# A red line does not mean I spelt it wrong. Reduced intelligence through technology. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 13, 2008, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158 "2008-05-13T13:05:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/1 "2008-05-13T13:05:08Z")
At least not necessarily. A red underline, when I’m typing something into a word processor or browser window, merely means _the computer does not recognise the word_. I’ve lost count of the number of times one of my kids, reading over my shoulder as I type, has piped up “Dad, you spelt that wrong!” - just because there’s a red line there. Sometimes it really does mean I’m wrong, other times, it means the computer just doesn’t know the word, but my kids trust the red line too much and will sometimes just right click and replace with the default suggestion (rendering the text nonsensical). Similarly, they’ve picked up the phrase “make a legal U-turn”, spoken by GPS units in an assortment of TV programmes and films, except that it has entered their consciousness as “make _ **illegal** _ U-turn”. Now, every time I perform a U-Turn in my car, they pipe up “Dad! U-Turns are illegal!” Youth of today, I dunno. Grumble. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/2 "2008-05-13T13:07:07Z")
Uke ids get often Milan! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/3 "2008-05-13T13:12:04Z")
It’s all because of the very human trait, assuming. If most cases associate X with Y, it is human to assume ALL cases of X will also have Y. An example I run across frequently. In my neighborhood, we have only two telephone prefixes, 743 and 746. Before number portability, all cellphones were assigned 559 or 495 prefixes. After a while, people assumed that all cellphone numbers MUST begin with 559 or 495. Not so. I deliberately got a cellphone number beginning with 743 (I may have the only one in town for all I know). Now, when I give my cell number to anyone, I can predict I will always get a puzzled look, “Are you sure that’s a cellphone number?” “Yes, it is.” “But it begins with a 743.” “OK, why don’t you try calling it?” ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/4 "2008-05-13T14:17:31Z")
Off topic-ish but speaking of spell check, I was writing on the erasable board at work the other day and was sure I was spelling a word wrong and I kept waiting for the red underline to show up. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/5 "2008-05-13T14:19:49Z")
In all my years of using spell-check, I have found hundreds of typos . . . and one actual misspelling. It turns out that “baptistery” is spelled with an “e.” I never knew that; I always thought it was “baptistry.” Sometimes you learn things by accident. RR ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/6 "2008-05-13T16:28:58Z")
[QUOTE=RiverRunner] In all my years of using spell-check, I have found hundreds of typos . . . and one actual misspelling. It turns out that “baptistery” is spelled with an “e.” I never knew that; I always thought it was “baptistry.” Sometimes you learn things by accident. RR [/QUOTE] No. “Baptistry” is correct. At least, it’s the preferred spelling in my dictionary. Tha [interweb](http://www.answers.com/baptistry&r=67) gives preference to the other spelling, but clearly both are acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/7 "2008-05-13T17:21:37Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] …but my kids trust the red line too much and will sometimes just right click and replace with the default suggestion (rendering the text nonsensical). [/QUOTE] In the course of my work, I read literally thousands of student essays, from all over the US, and I can tell you this is RAMPANT. Teach your kids to know better! I’m begging here! ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/8 "2008-05-13T17:54:00Z")
The red line is one of the reasons I hate taking notes on my laptop in class. Some words I need to write down are long names of brain regions, weird diseases, research terms, names, etc. that are not recognized and my word doc ends up all colorful. It’s distracting. And I am also lazy and won’t always use correct punctuation or apostrophes so “wont” will be underlined in red. I know “wont” is wrong, I am not stupid, I just do not care. And I could turn the spellcheck off, but I do make typos as well and typos drive me crazy; I like to fix them. Just tell your kids when they are wrong and why. No need to let them go on believing they are always right when they are not. Good lesson for the future. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/9 "2008-05-13T18:07:28Z")
double post ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/10 "2008-05-13T18:07:11Z")
The same kind of stupidity is behind one of my pet peeves - the fact that people don’t understand that spell-check won’t catch a mistake if it’s a real word, even if it’s the wrong word. I even see this in books which are ostensibly edited by professionals. A character cannot possibly have a “flare” for something, except perhaps lupus. It’s “flair”, pleaseandthankyou. Gah. Along the same lines, it isn’t “for all intensive purposes”, regardless of the fact that spell check passed over it without a single peep. The fact that the little red underline didn’t appear doesn’t change the fact that you’ve used the WRONG word. However, the good ol’ fashioned skill of proofreading seems to be dying a slow death anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/11 "2008-05-13T18:09:09Z")
[QUOTE=myskepticsight] The red line is one of the reasons I hate taking notes on my laptop in class. Some words I need to write down are long names of brain regions, weird diseases, research terms, names, etc. that are not recognized and my word doc ends up all colorful. It’s distracting. And I am also lazy and won’t always use correct punctuation or apostrophes so “wont” will be underlined in red. I know “wont” is wrong, I am not stupid, I just do not care. [/QUOTE] Not to nitpick, but wont is a real word and shouldn’t be setting off the spellcheck. Which of course is another problem with relying on the computer. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/12 "2008-05-13T18:27:19Z")
On a similar note, I right clicked on a word in a Firefox text window recently to fix the spelling, but in my haste I managed to add the misspelled word to my custom dictionary: and now I can’t find out how to delete it! Help welcomed. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/13 "2008-05-13T19:09:00Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] . . . However, the good ol’ fashioned skill of proofreading seems to be dying a slow death anyways. [/QUOTE] Fewer and fewer publishers think they can afford the time it takes, is my professional observation. There are plenty of frustrated but competent copyeditors and proofreaders out there who simply aren’t allowed the time to find all the mistakes.[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/14 "2008-05-13T19:37:48Z")
My supervisor for grad studies always complained about students who had either trusted the magic red line, or left auto-correct turned on. His last name is Teh, so he gets countless papers, emails, etc. addressed to Dr. The. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/15 "2008-05-13T19:44:11Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] Off topic-ish but speaking of spell check, I was writing on the erasable board at work the other day and was sure I was spelling a word wrong and I kept waiting for the red underline to show up. :smack: [/QUOTE] Conversely, I have added red squigglys to whiteboards.. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/16 "2008-05-13T20:11:12Z")
[QUOTE=Ms Macphisto] My supervisor for grad studies always complained about students who had either trusted the magic red line, or left auto-correct turned on. His last name is Teh, so he gets countless papers, emails, etc. addressed to Dr. The. [/QUOTE] Good thing his last name isn’t suxxors. Outlook’s spell check often cracks me up. Here are a few suggestions it’s made: “Call me at Pam.” “Right back at yaw.” “I am just waking up now at ham.” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat.” “I love you sweetmeat.” “Tee heed.” “Marissa Tommy in My Cousin Vinyl.” “Draining a hecatome.” “I’ll make some coli slaw.” ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/17 "2008-05-13T20:24:12Z")
[QUOTE=Morelin] Not to nitpick, but wont is a real word and shouldn’t be setting off the spellcheck. Which of course is another problem with relying on the computer. [/QUOTE] Well I used “wont” because I just said won’t, but yes you are correct. It’s really more like “dont” “isnt” etc. that I run across. I just was not paying attention there. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/18 "2008-05-13T21:01:08Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] “I’ll make some coli slaw.” [/QUOTE] Mmm, just like mama used to make! ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/19 "2008-05-13T21:06:53Z")
[QUOTE=emilyforce] In the course of my work, I read literally thousands of student essays, from all over the US, and I can tell you this is RAMPANT. Teach your kids to know better! I’m begging here! [/QUOTE] I think it must be rampant in the publishing industry as well. You a lot of errors in books and magazines now that are pretty obviously the result of careless spellchecking and lack of real in-person editing. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158/20 "2008-05-13T21:12:16Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I’ve lost count of the number of times one of my kids, reading over my shoulder as I type, has piped up “Dad, you spelt that wrong!” - just because there’s a red line there. [/QUOTE] “Spelt” is a kind of wheat, right? Be sure and tell your kids. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-red-line-does-not-mean-i-spelt-it-wrong-reduced-intelligence-through-technology/449158.md?page=2)