http://lisachellman.com/blog/topics/balderdash All blog posts with a particular tag. en http://lisachellman.com/blog/2007/12/adventures-spellcheck <p>Last night I ran Microsoft’s spell-check on a 250-page novel. I always write with the spelling and grammar checks turned off because otherwise every page would be full of red and green squiggles.</p> <p>I’m not a bad speller (hey, I was the second best speller in second grade!), but MS Word really hates my grammar. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if MS Word had its way, every poem would be a business letter.</p> <p>Anyway, if I leave the spell-check until the end, I can worry about more important issues, like does this story make any sense whatsoever?</p> <p>Last night’s spell-check revealed a great many boring typos and intentional misspellings (e.g., “He’s fiiine!”). But a few words I got so totally wrong I was actually thinking, “God bless spell-check!” as I corrected the mistakes.</p> <p>Here are a few examples of my invented lexicon, whose meanings I can only guess at, Balderdash-style:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Capuchino</strong> – caffeinated beverage of choice for professional monkeys on the go</li> <li><strong>Criterium</strong> – the chemical element by whose qualities all other elements are judged</li> </ul> <p>And my favorite:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Mediocracy</strong> – system of government characterized by unexceptional leadership from the top down (I'm sure you can think of examples)</li> </ul> http://lisachellman.com/blog/2007/12/adventures-spellcheck#comments balderdash software writing Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:23:05 -0800 Lisa 27 at http://lisachellman.com