# Will spell check ever be an option here? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 21, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949 "2005-08-21T01:59:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/1 "2005-08-21T01:59:46Z")
The one problem I have posting here is that I have to do so without a spell check option to catch my typos, and worse yet expose my ignorance of spelling from time to time. ☹ There is NO way I’d ever use an e-mail client without spell check to catch such horrors. My spelling abilities aren’t **that** bad that I am worried that others won’t be able to comprehend my posts. Still, I don’t like the thought that many posts are archived here for others to see my spelling inadequacies. ☹ Fortunately, the regs here aren’t in the habit of posting spelling flames. And I’m just too lazy to run all my posts through MS Word first to avoid this problem. Am I doomed forever to post here at my peril of making a spelling error? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/2 "2005-08-21T02:17:56Z")
Funny you should ask: This very day, **Astro** posted a link to a new Google toolbar that will do spell checking for SDMB posts. I’ve downloaded it, checked it out and it works. Then made a post without using it and posted a misspelled word. :smack: Look in MPSIMS for the thread and link. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/3 "2005-08-21T02:54:24Z")
[ieSpell](http://www.iespell.com/) is also a good Internet Explorer plug-in that allows you to spell-check any online text form from the right click menu. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/4 "2005-08-21T03:52:26Z")
> [@John Carter of Mars](#): > > Funny you should ask: This very day, **Astro** posted a link to a new Google toolbar that will do spell checking for SDMB posts. > > I’ve downloaded it, checked it out and it works. Then made a post without using it and posted a misspelled word. :smack: > > Look in MPSIMS for the thread and link. I just downloaded that and will check out the options. Hopefully until I figure this out the mods will tolerate any spelling errors in my posts. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/5 "2005-08-21T05:53:49Z")
I don’t need no stinkin’ spell check !!! Sure, sometimes their are “Dopers” who want to make shore that they’re postings are as error-free as possible. Still, we must remember that a spell checker, no matter how well it’s software has been tested, is not going to ketch every possible tpyo. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/6 "2005-08-21T11:45:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Hopefully until I figure this out the mods will tolerate any spelling errors in my posts. The mods don’t care about spelling or grammar. Actually, having no spell check and no ability to edit has cut down considerably on the number of niggling posts. In the past, someone posted a deep thought, and half of the responses were \<\< you misspelled ‘receive’ \>\> and not focused on content. Now, most posters understand Gaudere’s Rule (“whoever makes a nagging comment about spelling will, themselves, have a spelling error in their post.”) and we’ve got far less commenting on typos and far more on content. So, it’s a good thing. If you make a tremendous typo (like “now” for “not,” say), you can email a Mod and we’ll be glad to fix it. Or hit the REPORT THIS POST button, the little exclamation point in a red triangle in the upper right corner, and we’ll get to it. (One minor glitch: at present, you can’t report your own post; so report the post above or below it and tell the Mods exactly what you meant.) ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/7 "2005-08-21T23:02:13Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > I don’t need no stinkin’ spell check !!! > Sure, sometimes their are “Dopers” who want to make shore that they’re postings are as error-free as possible. Still, we must remember that a spell checker, no matter how well it’s software has been tested, is not going to ketch every possible tpyo. There ya go. In a recent post, I typed the word ‘BANNING’, and my spell check insisted I wanted to spell it ‘BANANA’. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/8 "2005-08-22T02:32:57Z")
Good point **ltfire** And I think I speak for the entire SDMB membership in saying that the postings to this board have more than their share of intellectaul references. Any spell checker for this Message Board had better come equipped with spellings for Kierkegaard, Schrödinger, Heisenberg, silicosis, Planck’s constant, interferometer, tunicate, neodymium, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/9 "2005-08-22T03:15:24Z")
Speeling ain’t no thang here. Readin’ Ritin’ and Rithmatic, however, are quite another matter. As long as your posts are good, no one will think twice about a spelling error. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/10 "2005-08-22T03:46:53Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Good point **ltfire** > And I think I speak for the entire SDMB membership in saying that the postings to this board have more than their share of intellectual references. > Any spell checker for this Message Board had better come equipped with spellings for Kierkegaard, Schrödinger, Heisenberg, silicosis, Planck’s constant, interferometer, tunicate, neodymium, etc. The spell checkers recommended here all have ability to learn new words, by adding them to the custom dictionary. For instance, thanks to your post, my dictionary now knows the word _tunicate_, which I hope you spelled correctly. You might be interested to note that it already knew all the other words you referenced. Remarkable level of erudition, wouldn’t you say? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/11 "2005-08-22T05:04:37Z")
**Fear Itself** Yes, I am aware that any spell checker worth its salt does have the ability to have new words added to its index. Still, when starting out with a new spell checker, isn’t it really annoying to do this as often as the Straight Dope Message Board would require? Your spell checker already had _Schrödinger_ on it? And spelled with the ö ? That is impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Corrvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@Corrvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corrvin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-spell-check-ever-be-an-option-here/317949/12 "2005-08-22T07:46:24Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > The spell checkers recommended here all have ability to learn new words, by adding them to the custom dictionary. For instance, thanks to your post, my dictionary now knows the word _tunicate_, which I hope you spelled correctly. You might be interested to note that it already knew all the other words you referenced. Remarkable level of erudition, wouldn’t you say? I find it even more remarkable that it swapped the ‘u’ and ‘a’ in “intellectual” while you weren’t looking! (Actually, it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who fixes typos when quoting stuff.) Corr