If I write an unknown word on the computer it gets highlighted and one option is to “Add to dictionary”. I do this fairly often if it is a word I will be using again. So where is this “dictionary”? How can I look at all the words I have added over the years?
This is actually app specific. Windows did introduce its own spelling dictionary, but it depends on the app if or how it is used.
Which apps / programs are you using when you add something to the dictionary? And on Windows or a Mac?
(You said computer, but it’s also different on phones.)
One site where it occurs is listed below. I am writing comments on various pages with an image on them. So anytime I add the name of some small town that isn’t recognized I have to include it in the dictionary. I guess you are right since I just checked a few towns I have recently added by starting a new Word document and Word doesn’t recognize them. Kalida and Ottoville for instance. In fact right now “Kalida” is not recognized by the Straight Dope but Ottoville is. I’m using Windows 11.
So, it sounds like, in this case, you are talking about “writing comments” on a web site, on your web browser, yes?
That’s correct.
Side note: In Chrome, you can also turn in Enhanced Spell Check, which works MUCH better, at the expense of privacy:
It sends the text you enter in your browser to Google for improved spelling suggestions.
If you’re OK with Google seeing everything you ever type and using it to train Skynet, in exchange you get the best spell checker in the world.
So which brand of browser are you using on your Win11? The answer depends totally on that.
Firefox
This seems to be the relevant info
All the way at the bottom it shows how to locate the plain text file which is their dictionary. Then you can open it in e.g. notepad and add, remove, or just look at.
LOL, I found that page at the same time you did. So “spell checker” is what I should have been searching for.
The instructions on the page are odd. I would not use Wordpad for pure text files. Not only is Notepad a better choice, but Wordpad was removed from Windows 11, so you’d only have it if you upgraded from Windows 10 or deliberately installed it.
(I know because I did the latter for a friend who likes to use it for basic storywriting.)
The irony is that the same site warns me about using Windows 10. (I’m using the ESU, so I’m fine.)
I had the same reaction. WordPad? WTF you guys smokin’?
Something I read said “add to dictionary” means the apps( MS Office?) create a parallel file containing custom entries to also check, rather than modifying the primary dictionary.
Yeah, this would nearly always be the case. it’s actually a general rule in application design that user customizations are in some way kept separate from the defaults that come with the app. And in this case separate files is the easiest way to do that.
Each app (or app set) has their own dictionary. So it’s a dog’s breakfast.
Edge doesn’t use the dictionaries Office uses. Discourse has its own separate dict from everything. Each one has their own goofy UI to add/edit and many don’t have any approved way to remove an entry added by mistake. None have a way to declare that a default dictionary word spelled “xyz” is in fact wrong.
IME more and more sites and apps crowdsource their spelling. With the predictable outcome. Lots of typos are accepted as legit correct spellings.
It’s a total shitstorm.