In the first contribution to this short series I mentioned that it was essential for you as a researcher to communicate the results of your work, and that the most effective way of doing that was to make them generally available in the form of the printed, the published wordthe old truth of Publish or perish. I also referred to the inconsistencies of English spelling and that it was essential to refer frequently to a good dictionary or at least the spellchecker on your PC.
The
marvels of the spellchecker
Before I sat down to compose these lines, Christopher Willis dashed my unshakeable
belief in the computerised spellchecker with a poem I wish to share with
you. The poet of this work of art is unknown but, judging by the pronunciation
of words like dew and due, one may deduce that the poem originated
on the other side of the Atlantic. And this is how it goes:
ODE
TO MY SPELLCHECKER
(Uncredited)
I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure real glad two no.
Its very polished in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a blessing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.
Each frays comes posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours oer every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
Bee fore a veiling checkers
Hour spelling mite decline,
And if were lacks oar have a laps,
We wood bee maid too wine.
Butt now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
There are know faults with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.
Now spelling does not phase me,
It does not bring a tier.
My pay purrs awl due glad den
With wrapped words fare as hear.
Too rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew floors are knot aloud.
Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays
Such soft wear four pea seas,
Andy shy eye brake in two averse
Buy righting wan to please.
Test your spelling power (without
spellcheckers!)
Now that I have shattered your trust in you spellchecker as well, I
want to give you the opportunity to check your unaided knowledge of English
spelling. The list below comprises the most commonly misspelt (or misspelled)
words in the English languagein my experience at least. Be warnedmost
of them are misspelt! You are encouraged to write the correct version of
every word in the blank spaces:
accommodate
already
alright
channeled
dessicate
developed
discrepancy
independant
ocurred
paralell
separate
synonomy
Vaal river
the River Vaal
initiative
calender
acknowlege
priviledge
pendent (a necklace)
pendant (dangling)
exert (protrude)
exsert (make strenuous effort)
..
bennefitted
maintenence
precede (go before)
procede (to advance)
address
until
occasion
equalled
fulfill
nul
nill
greatfull
envelope
infered
budget
littoral (coastal)
exept
Excell (the botanist)
excel (be superior to)
pearly white
sky blue
homogenous (a
mass)
.
homogenous (a
group of species)
..
How did you shape? If you got more than 95% correct you are a star!
Other spelling traps
Seeing that we have spent so much time on spelling, we might as well devote
this entire instalment to that tricky subject. Common sources of errors
are the following:
U.K. vs U.S.
As you know, numerous words are written differently depending on which
side of the Atlantic you happen to be. Some well known examples are: centre
center, colour color, channelled channeled, flavour flavor, fibre
fiber, grey gray, instalment installment, offence offense, travelling
traveling, tunnelling tunneling. The second version is always the American
one. Most of these differences can be traced to Noah Webster and the spelling
he introduced in his American Dictionary
(1828). In its nth edition, its successor, Websters Dictionary, is still
the standard dictionary of American English.
Verbs ending on ise or ize
The spelling of these words has been a problem area for many a year. Learned
books, especially the older ones, will tell you that if the ending is derived
from the Greek izo, the word in
question should take an ize ending,
whereas all the others should take ise.
On the other hand, even the great Oxford Dictionary leaves you the choice
between the two. The majority of the staff of the NBI (now
SANBI)
have
therefore recently decided to use the ending ise
in all cases. If you follow this advice, however, the purists will criticise
you, they may sermonise you in an attempt to proselytise you, and, if they
fail, they may ostracise you, possibly even try to pulverise you and your
heretical ideas! You have been warned!
Its or its?
Its is just an abbreviated form of it
is. Therefore its its in
the sentence Its nice to know you. Its indicates that
something belongs to something or someone, as in the sentence The institute is transforming its image;
or The child lost its ball. To
prove to yourself that its easy to choose the right one, fill in the blanks
in the following sentences:
.. a fact that most people get mixed up between
. and
and yet
an easy problem to solve.
. a fact that
..well known that the
institute will put
. house in order by telling
.. employees that
compulsory to remember the difference between
. and
..
Two, too and to
These three little words with the same sound have a very different meaning.
Fill in the blanks in the sentences below to prove to yourself that you
know what they stand for:
The
. women paused
. peer through the window of the shop. It was
.
early
stop for afternoon tea but their attention had been caught by
a trolley laden with cakes which were
tempting..
.. resist. What are
you going
. have, Kath? Im going
go mad and have a chocolate Me
.
...! said Kath. I might even have
..! If were going
.. the devil,
we might as well go happily!
Well, I hope thats not where you wish me to go with all my pitfalls. Instead
Ill call it a day, and I hope that you will see me again with the next
number to talk about punctuation, accents, signs and symbols.
by
Dr Otto Leistner
SABONET News
3.1: 5
