Spell-checking feature can be a mixed blessing

In writing this column I am indebted to the members of my Editorial Review Board who volunteer their time to help make me look good by proofreading this column before it goes to press.  These people are friends who live outside of Mexico or people who have moved away but still want to continue reading this column.  My agreement with them is that they need to contribute by checking spelling, grammar and style.  In spite of everyone’s best effort, sometimes a mistake still manages to show up in print.

Recently I received emails from three of my assistants concerning the spelling of a certain word, in this case a word spelled one way when used as a noun and another when a verb.  Two of my contributors questioned the spelling and one complemented me for not making a common mistake with that word.  Well, in the end somebody at the newspaper office ran my submission through a spell-checker and that software substituted the wrong word which then appeared in print.  Sigh.

Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.