Don Goodrich on wed 7 apr 99
To Carolyn (whose name on the header appears as "Thonas C. Curran" - is that
spelled correctly?),
I wholly agree with your comments regarding spelling. Clayart has hosted
this thread before, but it reappears with the constant influx of new
subscribers.
The point has been made that some feel intimidated by knowing their
spelling will be criticised. It appears that quite a few folks simply write
as they would speak, and probably have no inner image of the way a word
should look as they say it. It's nice to be able to express oneself
spontaneously and casually in a discussion group.
However, we discuss chemistry quite a bit here. In technical discussions
mistakes can be dangerous. When I see "magn diox" in a glaze recipe, I always
wonder if it REALLY means magnesium dioxide, or someone misabbreviated
manganese.
We all have stupid-spellchecker stories. My favorite recent one involves
an email memo posted where I work. Reference was made to a person whose
surname is Feekes. Unfortunately, the sender's spellchecker had never heard
of him, and autocorrected the name to Feces. Neither party has yet lived this
down.
The point is that to communicate effectively we need to pay attention to
our words. If the dictionary isn't in the computer, it should be nearby. At
the very least, read what you just wrote before hitting that send button, to
see if it's what you really meant to say.
Don Goodrich hoping this is free of mistakes after having read it 4 times.
goodrichdn@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/goodrichdn/
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