The danger of purely relying on spelling checkers

Further to my most recent post that has attracted both a considerable number of comments and also aroused a little bit of controversy, here is a funny poem on a related theme. A reminder that spelling checkers have their limitations.

Spring tulips © Ricky Yates

Eye halve a spelling chequer,
It came with my pea sea,
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a quay and type a word
And weight four it two say,
Weather eye am wrong or write,
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long,
And eye can putt the error rite,
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it,
I am shore your pleased two no,
Its letter perfect all the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

 

 

 

15 comments to The danger of purely relying on spelling checkers

  • Nice one, Ricky. 🙂

    • Ricky

      Thanks Paula – I think it’s brilliant as it shows up the limitations of a spelling checker as well as being very funny.

  • Phill

    Icy what your saying Dad!

    • Ricky

      Very good Phillip! If there was a ‘Like’ button as on Facebook, I’d click it.

  • Hi, Rev. Yates!

    Ha, ha, that’s hysterical and right on target! Thanks for posting it. Did you write that yourself, or did you dig it up from somewhere else?

    God Bless,
    Pearl

    • Ricky

      Hi Pearl – Glad you enjoyed it. It was in my collection of ‘funnies’ from several years ago. I did embellish it slightly, for example changing ‘key’ to ‘quay’. But it is such a good & amusing reminder that Spelling Checkers are far from being infallible!

  • June

    Hi Ricky,
    Dictionaries can also let one down. My french mistress told the story of a girl who wanted “Le Cricket Match” and ended up with an insect and a light!

    June

    • Ricky

      Hi June – These days problems are more commonly caused by Google translate than by dictionaries. However, the outcomes are often similar to that described by your French teacher.

  • There are other verses to this poem floating about. Here’s one quite apropos:

    “To rite with care is quite a feet
    Of witch won should be proud
    And wee mussed dew the best wee can
    Sew flaws are knot aloud”

    A warning not to rely too much on our soft wear. Lettuce finish with that!

    • Ricky

      Hi Peter – Many thanks for this additional verse. It just further emphasises the limitations of spelling checkers!

    • Ricky

      LOL Michael – same mistake as made by a friend of Sybille’s to which I make direct reference in my previous post. A very clear example to show that spelling checkers are not foolproof.

  • Hey Ricky,

    I have to completely agree with this. Spell checker is fine for every-day writing, but it’s not a human mind. It can’t understand sentence structure and context. I use it all the time, but at the end of the day, if you don’t proofread, there WILL be errors.