A COMMUNITY OF SPELL-CHECKERS —————- by Steve Nadis
An astute reader “called in,” so to speak, to let me know of an error that occurred in my March 28 entry, “THIS I BELIEVE.” I had originally written the following: “After sifting the the various arguments raised…” This reader, with her eagle-sharp eyes, as well as keen mental acuity, informed me of the “double-article” construction, which is frowned upon in the Queen’s English. I quickly corrected the offending passage so that it now reads: “After sifting through the various arguments raised…” I apologize for any emotional distress unwittingly caused by this error, especially in view of the delicate subject matter.
Meanwhile, another astute reader–even more astute than the first reader, who is already quite astute, if not very astute, and I mean “quite” in the American (i.e., heightening) sense, rather than in the British (i.e., diminishing) sense–pointed out that what has evolved here is truly quite remarkable: “an online spellchecking (sic) community.” I am grateful for all the help I have received in this regard, particularly since my “spellchecking” (sic) software seems to be disabled in blog.com. What’s more, I agree with almost everything this well-meaning individual said. Nevertheless, I do take issue with one aspect of his statement: “spellchecking,” at least to my way of thinking, ought to be hyphenated.
Posted by
at
06:11:28
Just thought Id point out another streak youve got going: I count 8 postings in a row without a comment. Maybe you can get a debate going over how to spell "spell check."
Dear Astute Reader: You surely have earned that adjective, which I, for one, never use loosely. The point about that “new streak” is well taken. Perhaps I have been let down by my “community.” Or perhaps no one has seen fit to comment, since my prose–including spelling and grammar–has been beyond reproach. As for the debate over “spellchecking,” or “spell-checking,” or “spell checking,” an announcement on that volatile topic shall appear forthwith.
i cant understand……