
Your going to find that you're spell checker is often wrong. Its too easy to trust it's results, and to many of them have reel problems with they're code writing and results. So my advice is just to breath deeply, and think about buying some nice new cloths. Otherwise you will loose your temper.
Reel problems
You must like to go fishing!
I don't remember what got past me on my last story, but they were like cockroaches.
I love my spellchecker, even if I do let it down now and again.
It's Only Words...
Me, I love to eat a PRONE of cornbread at times with butter.
May Your Light Forever Shine
Spell checkers..
Eric,
I agree. Most of these errors can be avoided by using the tools provide by most quality word processing programs.
When I write, I use the spell checker, but, if I put in words that it does not know, it flags them as wrong. I just right click it and add it to the dictionary. Most word processing dictionaries are not unabridged. If you are using specialized vocabularies, you need to add those words to the dictionary with a right click or specialized dictionary (medical or scientific terminology) The number of stories with excessive word mis-use (I find) is disturbing. There are too many to list.
Excessive miss use of words like: (to, too, two), etc. (then-Than) is annoying. Most word processors check grammar as well as spelling. Spell checkers only make sure a word is spelled correctly, but does not check if it is the correct word or in proper context. (fore, four, for) A grammar checker, even though most are far from perfect, is fairly accurate on making sure a word is used in correct context.
My advice is, if you want to be a serious writer, learn your tools. In the age of computers, good word processing software is required for serious writers. If you learn how to use your word processor properly, it can greatly enhance your story telling. Most word processing software can catch miss placed capitalizations, spelling, grammar, language use, and provide Synonyms or Antonyms etc.. None of these features will put good editors and proof readers out of business, but these tools do make their jobs easier. These tools let editors/readers focus on helping you improve the story content and flow by not being interrupted with excessive spelling and grammar errors.
If you can't afford MS Word or similar office package, there are some very good free office suites available for the time of a down load. I use Open Office and set it as my default to open MS .doc files. Open Office is an open source full featured version of Sun's Star Office. It is does have quirks, but for the price, I can't complain. MS doc files are business default formats. I use the program to save files into different formats and make PDF files.
This comment program is similar to MS Word Pad with limited editing features. I works for what it is designed for, but a quality word processor makes writing a lot easier.
Hugs,
Trish Ann
~There is no reality, only perception~
Update?
OpenOffice forked. The better fork with most maintainers and developers is, I believe, LibreOffice. It runs om most OSs.
Sun actually bought the product holds blouse from Star IIRC. Not sure if they put much into it.
As to industry standards, there is currently a cat fight going on as to whether to use the open source or MS versions of an "open" document standard. This is due to various governments trying avoid remaining locked in to a given supplier. So if the MS version wins then no real change for a few more years.
The ironic thing is that compatibility between the various versions of MS Word is considerable lower than between any given version and open source products.
What all the stuff above is trying to say is that LibreOffice is well worth checking out.
But what I actually use most nowadays is Apple's Pages since it works well with iCloud.
[End Incoherent blurb]
OpenOffice and friends
Star Office, the commercial version, is dead and buried. Several years ago, the codebase was made open-source (spawning OpenOffice), and the last few versions were based on OpenOffice code, with additional proprietary bits.
Then in 2010, Oracle bought Sun Microsystems. StarOffice was discontinued, while development of OpenOffice slowed. Many developers jumped ship, fearing that Oracle would either discontinue OpenOffice or place it under a more restrictive license.
The first release of LibreOffice (a fork of OpenOffice by the developers who jumped ship) was in January 2011, just before Oracle's first (and last) version of OpenOffice. Oracle then donated OpenOffice to the Apache Foundation, who expect to make their first release of Apache OpenOffice later this year.
Meanwhile, there have been several releases of LibreOffice since, with the latest (3.5.0) coming out on Valentine's Day (although it hasn't reached all Linux distro repositories yet).
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Errors
The most frequent errors I've noticed are missing quotation marks at the start or end of a segment of speech, thus requiring re-reading the line a couple of times to work out what's speech and what's narration; and homonyms (a word that sounds the same as the intended word, but is spelled and defined differently - e.g. threw and through). Remember folks, a spelling checker will only tell you if it doesn't recognise the word - it won't tell you if you've used the right word in the right place!
Extract from Jerrold H. Zar's "Candidate for a Pullet Surprise" (<-- Pulitzer Prize), available here.
Oh, and it's amazing how often characters' budgets are so stretched they resort to wearing cloths (small segments of fabric used for cleaning and dusting) rather than clothes (significantly larger segments of fabric designed to be worn)... one letter makes all the difference!
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
homowhatsit
That is the wrong way round. Homonyms are all spelt the same but have different meanings: therefore on the page they cannot but be correct usage. They are not necessarily good writing, however, if the reader has to stop and puzzle out which meaning is intended, although that does not occur very often. 'homo' = the same, 'nym' = name.
A trivial example from that paragraph: "spelt" (US usage = "spelled") relates to the order of letters in a word; it is also the name of a grain related to wheat which is useful to some wheat-allergy sufferers, and which makes a bread that is a pleasant change in its own right. The near-homophone version spelt "spelled" itself has homonyms: to be enchanted, to be relieved in some normal cycle of duty...
The words that sound like each other are homophones. 'homo = the same', 'phone' = sound. (Telephone, gramophone, Stylophone...). Those, the writer, and/or her/his proofer, and/or his/her editor, simply have to know. TINA.
Xi
Homphonic shampoo
One word that I have seen here from time-to-time is "Champaign" which, from the context, was referring to sparkling wine. That is a spelling different to the protected name for sparkling wine coming from a designated area of France, made by specified method and from specified grape varieties. But when spoken, the two version probably sound much the same.
The authors using the "-aign" spelling seem to be from the USA, and so in a different environment to me. I should be grateful for guidance:
- is this simply an homophonic error? Or;
- is it a generic word used in the USA for wine coming from sources outside the protected designated area? Or;
- is it perhaps a US branded product I know not of? Or:
- is it a special product for reluctant masochists? Or:
- what?
My thanks in advance for any enlightenment (by PM if you don't want to gunk up the thread any further than I have already).
Xi
'Reluctant masochists'
Snort!
Tee-Begone, For external use only...
Cyclist, don't 'snort' Tee-Begone! It's for external use only. Snorting it may cause you to foam at the mouth... lending credence to the ignorant belief that we are all quite mad.
Some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue
EU name protection doesn't reach into the US...
Champagne as a product name is protected within EU, forcing for example German sparkling wine competitors to use different branding, which happened quite a while ago. Russian and other sparkling wines, including US wines, may not be imported and sold under the name Champagne in the EU, which means that even most US sparkling wines have stopped using that word in their name. Some US states also enforce that brand protection, IIRC, but it's a per-state decision and I don't know which ones it applies to.
However, the name still remains to some degree as a common use word, less in the EU (or so I would expect) than in other parts of the world, so it's natural that people use it in their stories. As for the Champaign spelling, I would think that most of the time it's a combination of not seeing or using the correctly spelled word very often, and it being a homophone that looks like other words of French origin such as reign or arraign, so it feels "right".
Ah...a mere difference in a letter...*
Homophonic?
Homophobic shampoo?
New...from the makers of
Gay-Nay (tm)
Tee-Begone (tm)
***
comes a new product - A shampoo that will solve both same sex attractions AND Transgender issues all in one easy to apply shampoo...
This new shampoo is for you! Teens,kids and even adults will find Tee-Begone is effective for treating gender disorders, transsexualism, transvestism and will even get that Scot in you to gie up ye Kelts! Just lather rinse and repeat, lather, rinse and repeat, lather, rinse and repeat, lather, rinse and repeat......
Caution: This product has not been approved yet by the Food and Drug Administration; research on test subjects have shown that transsexuals may not necessarily dissociate magically with their previous sexual orientation after surgery; Side Effects include but not restricted to: frustration, dissatisfaction with product; depression; alcoholism; drug dependence; drug abuse; self-medicating; self-loathing; self-harm, self-destructive behavior; suicide. Your results may vary; Please consult some one with common sense before using this product.
Back to our programming; already in progress...
*previously published
Love, Andrea Lena
Words
One tiny little nitpick and I will be gone.
Shaking of the head means NO.
Nodding the head means YES.
Thank you.
devonmalc
Yea!
That one bugs me too!
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Not for everyone
I have forgotten which but there are some cultures in which the meaning of a nod and a shake are reversed.
Prone?
I thought laying face down was called prostate, and a prone was a type of crustacean...
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
And supine
... means being '(out of) your tree'?
Xi
Prone...
Lying down is called prostrate, as in, "she prostrated herself before him". That's not the same as prostitution, though.
Prone is lying on your gut. You're probably thinking of a prawn.
Penny
Ah, prawns!
And here I've been trying to play chess with prawns. All those I've had to forfeit cuz that keep getting eaten, which is also a town and some fancy school in Berkshire...
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
Eaten
I've been to Eton. The school is the town, basically. The buildings are just scattered all over, and the roads go right through the middle. A nice place to have a stroll when you've had enough of Windsor, which is just over the (pedestrian-only) bridge across the Thames.
I'm surprised your prawns didn't walk off the board, especially when they were en passant...
Penny
For Non-Northamericans....
There is a Champaign, Illinois, USA; also known as Champaign-Urbana....
There's also a Lake Champlain, between Upper NY State and Vermont. It's probably named for a French explorer. Spelled differently and not quite homologous.
Cheers 8)
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
"Heals"
I can endure reading pieces with bad spelling, except for one word: "heals" — when I read that someone is "walking in heals" I feel like I'm reading porn.
Shoes have heels.
They're, their. there.
Your going to feel much better once you've sorted you're word's out.
I hope
That you used the wrong your/you're on purpose to be ironic. I really think you did, but I'm pointing it out anyway. ;-P
Oh yes!
Yew are abolutely correct. In principal, anyway.
Seriously, in one of my currant cereals I am deliberately leaving a few errors in, as the author is meant to be a non-Anglophone by berth. Its fun!
Well... sometimes there is an
Well... sometimes there is an advantage in not having english as your mother tongue when writing english stories :D Homophones are not really a problem ;) Especially when translating stuff ^^
Ah whatever, in the worst case I have my faithful editor :)
Thanks Janet :D
me too :)
i think i've mentioned this before, but my personal bugbear is faze/phase. when people write "it didn't phase her" i always think there's an experiment in quantum physics going on.
it fazes me.
not as think as i smart i am