A Funny story about Microsoft Word spell check…

Okay, so I just had quite the laugh and thought some of you out there would get a kick out of hearing about a little slice of what life in my home is like.

“Honey, can you take a look at this?” My lovely husband asks…

I take the piece of paper, assuming my husband wants me to proof read it – and I notice right off the bat, he’s misspelled something. And it’s a critical something in a lending agreement. Barrower instead of Borrower.

I turned and gave him a cross-eyed look and point it out immediately.

Of course, he isn’t too happy with me. I get the “just read it and tell me if it makes sense before you start doing your editing thing”, but for me, letting something like this go is like asking a frightened child to let go of your hand and walk into the haunted house alone.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

And being the intellectual man he is, he doesn’t believe me when I tell him it’s wrong. And his defense – “Spell check didn’t flag it. It’s a valid word.”

Well no duh, barrower is a valid word, just not the RIGHT word. And calling the borrower a ‘castrated pig’ (the funniest of the definitions, and the one that got me rolling laughing) is not going to go over well.

Well, we both laughed after I showed him the definitions and he went off and fixed it, but this serves as a funny example of something I’m sure we’ve all done.

Well, maybe not calling someone a castrated pig by mistake, but, well, you know what I mean.

It’s one of the reasons having a proof reader is so critical, or reading something aloud before you press that send button because we, as the author of the document, or email, or book, don’t necessarily pick up on our mistakes.

Especially when the spelling is valid.

Spell check is definitely a double-edged sword, a way to visually see issues (red for incorrect

spelling and green for possible grammar infractions) but it can also be a faulty crutch, like we see in this situation. While it can safely identify your spelling and grammar infractions, it doesn’t always know what you’re trying to say and if you use autocorrect, you could end up in a pickle.

Just look at the iPhone autocorrect examples that have gone viral.

Pretty funny in the confines of your living room – but pretty embarrassing once you send the message, the letter, or let a book go to print.

Thanks for hanging with me for a bit and I hope this provided you with a little chuckle!

In the meantime, check out my newest release, Saving Grace,  if you have a chance, and look for my next release in The Ryan Chronicles, Raven Heart, coming out next week!