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Conference thebay::joyoflex

Title:The Joy of Lex
Notice:A Notes File even your grammar could love
Moderator:THEBAY::SYSTEM
Created:Fri Feb 28 1986
Last Modified:Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1192
Total number of notes:42769

373.0. "SPELL That Name" by SEAPEN::PHIPPS (Digital Internal Use Only) Thu Jul 02 1987 10:38

I spell so poorly that every MAIL message I send and every note I write goes 
through VAX SPELL before it goes out. Of course that can't catch typos or just 
plain stupidity.

I have noticed something that some of you may (or may not) find amusing.

When SPELL encounters a person's name some interesting suggestions are 
offered.

The last reply I wrote in this file contained the name Bernie. SPELL suggested 
the following substitutes:

 Barony Brawny Brownie Brainy Briny Burnout Bony Bonny Bunny Borne Bourn Baron 
 Burin [no more]

        Mike
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
373.1SSDEVO::GOLDSTEINThu Jul 02 1987 19:093
    A fine list.  I answer to all of them except Brownie.
    
    B...
373.2Crap systemsWELSWS::MANNIONMon Jul 06 1987 07:2415
    OSI comes out as EASY OOZY ICY, which is near enough for jazz.
    
    Spelling checkers have a deficiency though - they are only spelling
    checkers. If someone puts in the wrong word spelled correctly, and
    no-one proof reads the text, or they read it and say "Hm, must be
    right" then DECspell will not help.
    
    An example - I recently read an old proposal which had gone out
    to a prospect. In it was a section on redundancy of data, where
    the author had talked about a central suppository of data. I kid
    you not. No-one had questioned this, and out it had gone.
    
    We didn't get the business.
    
    Phillip
373.3SPELL Not Thesaurus or Use CheckerSEAPEN::PHIPPSDigital Internal Use OnlyMon Jul 06 1987 12:124
>   We didn't get the business.
    
I'll bet we did but not the kind you mean.

373.4The butt of our jokes...IOSG::DUTTTue Jul 07 1987 07:002
    .....I heard there was an enquiry to get to the bottom of it!
    
373.5What a cheek!SED750::GIBBONSTue Jul 07 1987 07:561
    It must have been written by an analyst ...
373.6As in turn the other?REGENT::EPSTEINBruce EpsteinTue Jul 07 1987 09:442
    I'm sure we were told where to put *that* data...
    
373.7AKOV76::BOYAJIANI want a hat with cherriesFri Jul 17 1987 07:255
    Someone certainly made an ass of himself.
    
    But that's nether here not there.
    
    --- jerry
373.8Fun with SPELLATLAST::ANDERSONGive me a U, give me a T...Thu Sep 22 1988 15:5664
	I too have had fun with SPELL.  My writing group requires that
	everything we produce be run through it.  Though it's great for
	catching those typos, it has so many false alarms and missed
	signals, I sometimes wonder if it's worth it.  Though most
	everything's been added to personal dictionaries by now, I 
	still remember things like substituting dactylic for DECalc
	and stuff like that.

	Just for fun, I ran a list of all the members in my group
	through it.  We got stuff like Cowhide E. Fuel (Cody E. Faile),
	Giant Marrows (Janet Myers), and -- to continue the scatological
	theme of this note -- Anal Portal (who shall remain nameless,
	poor guy).

	Since you probably wouldn't enjoy that list as much as we did
	here, here's a list of the presidents (plus whoever will be the
	41st) that I ran through SPELL:

		Garage Washington
 		Join Idioms
		Thermos Jefferson
		Jimmies Metazoan
		Jams Moonier
		Join Queens Idioms
		Andrew Jackson
		Martin Van Barren
		Whilom Henry Horizon
		Join Taller
		Gammas Nix Folk
		Zachary Tiller
		Milord Filmier
		Franklin Pierce
		Games Buchanan
		Abraham Lincoln
		Andrew Johnson
		Ulysses S. Grant
		Rutherford B. Hiatus
		Gammas Garfield
		Chaster Earthier
		Groovier Cleveland
		Benjamin Horizon
		Whelm McKinley
		Theatre Roosevelt
		Whilom Toward Tuft
		Woodier Wilson
		Warren Hoarding
		Kelvin Collage
		Herbert Whoever
		Franklin Delano Roosevelt
		Harry Trombone
		Dwight Eisenhower
		Join Canoed
		London Johnson
		Dike Nixon
		Gooey Ford
		Jimmies Critter
		Runny Region
		Garage Bush
		Mutual Dukakis

	I can't decide if mmy favorite's Rutherford B. Hiatus, Herbert
	Whoever, or Harry Trombone.

		-- Cliff Undersign
373.9CNTROL::HENRIKSONMon Jan 02 1989 16:377
>		Ulysses S. Grant

	I'll never forget 8th grade history class when one of my classmates 
prounounced this name as "useless grunt". I guess it was only flatulence after 
all. :^)

Pete
373.10Can you ear me?ESCROW::ROBERTSFri Apr 24 1992 08:505
    Seems this is as good aplace as any to list funny phrases that get past
    spell checkers.  I've noticed more and more of these in books lately. 
    I guess proofreaders are no longer used.  But some are funny; here's
    one I came across this morning.  In a sentence mentioning a dog's
    ears, the phrase was instead "dogs hears".  
373.11MYCRFT::PARODIJohn H. ParodiFri Apr 24 1992 09:1112
    
    My personal favorite came up when checking the /PRIVILEGE=NOSAME
    qualifier to the VMS $RUN command. DECspell suggested "nauseum" for
    NOSAME and the Houghton-Mifflin corrector suggested that and "noisome"
    as well.  I could but agree with these evaluations.
    
    My hot button is how spelling correctors handle "fro" -- you'd think
    they'd be clever enough allow it only if a preceding "to and" was
    found. I think it's much more likely to be a misspelling of "for" and I
    can't think of any other usage of "fro."
    
    JP
373.12gotta love itPENUTS::DDESMAISONSFri Apr 24 1992 09:547
	The one time that I used the spell checker, it suggested 
	I change someone's last name from "Gillis" to "guileless",
	which I didn't think he'd appreciate all that much.

	Di

373.13SSDEVO::EGGERSAnybody can fly with an engine.Fri Apr 24 1992 12:142
    The spell checker always suggests changing my name from "Eggers" to
    "Augers", which I do not appreciate given my hobby is flying.
373.14Did I say that?!RICKS::PHIPPSFri Apr 24 1992 12:563
     RE: .11

     What about the movie "Fro Mamma From the Train"? 8^}
373.15This augurs badly ...ULYSSE::WADEThu May 07 1992 13:219
>>    The spell checker always suggests changing my name from "Eggers" to
>>    "Augers", which I do not appreciate given my hobby is flying.

	Duh? Aren't augers boring tools (for boring wood, that is)?
	Is it only me that misses the point of your comment?  Please
	explain it anyway ....

	

373.16I believe the expression for dying as your plane spins in...RDVAX::KALIKOWThe Gods of the Mill grind slowly...Thu May 07 1992 16:0410
    ... is something like "going in like an auger" or "augering in"...     
    
    BTW Tom, I concur fully with Jim's suggestion that you change your name
    to something more "PROP-itious" like Augurs, which, imho, contrary to
    Jim's opinion, I think well.
    
    (And I give MONGO MEGA odds that the preceding paragraph has NEVER been
    written down before.  But if you act quickly, you can in fact be the
    first to speak it aloud, as I also happen to think it's entirely too
    dumb to commit it to sound waves, even were I alone in a forest. :-)
373.17POWDML::SATOWThu May 07 1992 18:571
Anyone who flies can't be boring, much less a boring tool
373.18SSDEVO::EGGERSAnybody can fly with an engine.Thu May 07 1992 23:2610
    Re: .16
    
    	>> (And I give MONGO MEGA odds that the preceding paragraph has
    	>> NEVER been written down before.
    
    I hope you're right.	:-)
    
    twe
    
    P.S.  What was that "PROP-itious" bit about?
373.19re .18 that 'PROP-itious' bitRDVAX::KALIKOWLANshock!Fri May 08 1992 05:478
    Hmmm.  On reparsing & reconsidering your personal_name, perhaps you
    actually don't fly powered aircraft at all...  My first thought was
    that you fly jets, but now I surmise from your apparent innocence of
    PROPellers that you're a glider or balloon pilot...?  :-)
    
    If the latter, dis explains your presence in a hot-air-driven
    conference like this'un.  :-)x10+6
    
373.20there must be a better air line here somewhereAUSSIE::WHORLOWBushies do it for FREE!Fri May 08 1992 08:5915
    G'day,
    
     Surely it is plane to see, that all theturbo fans would jet down to
    see his propitious giro-ations. They would go boeing boeing along the
    tarmac, effect a small delta, and head Northwest, later turning Eastern
    as they trans world. All craft would use low voltage dc-10 power to
    operate the air india. 
    
    
    
    Ohh thiis is a sopwith camel of a terrible note for which I totally
    apologize..
    
    derek
    *-|
373.21SSDEVO::EGGERSAnybody can fly with an engine.Fri May 08 1992 09:313
    I fly gliders.  It does appear, per the earlier suggestion, that many
    of the noters in this topic fly hot-air balloons. I will remember who
    has the right of way.		:-)