I admit it, I am a spelling nazi!

Ok, I will make a confession, especially since the audience here is oh so low. Though I know that with google, archives and the like, this post will live on, to be discovered in some distant time in the future where who knows what passes as "haute cuisine".

Oh, yes, back to the topic. Well, I about shit myself when I saw this little beauty in my very own post right here....

my Star Trek rant

you'll see this snippet...

..."this was something humans could acheive...but, instead"...

which, for me, stands out like a, well, a Star Trek dork at Banana Republic. How could I have let this spelling f-up pass? I have to admit further that I was mightily drawn to edit this sucker into oblivion - but I just couldn't, it wouldn't be right. So I let it stand, like a hicky on Dick Cheney's neck.

Now, for the real confession. One of the ways I pass judgement on emails (and their authors) is through the spelling of the words they choose to use. These people fall into 3 categories for me;

1. The truly lazy - they just type something and send it, as fast as they can...with as little resistance (or mental filtering) as possible. Enough said here.

2. The spell check goon squad - ok, they are just one step beyond the truly lazy, they take the time to spell check their email, and when they get the All spelling is cool signal - they send. My favorite from this crew is the word "loose", as in "Even though we may loose some traction...". Loose is correctly spelled here, but it ain't lose. Though I think there are people whose native language is english, who have been weaned on spell checkers, who think "loose" really is "lose". In my mind, they are polishing up the proverbial Sow's Ear.

3. The literate - they can and do spell their words correctly, almost always WITHOUT the spell checker - sure they use it, but only as a fallback, when they've taken the pains of everything other method of checking, revising, etc.

Now, I will confess that I try like hell to be the third...I have a dog-eared paperback dictionary that I still use, even though the web, spell checkers and all manner of technology are out here...it forces me to think more so than the technology does. Plus I still like holding, touching and smelling an actual book - tactile experiences are double plus good.

Ok, glad I got that off my chest...now to find some Nigerians to hassle.