# How do I set a common word in Word 2007 to be not in the dictionary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266 "2009-09-23T18:19:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/1 "2009-09-23T18:19:08Z")
I’d like to never, ever take the chance of writing "Pubic Affairs’ instead of “Public Affairs”. I can’t see that I ever need to write “pubic” at work, so I’d like the dictionary to think it’s spelled wrong. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/2 "2009-09-23T19:15:48Z")
[http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/ExcludeWordFromDic.htm](http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/ExcludeWordFromDic.htm) Come on, it’s the first hit in the help file when you search for “dictionary”! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/3 "2009-09-23T19:17:59Z")
No way to do it from within Word, huh? I don’t have access to the files; we’re on a Citrix server. Darn it. Thanks anyway! ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/4 "2009-09-23T19:20:04Z")
You’ll want to add as many other possibly embarrassing “real words” to your exclusion dictionary, such as asses/assess, martial/marital, cunt/count . . . I’m on deadline right now, or I’d open mine and give you a few more. Oh, also less embarrassing but still easily mistyped: lean/learn, mange/manage, manger/manager, change/chance, angel/angle . . . ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/5 "2009-09-23T19:24:50Z")
You could record a macro that would highlight all of your problem words: Find: pubic Replace: leave box blank, but click More \> Format \> Highlight. Kind of a wonky fix, but doable. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/6 "2009-09-23T19:25:43Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > No way to do it from within Word, huh? I don’t have access to the files; we’re on a Citrix server. Darn it. > > Thanks anyway! How about just using AutoCorrect? Word Options-\>Proofing-\>AutoCorrect Options. Check “Replace text as you type” and enter “Pubic” under Replace and “Public” under With. Maybe not ideal, because I guess you can’t guarantee that when you typed “pubic” you meant “public”, but at least the typo will be less embarassing. Although come to think of it, you could tell it to replace “pubic” with “xjslksdjf”, and then it would get underlined as misspelled. I’m not sure if that’s going to work in your Citrix environment. I suppose it would affect all users, would it? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/7 "2009-09-23T19:52:11Z")
I don’t know, I’ll try it, Mr Squishy (what an awesome username). But I don’t know that anybody really needs to type the word pubic at work. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/8 "2009-09-23T19:58:40Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I don’t know, I’ll try it, Mr Squishy (what an awesome username). But I don’t know that anybody really needs to type the word pubic at work. Well, I think it’s safe to say that the three times I typed “pubic” above were the first three times I’ve ever typed it at work. Oops, now there’s a fourth. Hopefully that will be the end of it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/9 "2009-09-25T19:48:39Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > But I don’t know that anybody really needs to type the word pubic at work. Strippers, when filing worker’s comp claims. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/10 "2009-09-25T19:52:04Z")
Mika, you can set the autocorrect options to that any time you type “pubic affairs,” Word will change it to “Public Affairs.” You may wish to put it other possible misspellings, or even automatically change “pubic” to “public” as you type. ETA: And I shall others have already suggested that. But I still think it’s a good idea. As much as I despise Word in general, I love Autocorrect; I add an entry at least once a day. For me that’s a better fix than screwing with the dictionary, as I don’t trust spellecheck in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/11 "2009-09-25T19:58:03Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Strippers, when filing worker’s comp claims. [humorless mode] Strippers tend to be independent contractors. I don’t they they qualify for worker’s comp. [/hm] ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-set-a-common-word-in-word-2007-to-be-not-in-the-dictionary/511266/12 "2009-09-25T20:03:46Z")
David Pogue (computer columnist for the New York Times) has written about how he uses things like AutoCorrect to increase his productivity. So if you often have to type a phrase, you can program the software so that it replaces “PA” with “public affairs”. This can be a useful thing if you often write on the same subjects frequently.