# Can I override MS Word auto-correct for "Hawai'i"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-override-ms-word-auto-correct-for-hawaii/846636>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 18, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-override-ms-word-auto-correct-for-hawaii/846636 "2020-01-18T22:11:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-override-ms-word-auto-correct-for-hawaii/846636/21 "2020-01-21T05:32:27Z")

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> [@lingyi](#):
>
> Long as it’s on on Kuhio Ave or Maunakea St. at night! 😉
> 
> J/K Sista CairoCarol!!

OMG! I just reread this and I meant “_ **not** _ on Kuhio Ave or Maunakea at night!” I promise!!!:smack:

Edit: Don’t want Mr. Cairo… to come looking for me! :eek:

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**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-override-ms-word-auto-correct-for-hawaii/846636/22 "2020-01-21T05:39:42Z")

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> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> See Post #13.

Truthfully, most people wouldn’t notice, much less say anything about it. It’s ingrained in my mind because I spend hours hand inserting okinas and kahakos (no Hawaiian font pack or keyboard support back then with a deadline to get it to the printers first thing the next morning. Hot, to the minute topical stuff!

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**Author:** ![Vesicant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/43a26b/32.png) [@Vesicant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vesicant)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-override-ms-word-auto-correct-for-hawaii/846636/23 "2020-01-25T02:20:11Z")

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Use the **Formatted text** option in Autocorrect. (This is for Word on Windows; don’t know about Mac.) First, type the word “Hawai’i” using whatever font you want for the okina; it doesn’t have to be the same font as the surrounding letters. If you don’t have a Hawaiian font, use Unicode 02BB in Arial, Calibri, Cambria, Cambria Math, Lucida Sans Unicode, Microsoft Sans Serif, or Times New Roman (there may be others; those are the fonts I found in my version of Word. Word calls this character a “Modifier Letter Turned Comma.”) Next, select the entire word – don’t copy or cut it, just select it. Then go to the Autocorrect dialog and select the **Formatted text** radio button. Your formatted “Hawai’i” will already be in the **With** box; don’t do anything to it. In the **Replace** box, type anything you want; it doesn’t have to be the whole word “Hawaii” or “Hawai’i”. For instance, you might use “hawa”. Click **OK** twice to close out the dialog boxes, and then test by typing “hawa” or whatever and then pressing the space bar.

If you use a Hawaiian font and intend to distribute the document to other users, check the embedding permissions.

You can create kahako autocorrects the same way; a kahako is basically a macron, which most fonts have under Latin-Extended.

You can insert almost anything, not just single words, using this method. For instance, I have an autocorrect entry that inserts a formatted blank table and caption when I type “table1”.

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