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From: Jasper
Date: 14 Sep 2005
Time: 02:37:21 PM
Solitariria1, ….….I rarely type directly into the comment box. I use a Word program with a spell-checker and a grammar checker because I do so much editing and make so many mistakes that some things I write without these crutches can be undecipherable. ………The spell-checker usually catches letters I leave out of words, add to them or put in the wrong order. The grammar checker sometimes tells me when I have written a word I did not intend to write because I spelled it wrong in the first place and the program’s automatic spelling “correction” chooses the wrong word that is closest to the one I misspelled. If I leave out a word or two altogether, which I frequently do, the error usually goes undetected. ……..I have learned that I can rely on my readers to get things like this right when I get them wrong. Still, like you, I am always embarrassed to see my own typos when I post a message even though other people’s typos mean nothing to me. There are almost always enough context clues to tell us what the writers intended no matter what they typed. ……..The most fascinating thing to me about our typos is that they rarely cause misunderstandings. The villain here is in how we interpret the message through the prisms of our biases, emotions and assumptions about the writer’s motives even if all the correct words are present and the spelling, grammar and syntax are flawless. In the end, getting the message right can have as much to do with the reader as it does with the writer. In our heat of hearts all of us know it. --Jasper