Question about word

[lovecraft68]

Okay, right off the top I am going to admit what I have many time sin the past, I am a tech dummy. I know a few basic things about word but not much.

My question is does word have some type of "default" spelling of certain words, or does it "assume" what you are typing?

The reason I ask, is that when I submitted my last story a couple of weeks ago, someone e-mailed me and said to watch my spelling. That I had "site" instead of "sight"

Now the one thing I pride myself on is spelling. My grammar may not be the best, but my spelling is excellent. And I do have spell check. I went back to the story figuring well of course I can make a mistake. Okay well Sight was "site" six different times. I would not have made the same mistake that many times. I also found Waist as "waste" nasty little typo there. I found several other examples as well.

Now because Site is a word it didn't light up the spell check and I missed fixing them. I now noticed in going over my latest story that the word Shoe has shown up as show 3 different times. Again even if I screwed up, it wouldn't be the same way three different times.

So like I said is there some type of default thing going on here? Is there a way to fix it?

BTW I suppose it would help if I added that I am using word 2007, and that I am also using a brand new lap top and the only story I have written on it so far is the one with the issues.

 

[PennLady]

Word does have default settings. I have Word 2003, so I'm not sure if this is exactly the same, but try "Tools" and then "Auto Correct Options." This is where you should find auto spelling options and things like that. Like, if you type "mna" it will auto correct to "man" (just a random example). There are various tabs to check. It could be that if you typed something like "sitg" it automatically corrected to "site." Not saying it is, that's just a guess, but you get the idea.

You could also try "Format" and "Auto Format" and then click the "Options" button. Most of that is text appearance -- quotes, ordinal numbers, etc. -- but if you can't find what you're looking for under the Auto Correct, you could try here.

I turned a lot of these things off and left them off b/c of my previous job, and now I'm just used to it that way.

 

[lovecraft68]

Word does have default settings. I have Word 2003, so I'm not sure if this is exactly the same, but try "Tools" and then "Auto Correct Options." This is where you should find auto spelling options and things like that. Like, if you type "mna" it will auto correct to "man" (just a random example). There are various tabs to check. It could be that if you typed something like "sitg" it automatically corrected to "site." Not saying it is, that's just a guess, but you get the idea.

You could also try "Format" and "Auto Format" and then click the "Options" button. Most of that is text appearance -- quotes, ordinal numbers, etc. -- but if you can't find what you're looking for under the Auto Correct, you could try here.

I turned a lot of these things off and left them off b/c of my previous job, and now I'm just used to it that way.

Thank you PL, I'll check those out. I think, as you did, I'll shut them off and just let the spell check flag it, I'd rather not give word the option of figuring out whatever the hell it is I'm trying to say.

 

[D_Lynn]

Be aware that Word does NOT check for all heterographs (words pronounced the same but with different meaning and spelling.)

MS Word 2003 will not call out 'site' as a problem when it should have been 'sight' but Word 2007 attempts to autocorrect this. It does sound, however, like your default settings are backward. The 2007 manual suggests that it will always change 'site' to 'sight' rather than the other way around.

Be thankful it hasn't changed languages on you. This is the most frustrating thing for me.


-D

 

[PayDay]

Auto Correct = FTL

PennLady is on it with the 'auto correct' options. They will drive you mad as a hatter when you break the rules intentionally or unintentionally. I run the same, 2003, and found that the majority of actual errors in my stories were from these options being checked across the board. It will finish words as you type and change words after you put them in, as if it knows what you are typing. I finally just shut them all off save the grammar and spelling checkers. (green and red lines)

I was going to switch to the Open Office version until I found that menu. You would be amazed what it does automatically. I'm glad it's not just me that had this problem.

 

[lovecraft68]

PennLady is on it with the 'auto correct' options. They will drive you mad as a hatter when you break the rules intentionally or unintentionally. I run the same, 2003, and found that the majority of actual errors in my stories were from these options being checked across the board. It will finish words as you type and change words after you put them in, as if it knows what you are typing. I finally just shut them all off save the grammar and spelling checkers. (green and red lines)

I was going to switch to the Open Office version until I found that menu. You would be amazed what it does automatically. I'm glad it's not just me that had this problem.

I'm glad you added the part about it finishing words, before you do. I can;t tell you how many times I've looked up and done a "did I type that?" double take. There were times I sat there shaking my head thinking "am I really that tired?"

 

[R. Richard]

Spell check is fine. However, nothing else beats a human editor reading text.

 

[PayDay]

I'm glad you added the part about it finishing words, before you do. I can;t tell you how many times I've looked up and done a "did I type that?" double take. There were times I sat there shaking my head thinking "am I really that tired?"

Don't worry, you are not totally looney or tired.

WORD will also auto-correct mass pages of text when it auto saves unless you tell it not to. For instance, if you write a page of text, check it twice, and move on, a few minutes later when you return to 'double check' a detail to keep the story accurate, sentences are full of changes based on WORD's settings.

...Auto correct and auto changes make PayDay something... something...

 

[estragon]

The heterograph and the homophone are the fraternal twin offspring of the spellcheck devil. They slide undetected below the software radar, or worse, are introduced, virus-like, into the unsuspecting text by the very software that is supposed to purify that text. And AutoText and AutoCorrect are the Typhoid Marys of corrupt spelling and usage. When in doubt, disable them.

There will always be a need for a human eye, be it the author's or the editor's. Better yet, both.

Huked on fonix wurked fer mi.

 

[lovecraft68]

Spell check is fine. However, nothing else beats a human editor reading text.

That is correct, want to find me one? I have had several in my time here. Inevitably they get busy with real life or in many cases their own writing. I don;t complain, I mean it is a volunteer program, but it is tough to find and keep an editor.

Normally I let the wife look it over for obvious typo's and mistakes, but she was away at a seminar the weekend I submitted the last one.

 

[lovecraft68]

The heterograph and the homophone are the fraternal twin offspring of the spellcheck devil. They slide undetected below the software radar, or worse, are introduced, virus-like, into the unsuspecting text by the very software that is supposed to purify that text. And AutoText and AutoCorrect are the Typhoid Marys of corrupt spelling and usage. When in doubt, disable them.

There will always be a need for a human eye, be it the author's or the editor's. Better yet, both.

Huked on fonix wurked fer mi.

As I said to Richard, want to find me an editor? It is an endless quest for many here.

 

[PayDay]

I 've had my shots.

The heterograph and the homophone are the fraternal twin offspring of the spellcheck devil. They slide undetected below the software radar, or worse, are introduced, virus-like, into the unsuspecting text by the very software that is supposed to purify that text. And AutoText and AutoCorrect are the Typhoid Marys of corrupt spelling and usage. When in doubt, disable them.

There will always be a need for a human eye, be it the author's or the editor's. Better yet, both.

Huked on fonix wurked fer mi.

That are be some good propper brain speak letters there.

If this thread had a sticky, it could act as a vaccination against the WORD viruses in all of their forms. A friend of mine runs the new MSOffice, but rarely uses WORD on it. I'm going to check that version and see if it has the same bugs (ha). If it does, I'll post it here. Unless, that is, someone beats me to it.

 

[R. Richard]

That is correct, want to find me one? I have had several in my time here. Inevitably they get busy with real life or in many cases their own writing. I don;t complain, I mean it is a volunteer program, but it is tough to find and keep an editor.

Normally I let the wife look it over for obvious typo's and mistakes, but she was away at a seminar the weekend I submitted the last one.

Actually I always use one editor. He gets one of my books/short stories about a week after I write it and goes through it very thoroughly. His name is R. Richard. He works really cheap. However, he has all that he can do, just to keep up with my output.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Spell check is fine. However, nothing else beats a human editor reading text.

Uh, no. Human editors are the worst when it comes to words that are spelled almost exactly like other words that have almost the same meaning, viz., MATERIAL and MATERIEL, THEATER and THEATRE, CENTER and CENTRE, EFFECT and AFFECT. Copy editors are the worst of the worst.

 

[PayDay]

Uh, no. Human editors are the worst when it comes to words that are spelled almost exactly like other words that have almost the same meaning, viz., MATERIAL and MATERIEL, THEATER and THEATRE, CENTER and CENTRE, EFFECT and AFFECT. Copy editors are the worst of the worst.

Problem with human editors, is that they keep trying to tell you you can't put "hear" in place of "here" in dialogue. Grammar Nazis...

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Turn off auto correct and leave spell check until the end as a manual operation. Or slow down and read what you type, all though I can read much faster than I type.

 

[Darkniciad]

I don't turn off auto-correct, I just limit it.

I let it change things like "oft he" to "of the" and a few other finger fumbles, but otherwise don't let it muck around with actual spelling. I leave the highlight on, though. It reminds me of my "problem" words and forces me to pay attention to them so I eventually get them right.