# I just had to add "amidst" to my spell checker's dictionary
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 22, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563 "2007-08-22T21:33:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/1 "2007-08-22T21:33:56Z")
Holy cow. I mean, I could understand something like “nanostructured” or “Siddiq”. But _amidst_? Am I the only person who uses this term?
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### Author:  [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/2 "2007-08-22T21:47:23Z")
Amidst the teeming millions? I think not. 😉
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### Author:  [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/3 "2007-08-22T21:53:53Z")
I once had to add the word “beer” to a spell checker.
The programmers obviously hated life and all things beautiful.
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### Author:  [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/4 "2007-08-22T21:55:41Z")
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.”
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/5 "2007-08-22T21:56:32Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/6 "2007-08-22T22:00:20Z")
[QUOTE=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.
[/QUOTE]
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.
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### Author:  [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/7 "2007-08-23T02:35:24Z")
[QUOTE=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.
[/QUOTE]
Maybe you should reconsider 😛
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### Author:  [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2007, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/8 "2007-08-23T02:54:18Z")
[QUOTE=Manduck]
Maybe you should reconsider 😛
[/QUOTE]
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.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/9 "2007-08-23T03:02:38Z")
That was a typo not a spelling mistake.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/10 "2007-08-23T03:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
That was a typo not a spelling mistake.
[/QUOTE]
But a spell checker would have caught it.
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-had-to-add-amidst-to-my-spell-checkers-dictionary/416563/11 "2007-08-23T14:47:20Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.]
But a spell checker would have caught it.
[/QUOTE]
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.