Everybody has a slip up now and again (whether mental or physical) but I recently shared a tip (by PM) with a user who was getting slated for his spelling. My tip seems to have made a difference so I thought I'd share it around.
After typing a post I cut and paste it into an email and then spell check it, amend if necessary and then cut and paste it back. I know there's loads of programs that will check grammar as well so that would be even better but everyone's got email spell check and hey, it's a start.
The best thing is that it takes seconds to do.

Regards to all, Mike

I do the same thing as Mike T except that I put longer posts into a Microsoft Word document and perform spell check. Also, after posting I always hit the "edit" button and look at the post one more time from the point of view of the reader for spelling and format purposes. Are paragraphs placed properly? Did the emoticon I typed in show up in the right place? Are any links properly highlighted? Does it look like it is ready for everyone to see? This is also a good tip for anyone who emails to others: review, spell check, and/or print the email out and look at it before hitting the "send" button.

:magicrabbit:

Good advice

Also, I recommend the GOOGLE toolbar, which has a button on it called "Check" and it is a GREAT spell check that will take the writing right off of what you are typing on the Café, so there is no need for copying and pasting.

Tanner

Of course, as long as what you misspelled is still a word (just the wrong one), spellcheck programs will give it the nod, as demonstrated in the above post.
Nothing beats a careful proofread.

I claim that words were mispelled by the originators and I am just fixing them.
Rich

Hi, Mike T. Really I am interested in improve my spelling (among many other things) Please recommend me one of the emails I can use for this purpose.

Would the creator of this wondeful forum be able to include the "Check" option when you post a reply?

Thank you very much.

Cartago.

P.S. I prefer not to instal the Google toolbar althought is not a bad idea.

PMd you

Y3s, @l$0 P13@$3 @v0Id3 L33T

(yes, also please avoid leet)

:-D

I have various published pieces to my credit, and I still can't spell . . . Always want to put double letters where only a single should be (i.e., usuall). And sometimes I just plain botch it. But then no lesser light than Thomas Jefferson is credited with having said that "it was a *** poor man (sic) who couldn't think of two or three ways to spell a word." The use of and email or word processing program that has spell check is a good idea. Just remember spellcheck doesn't know the difference between too, two, or to. So it can foil you, uh, too.

Most of us can produce a very readable piece by simply taking our time a bit.

(This is my first post! Nice to be here. Just think, Six munce agoe I cond't spel magcician, and now I ARE one!)

HA! I love it!

I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned, but the latest version of Firefox, v. 2.0 , has a spell-checker built in for things like Café post, emails and whatnot.

If you aren't using firefox, you really should be!

Odldy, a reecnt epxemiriment demeonrtsatd taht the barin is cpabale of inrettrepnig the snese of amoltst any wrod in Egnislh if the fsrit and lsat lteetrs are cecrrot

I believe that story to be apocrophal, because my brain still has to do some double-quick thinking to understand what is trying to be communicated with the letters all mixed up.

Carrie

Really? I was amazed at how clear that sentence was when someone emailed it to me, but it may be that it's just the way some peoples' brains are wired, or it may be like the ability to roll your tounge, possibly hereditary or even a right brain-left brain thing.
Then again, maybe its just a learnable skill, and I may have picked it up somewhere along the way

The e-mail that many of us got about the alleged Cambridge university experiments in language may or may not be apocryphal. Cambridge University denied its validity a while back, but now the University of Edinburgh may be working on a similar problem.

I've written often about bad spelling. Why we can't spell the names of people like Hofzinser, Thurston, and Robert-Houdin correctly is beyond me.

The other problem is people who use the wrong "to." There is a difference in meaning between the following two sentences.

Too much of the class singing can be fun.

To much of the class singing can be fun.

It's and its are also problematic. It's means it is. Its means belonging to it.

Since these are all legitimate spellings, a simple spell-checker won't catch the error. A grammar checker generally will, though.

This illustrates much of the problem.
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......71&5

As an odd side note, and not as a contradiction, there is a family here in Birmingham with an altered spelling of the name Thurston (which I won't divulge out of respect for their privacy), yet they are related to Howard Thurston. I have seen documentation to that effect, including letters from Thurston to the family's ancestor(s) inquiring about certain necessities for the levitation.

~michael

Thank goodness for spell check. I would look like an idiot without it.

You mean you people honestly can't spell? What on earth is a "spell check" ?

http://www.eispell.com gets you a free and well behaved spell checker for your browser.

:)

What's worse is when I read a best selling novel or my sons text books loaded with *-ups.