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Off topic: Words you can never spell
Thread poster: Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 22:12
Italian to English
Apr 22, 2010

Just come across my latest bugbear - "bourgeoisie". What a nightmare to spell. And it gets me every time!

Any more "favourites" out there? All languages welcome!!!


 
Noni Gilbert Riley
Noni Gilbert Riley
Spain
Local time: 22:12
Spanish to English
+ ...
Or get your fingers twisted at the keyboard? Apr 22, 2010

Subconscious was my bugbear when writing my PhD thesis (sunconscious usually came out instead, maybe because they seemed to be particularly dismal rainy years).

And now an awful lot of my translations are about reapirs to vehicles.... And Spellcheck never corrects them for me. Neither, for that matter, does it correct nad & teh - you'd think it might recognise them for what they are by now!

On spelling itself I consider myself something of a demon, still sulking about
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Subconscious was my bugbear when writing my PhD thesis (sunconscious usually came out instead, maybe because they seemed to be particularly dismal rainy years).

And now an awful lot of my translations are about reapirs to vehicles.... And Spellcheck never corrects them for me. Neither, for that matter, does it correct nad & teh - you'd think it might recognise them for what they are by now!

On spelling itself I consider myself something of a demon, still sulking about being pipped at the post in the school spelling championship when I was 10 (note to old school mate: Mahendra sorry, I was never able to forgive you). Of course I can now attribute any slips to typos. But I do have to think twice when there are too many vowels around, as you say Fiona. Having spent so much time around Sapnish (OK I'll leave it) students of English I now tend to dictate words phonetically to myself as I write, as in "ac-know-led-ge-ment" with full Spanish accent applied.
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Brian Young
Brian Young  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:12
Danish to English
speech recognition software is pretty good at spelling. Apr 22, 2010

I have been using Macspeech a lot lately, and it is amazing. I am a slow and lousy typist. My last job was about 2500 words Danish to English. I did it in about an hour, and then took another hour to edit and proofread. The program either recognizes a word, and spells it correctly, or simply writes something that is way off.
One other thing. Even though I have to return a document in Word, I normally copy and paste everything into Pages which, in my experience, has a far better spellchecke
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I have been using Macspeech a lot lately, and it is amazing. I am a slow and lousy typist. My last job was about 2500 words Danish to English. I did it in about an hour, and then took another hour to edit and proofread. The program either recognizes a word, and spells it correctly, or simply writes something that is way off.
One other thing. Even though I have to return a document in Word, I normally copy and paste everything into Pages which, in my experience, has a far better spellchecker than Word.
Also, on my Macbook, everything is automatically spellchecked; emails, posts on this forum, anything that I fill out on line. I have Office for Mac, but the Word spellchecker doesn't come close to the one in Pages.
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Nesrin
Nesrin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:12
English to Arabic
+ ...
harass Apr 22, 2010

I'm usually a very good speller, but no matter how often I come across this word, I always try it with a double-R first before being corrected by the spellchecker!

 
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 22:12
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Name change Apr 22, 2010

I'm actually thinking of changing my name to Fioan, because that's what it normally comes out as when I'm in a hurry...

Thanks for the heads up on Macspeech Brian - I use a Mac, and it looks like a brilliant investment.


 
tazdog (X)
tazdog (X)
Spain
Local time: 22:12
Spanish to English
+ ...
maneuver Apr 22, 2010

I can never remember the British spelling of "maneuver". I have to look it up every single time.

 
David Russi
David Russi  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 14:12
English to Spanish
+ ...
bureaucracy Apr 22, 2010

hierarchy
hieroglyphic
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis


 
Rad Graban (X)
Rad Graban (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:12
English to Slovak
+ ...
Quiet vs. quite Apr 22, 2010

Don't know why, but that's my 'curse'.
If it's not very important, and I can't be asked to check (I really have to every time), I just use something like "silent" and "rather".


 
Martin Stranak
Martin Stranak  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 22:12
English to Czech
+ ...
My burdens Apr 22, 2010

"Renaissance" and "Reconnaissance"

I would always hesitate before doubling the correct consonants.

[Edited at 2010-04-22 17:07 GMT]


 
Nesrin
Nesrin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:12
English to Arabic
+ ...
I know, David Apr 22, 2010


pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis


It's that "o" isn't it, I always seem to drop it too.



 
Laureana Pavon
Laureana Pavon  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 17:12
Member (2007)
English to Spanish
+ ...

MODERATOR
hierarchy Apr 22, 2010

That one gets me every single time

 
Jack Doughty
Jack Doughty  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:12
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Advice for aceavila - Noni Apr 22, 2010

If you often type "nad" for "and" and "teh" for "the", use the AutoCorrect feature in Word so that when you type "nad" it is automatically corrected to "and" and when you type "teh" it is automatically corrected to "the".

 
Brian Young
Brian Young  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:12
Danish to English
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Apr 22, 2010

That's funny. It's always the first l that I keep forgetting.

And for Fiona: Macspeech is basically the same as Dragon Naturally Speaking, but written for a Mac. It costs more due to the smaller market. I think it is well worth it. Also, you can use it for emails, or anywhere else that you would use a keyboard.
It does take some getting used to. Spoken and written language are often different, but you soon get used to speaking in that more controlled mode, and as you have to p
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That's funny. It's always the first l that I keep forgetting.

And for Fiona: Macspeech is basically the same as Dragon Naturally Speaking, but written for a Mac. It costs more due to the smaller market. I think it is well worth it. Also, you can use it for emails, or anywhere else that you would use a keyboard.
It does take some getting used to. Spoken and written language are often different, but you soon get used to speaking in that more controlled mode, and as you have to punctuate by actually saying- "period", "new line", etc., that helps to produce the structure that is normally a natural part of writing.
The strange thing, in the beginning, is just getting used to the idea that you normally have to take one sentence at a time, read it to yourself (not aloud) in the source, turn it around as necessary, and then just say it in a natural voice. Don't try to speak carefully, or slowly. And you'll probably want to be alone when you do this. I soundproofed a room in my house for just that purpose. The program can continue to learn, and you can teach it when it misinterprets a word.
Your first round will need to be edited and proofread, but that is true anyway you do it.
I think for people who are really good and fast at touch typing, with all ten fingers, this might not be such a big deal. I am not one of them.

[Edited at 2010-04-22 18:24 GMT]
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Igor Popov
Igor Popov
Russian Federation
Local time: 23:12
English to Russian
+ ...
Today's Hit No. 1 Apr 22, 2010

Eyjafjallajökull

Don't say you've never heard about it!


 
Terry Richards
Terry Richards
France
Local time: 22:12
French to English
+ ...
Maintenance Apr 22, 2010

I can never get that one right. I must have 10 spelling correction entries in Word for that damn word and I still occasionally come up with a new variant.

And I specialise in engineering...

T.


 
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Words you can never spell






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