There's a dictionary next to my PC lately... (OR, how not to look dumb on the SDMB)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

OK, I’ll admit it - while I considered journalism as a youth, and I currently write professionally as a sideline, I’m not the greatest speller in the world.

I also lose command of the language on occasion - brain dumps and all that.

So, I tend to have a small Webster’s dictionary sitting here on the desk next to the PC. There’s also a copy of Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style here as well.

On most of the message boards on which I participate, I don’t feel a great need for these publications. Here on the SDMB, however, I feel the need to aspire to a higher standard. In other words, either you people have corrupted me or enlightened me, depending on your point of view.

I’m curious - how many others out there keep language and writing aids handy while doping?

2

I don’t, but I’m starting to think I ought to. Lately I’ve been catching myself before hitting “Submit Reply” just to make absolutely sure that a particular word I used means what I think it does.

3

I’m not ashamed to admit I have a Dictionary and a Thesaurus handy at all times. I also try to remember if I write out a long post, to check it in spell check before posting.

4

Open up a second window and go to www.m-w.com, then minimize it. It’s the on-line version of the Merriam-Webster Tenth Collegiate dictionary (with an attached thesaurus). You can enter partial words using asterisk wild cards if you’re unsure of the spelling. When you need to check, hit the button, do your look-up, then minimize it, again. I do that with the M-W and with the Britannica when I’m cruising information/discussion type web sites.

(And, yeah, my puter is set up next to two of my reference bookcases.)

5

If I’m unsure, I check dictionary.com (respect). If I’m nitpicking, I check the OED (fear). And of course, the odd word crops up here that I don’t know (syncretism was yesterday’s).

6

I keep the dictionary, thesaurus, a strunk and white’s, and The Little, Brown Handbook near the computer as well as a few other resource books. It helps me on the SDMB and KidSthrnAccent with school work.

7

I don’t keep refs handy (though I’ll second the OP’s respect for S&W and I have an old OED) since I can spell; I just can’t type. I do read over just about everything before I post. Yes, sometimes I skip that and see it the instant I submit.

See also http://www.m-w.com/ and http://www.dictionary.com/ .

8

I spellcheck everything in Word before posting as I’m slightly dyslexic, and I’ve also had years to come to terms with the fact that my grammar sense and punctuation will always be slightly, uhh, flighty.

Now, if only MS did an Opinion/Attitude checker as well…

9

I’ve got it worse. Not only do I have a dictionary by the computer, my Bible also seems to have migrated here, along with a concordance. The dictionary I could justify for work but not the Bible!

CJ

10

I’ve had a dictionary by my computer long before I started doping. Of course, there are the websites like www.dictionary.com that can come in handy as well. Haven’t got a thesaurus yet, so maybe I should get one… who knows? And yes, I do spellcheck most of the time, as sometimes I can’t type well at all.

F_X

11

I don’t know - I’ve used the online dictionaries and I think I’m still enough of a troglodite to like actually thumbing through the pages of a non-virtual version…

12

Yup… me too…

I have a copy of Webster’s that came with a CD-ROM of the dictionary. I open up the dictionary program and leave it on the taskbar when I am doping (it has a dictionary and a thesaurus, so I kill two birds with one stone!).

Never go, depart, take leave, withdraw, move, set out, come away, go forth, take off, start, remove oneself, step down, quit (a place), part, part company, defect, vanish, elope, retire, walk out, walk off, get out, get off, get away, slip away, break away, break out, ride off, go off, go away, move out, move away, vacate, issue, decamp, abscond, flee, get out, flit, migrate, fly, run along, embark, emplane, sally forth, say good-by, entrain, emigrate, clear out, pull out, cut out*, push off*, cast off, scram*, split*, blow*, head out*, ditch*, give the slip*, vamoose*, sign out*, check out*, beat it*, take a powder*, take to the tall timber*, get rolling*, fade away*, pull up stakes*, get along*, make oneself scarce*, break squares with*, bid a long farewell*; see also disappear, resign 2, retreat 1, 2. home without one! :wink:

13

I’m a terrible writter and speller so if I don’t know how to spell a word I will put it through the spell checker. I normally don’t put a whole post though the spell checker though. I don’t have a dictionary at work, but I do have a huge one at home now.