I just had to add "amidst" to my spell checker's dictionary

[Liberal]

Holy cow. I mean, I could understand something like "nanostructured" or "Siddiq". But amidst? Am I the only person who uses this term?

[ASAKMOTSD]

Amidst the teeming millions? I think not.

[Hal Briston]

I once had to add the word "beer" to a spell checker.

The programmers obviously hated life and all things beautiful.

[Scarlett67]

FWIW, Chicago discourages the use of "amidst." I can't find a cite, but I believe that it's more of a British usage. SImilarly for "amongst" vs. "among."

[Diogenes the Cynic]

That's why I don't use spell checkers. I'm more accurate than a spell checker. Spell checkers are contribiting to the downfall of culture.

[Yllaria]

Originally Posted by Diogenes the Cynic

That's why I don't use spell checkers. I'm more accurate than a spell checker. Spell checkers are contribiting to the downfall of culture.

Spellcheckers are OK. It's the stupid autocorrect that I hate. You can ignore or add that red squiggly line, but if you don't catch the autocorrect, you don't even notice that you misspelled a word.

I gradually empty the autocorrect dictionary and use it as macros for lazy shortcuts. At least I empty it until the next time that they decide to upgrade and it's teach the spell checker, empty the autocorrect time again.

[Manduck]

Originally Posted by Diogenes the Cynic

That's why I don't use spell checkers. I'm more accurate than a spell checker. Spell checkers are contribiting to the downfall of culture.

Maybe you should reconsider

[bbs2k]

Originally Posted by Manduck

Maybe you should reconsider

You beat me to it. Lord knows I'm not the world's best speller, but that was just too funny not to point out.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

That was a typo not a spelling mistake.

[Q.E.D.]

Originally Posted by Diogenes the Cynic

That was a typo not a spelling mistake.

But a spell checker would have caught it.

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by Q.E.D.

But a spell checker would have caught it.

And likely mangled two other words in the process.

Seriously though, I work as an editor and proofreader and I do use a spellchecker, but only after I've already thoroughly edited a piece. When used in this way, as a final check for any typos that the brain somehow misses*, they can be a godsend. Relying on them as a replacement for proofreading is stupid, though.


* Usually missing or repeated letters in the middle of a word, especially rs, ms, ns or ls for some reason.