Are you good at spelling? / LJWorld.com

Asked at Massachusetts Street on February 25, 2007

“I would say that I’m probably better than average, but in the electronic age there’s really no need to be. Everything is automatically corrected for you, so you really don’t have to care if ‘i’ comes before ‘e.’ ”

— Larry Belenke, retired health care professional, Chicago

“Actually no, I’m not. I rely way too much on spell check when I write my papers.”

— Cassie Wyatt, waitress, Lawrence

“I’m all right. I’ve always been good at English, and I did well on all my spelling tests in school.”

— Tamika Turner, day care provider, Lawrence

“I’m all right. Most of the time, I rely on the spell check on my computer. I figure if it’s there, I might as well use it.”

— Jeff Otto, Kansas University sophomore, Lawrence

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andrew55 6 years, 3 months ago

Yes...because I double check.

yup, except I missed going to state spelling when I was in second grade because I misspelled "billiard." Devestating. I sat in my room and played with alphabet soup for days afterwards, chanting, "There IS an 'i' in billiard" but no "me" in fame.

Wait, yes there is.

number3of5 6 years, 3 months ago

I am an excellent speller, but I do make mistakes on occasion. When a word is introduced that I have never heard before, it is difficult to learn the pronunciation and the spelling. I use the spell check on my computer also, but the words that are missed are ones that I type so fast that I miss letters , such as spelling tarragon as taragon.

roger_o_thornhill 6 years, 3 months ago

"Spellcheck. Count on it."

You know, if you ever need an accountant...I'm available. You can trust me just as much as you can trust spellcheck.

ljreader 6 years, 3 months ago

dam write!

lee_go_hawks 6 years, 3 months ago

As a local small business owner, you would be amazed at the applications I receive from KU students and adults alike.

If you can't spel, proov reade your writin or type a cmplete sntence, then you dont get intervuw.

snap_pop_no_crackle 6 years, 3 months ago

Know.

conocybe_lactea 6 years, 3 months ago

The -asy and -acy word endings make me cr-azy.

Bone777 6 years, 3 months ago

Yes, I am a Supercalafragalisticexpialadocious speller.

sunflower_sue 6 years, 3 months ago

not since having children.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 6 years, 3 months ago

It Depends on what the person was doing. Say I was sauntering through an operating room, and some guy was preforming a hemispherectomy. If that guy said to me "brother can you spell me?, I do not think I would be good at spelling him.

OnlyTheOne 6 years, 3 months ago

Oh sure trust that spellchecker folks - but don't forget that "your" and "you're" as well as many other homophones will clear your spellchecker and leave you looking like an illiterate.

ksmom 6 years, 3 months ago

I be a greet spellar. I oftn use my spell chequr to catch all mine misteaks.

Lifelong_Lawrencian 6 years, 3 months ago

http://www.sentex.net/~mmcadams/spelling.html

Try your luck. I missed 14 out of 50 and I thought I was a good speller.

[ ] roundabout [ ] rundleabout

beatrice 6 years, 3 months ago

I think I am probably a bit above average on spelling, in part from my love of Scrabble, although I don't count it as a virtue.

rt, "When I was in high school, "let's get stupid" meant fire up a doobie----now it's the liberal creedo."

Once again, rt is off the deep end. He blindly supports "the decider" and then has the nerve to call liberals stupid. It staggers the mind.

I am a liberal. I do not count "let's get stupid" as my creedo, nor have I ever heard another liberal state such a thing ... well, unless you add "out of the White House" to the end of the statement.

kg52 6 years, 3 months ago

Having been a medical transcriptionist for nearly 37 years I find I am better at spelling medical terms than English ones, though I was always pretty good with spelling in school. It helps that when I first started doing the job there was no such thing as Spellcheck or medical dictationaries built into computers (or even computers for that matter). I do find myself second guessing myself more on the English words as once you learn a medical term for some reason it is easier to remember (at least for me). Spellcheck is good but sometimes it will change things you don't want it to change, it just thinks you don't know what you are doing. Sometimes I don't proofread as well as I should. More troublesome at times is the punctuation aspects rather than the spelling and that is where, believe it or not, what I learned in grade school kicks in. The most troublesome thing I find is that I can read all of the above comments without blinking an eye - that is a little scary.

canyon_wren 6 years, 3 months ago

In 7th grade, I went down on "correspondence" at a Wichita Finals Spelling Bee (we were even on the radio!).

I am a pretty good speller, still--and do a lot of proof-reading for that reason, but there are a few words--mostly the ones that end in either "ent"or "ant" that I have to look up to confirm. Many very bright people I know have a real problem with spelling, so it must be a "talent" that is arbitrarily developed.

As pointed out (and as most proof-readers know)--SpellCheck can't be totally relied upon to catch all mistakes!

ruette 6 years, 3 months ago

Great post, Beatrice! Like a lot of adequate spellers, I consider myself "pretty good." I'm sure it's a talent (my mother also spells very well!). I believe that reading books also helps a lot, just seeing words written and used correctly leads to recognition of their "not looking right" when they are misspelled. TV doesn't do that for you.
And I think it's important, too; my estimation of people goes down when I see a piece of their writing with incorrect spelling, grammar and punctuation.
And, since these seem to be perennial topics, I love roundabouts, can't stand the Great Decider.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 6 years, 3 months ago

Bea, Just seeking clarification...

"nor have I ever heard another liberal state such a thing ... well, unless you add "out of the White House" to the end of the statement."

So a liberal would say.. Let's get stupid out in the Rose Garden since we can't light up inside. It's out of the White House...?

Pywacket 6 years, 3 months ago

rt: By "creedo," do you mean, "credo"?

Can you spell, "ignorant schmuck"? I thought you could.

Larry Belenke: Did you think before opening your mouth? You get a pass, though, for being caught by the OTS winged monkeys.

Canyon_wren: You bring up a good point. One of the keys to being a good speller is simply knowing what you know and what you don't know; i.e., if you are not sure of a word, you know enough to look it up. All the editors of my acquaintance number Mr. Webster and Mr. Stedman among their best friends.

R_I: Do you saunter through ORs frequently? As a pleasant Sunday diversion, how does that activity stack up against (a) rambling through a bauxite mine, (b) sashaying across the Autobahn, (c) moseying through an abattoir, and (d) flitting over the moors? We're looking for ideas for next weekend.

oldfashiongirl 6 years, 3 months ago

I was always a good speller and had many, many, blue and red ribbons and certificates when I was in grade school. There was no spell check in the 1930's. I had a system that I would write down all the words we were to work on, make a mental picture of it and would practice every waking minute.

Spell check is OK if the word makes sense in the context used. In the last sentence above I had typed "all the works" instead of "words", so I caught it proofreading. Sometimes for fun I will take the newspaper and circle all the mispelled words. Maybe I should apply for position of proofreader.

It's half time with my Kentucky Wildcats ahead 32-23 with Vanderbilt-gotta go and cheer them on. Saw KU yesterday beat Iowa-a good game

Lifelong_Lawrencian 6 years, 3 months ago

right_thinker posted:

This is merely my right-wing, off the deep end, nutjob, whacko opinion, but more stupid people vote liberal than vote conservative.

http://chrisevans3d.com/files/iq.htm

This is merely my left-wing, tree-hugging, pinko, opinion, but you should back up what you say.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 6 years, 3 months ago

Py,

Hospitals are a maze of corridors, and I do get bored when ever I am at one. Of your choices, I have only moseyed through an abattoir, it really smelled funky, not what I would recommend for a Sunday diversion.

milkman_dan 6 years, 3 months ago

I think OTS is in need of some suggestions for questions.

Have you ever done anything illegal? Misdemeanor or felony? What is the sneakiest thing you ever got away with? If you could have immunity for one thing, what would you do? Do you ever use your laptop in the bathroom? Have you ever gone to the bathroom without washing your hands? What secrets do you have? When was the last time you flipped someone off? Did your kids/parents see you do it? What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?

News_to_me 6 years, 3 months ago

"let's get stupid."

Anymore, it seems to mean right_thinker is going to post.

introversion 6 years, 3 months ago

All this talk about spell check, and we have two people who are apparently "All right" at spelling? What happened to being "alright" at something?

sourpuss 6 years, 3 months ago

I couldn't spell at all as a child and did very poorly on spelling tests in school. It wasn't until I learned Latin and German that I could then spell English words, since I understood the roots of them. Of course, the way in which we spell things is somewhat arbitrary and recent, especially if you consider all the of the ways "ough" can be pronounced.

hitme 6 years, 3 months ago

Here's a good question for tomorrow. Is it true Mass Street Deli. closes (today is their last day open) and Bob Schuum still hasn't told some of the employees. Wouldn't it be great to find out you didn't have a job without any notice? My apologies if they read this and find out.

oldgranny 6 years, 3 months ago

Posted by right_thinker (anonymous) on February 25, 2007 at 1:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)

My boys said to (their mothers Dad), "Hey Grampa, Dad calls Democrats "Dummiecrats". They said he said "He doesn't know a god damn thing!!"

Then my 13 yr old ask (who knows the senators) who the two US senators from Kansas were--he didn't know.

So tell me right-thinker. You are so pro-Bush and pro-war. Are you preparing those boys to join the military when they turn 18? You seem so eager to send other peoples kids......

News_to_me 6 years, 3 months ago

As they say, use it or lose it. If you rely on spell check, then you'll lose your ability to spell on your own. Also, I used to be able to remember most everyone's phone number but, now that they're programmed in to phones, I've lost that ability as well.

Napoleon_Dynomite 6 years, 3 months ago

Sourpuss, Yoiu are so correct. My favorite pronunciation for the part od a word you mentioned is when my girlfriend puts on her "ough" face.

beatrice 6 years, 3 months ago

RI, love it! Well done.

rt, "My boys said to (their mothers Dad), "Hey Grampa, Dad calls Democrats "Dummiecrats". " Wow. Again you stagger the mind. Nice example you set for your children, teaching them to call people names if they don't agree with their opinions. Beautiful. What other fine example do you set for them -- kicking puppies for sport? Nice parenting. Sure, your the genius in your family.