I understand that many people struggle with spelling even the most basic words. I’m no good with math, no big deal there. But generally speaking, someone who’s bad at spelling knows they’re bad at spelling. Which is why it drives me crazy to see people make no real attempt to spell words correctly whenever they write something.
I’m not talking about people who write with acronyms or intentionally shorten words, I’m talking about those who know they’ve likely spelled a word or two or ten incorrectly and refuse to take the extra 30 seconds to verify its spelling. How hard is it to make something you write just a little bit easier to understand?
There are rare occasions in which I’m not 100% sure if I’m spelling a word correctly, and what do I do? I take ten seconds to figure out if I’m right or not. So easy.
On this day in 2014 I published Help Wanted!. Very rarely will I spotlight a single person on here, so read this because that’s exactly what I did last year!
I basically grew up with a dictionary at hand and I still misspell a lot of words. I do make it a point to TRY fixing my errors though. If autocorrect shows me a mistake, often times I’ll erase the entire word and rewrite it correctly in hopes of having the spelling finally sink in.
That said, I can’t fault others for messing up now and then—doing it repeatedly just makes you looks lazy or unintelligent though. I guess some people don’t care if they look stoopid.
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And those are the ones I’m talking about. Not the mistakes every now and then, the repeated misspellings that happen out of laziness. I like how you use autocorrect.
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So. Much. Yes.
I suck when it comes to spelling. I freely admit this. Sometimes, I look at words that I’m pretty sure are spelled correctly, and I still go look them up. I’ve corrected bad spelling habits and have improved my spelling using this practice.
When you are on the Internet, there is no excuse for misspellings (auto-correct is something else entirely 😉 ). Most comment fields underline misspelled words. Many provide context-menu dictionaries. Dictionary.com is one click away.
Now, that said, a friend of mine is a college English professor. She has pointed out the spelling and grammar features of MS Word to her students, and they literally have said, “Is that what those red and green lines mean? I had no idea.”
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You’re exactly right. No excuse to be misspelling a bunch of words online when it’d take half a second figure to out if it’s correct or not. College kids are all lost. 😂
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I struggle with spelling myself. I may overlook a word that I think is spelled right. If you take the time to check your spelling, you may learn how to spell it next time. Great spellers are the ones that recongize the sounding of the words along with all the rules. I urge everyone to improve on there weakness and it will give you more confidence and don’t worry about changing overnight, but the effort will start improving your writing right away.
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It’s not even about being a great speller. It’s just about checking your spelling. Especially when you know you’re a bad speller. Just go back and take a little time to check it. Simple. (I’m not talking about you, just in general)
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I thought you were speaking in general. You just provoked in me a thought.
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I’m not sure what you just said, but okay.
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Haha yes! Though i usually leave the spell check for the second draft … otherwise it interrupts my thought flow 🙂
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Spelling interrupts your thought flow? 😮
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Oddly enough, yes! If it’s a word that I have a bit of trouble with (there are a few of those!) stopping to think of how to spell it distracts me from whatever I was thinking of writing next 😛
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Oh. Uh oh. I guess you’ll just have to write using only easy words. 😂
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My wife is a human dictionary. If I’m at home I will yell ou to her “how do you spell such and such a word.” If she isn’t around I look the word up.
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I used to have Gerard help me until I discovered he was feeding me incorrect spelling to try and make me look stupid. Gerard can be such a dick.
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I wish Gerard would start a blog or YouTube channel. He’d be famous.
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There’d be no living with him.
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He’d kick you out.
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At the very least.
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And then you’d be his Gerard.
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Hahaha.
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I think it would be good for you. Why don’t you serve him for a week and see if you like it?
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Now who’s pushing their luck?
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Do you mean me?
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Maybe.
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I think I misread the comment. Which wouldn’t be the first time that happened.
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Damn Gerard must have helped you.
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He is being a jerk again.
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He probably saw my comment and thought you were going to be his servant for a little while, but then you didn’t and he got angry. He’s a person with feelings, you know?
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Whatever. Hahahaha
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And you just laugh. 😟
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Hahahaha.
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You have no soul.
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Oh I do. It’s just black though.
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That’s disturbing. You should make a horror movie.
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I AM a horror movie. Bawa hahaha.
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Bad acting. Ridiculous plots. Not scary. Horror movies in a nutshell. Probably not what you should aim for.
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For me, that’s a step up.
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Very sad to hear.
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Just send some cash and I’ll be fine.
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Hedwig doesn’t like transporting cash for me. She fears for her safety.
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It’s Canada. She has nothing to fear.
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A lot of American territory to fly over.
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That’s true and from what I hear you all have surface to air anti-aircraft missles.
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Isn’t that what NORAD is for? Though I don’t think Hedwig would be shot down.
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Bwahahaha
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Stop yelling at her. Ask politely. Or she might become Gerard #2.
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She tells me the same thing all the time.
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I’m sure. You’re pressing your luck.
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That’s my bread and butter.
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I agree but also know that we all make mistakes in spelling from time to time. It is hard to digest information when there are a lot of errors in the writing itself. I was raised with a dictionary and a bookcase in my room and no TV or radio. Ah, the good ole days.
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There’s a big difference between a typo and not caring.
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Agree with you. If you’re on Facebook, look up Grammarly- lots of fun posts about words, grammar and writing etc.
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I think I’ve seen a graphic or two from them? Maybe.
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Amen. There’s no excuse though with the number of spell checking tools we have access to these days. It’s no longer become who can spell and who can’t, it’s who can be arsed checking what they’ve written.
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Yepp.
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I agree. Ur so rite. Wel witen.
Ha, ha! Just kidding. You’re so very right. I leave my spell check on for that very reason. When the red squiggly line pops up I fix it right away.
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I rarely type anything. But I think my spell check is always on? Whatever is the default.
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I agree completely! And when I’m sure I’ve spelled something correctly, and then realize I haven’t, I’m mortified. I have the good-speller gene as well, but now that I look at mortified….
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Whenever I misspell a word I thought was correct I just poke myself in the eye. So I forget that I thought it was right when it wasn’t. 😂
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Haha that will be my new strategy. Made especially easier because I have allergies, so my eyes bother me anyway.
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Don’t poke your eye out. That would be bad.
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Very true. I do wear glasses; they should protect me from myself.
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Ooh. Your body is prepared.
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Reblogged this on The Time Traveling Writer's Blog.
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Shameless bragging ahead: I was the spelling bee champ when I was younger.
While I have occasional spelling typos like everyone does, it is quite annoying when people won’t take have a second to correctly spell a word.
I’ve also found that many people who spell incorrectly, speak terribly! I believe their poor spelling equates to changes in correct speech. Have you noticed this? I definitely have.
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Of course you were. I was IN the spelling bee twice. I misspelled the easiest words in the history of all spelling bees. Hm. People speak however they speak, I have no idea.
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😀 I warned you I’d shamelessly brag.
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What was your winning word?
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I don’t even remember. I was in fifth grade. Oops.
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Oh. Oh well.
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