MetaFilter posts tagged with spelling

MétaFiltre!

Shepherd — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:21:54 -0800

The Canadian Government’s Translation Bureau recently made its French/English/Spanish technical terminology database, Termium, free to access after over a decade as a subscription-based service. While off-the-cuff translations are often available from free services like BabelFish, Termium focuses on technical terminology such as scientific, medical and legal terms. Of equal interest to the core service are other tools like The Canadian Style, the government’s official rules for how to write "Canadian" (an odd hybrid of British and American styles), HyperGrammar 2, a series of educational grammar modules developed for self-directed learning, and Word Tailoring, an attempt to create a translation database for idiomatic French words and expressions that don't necessarily offer a single literal translation. There are also a wealth of French-language tools for learning grammar, improving your writing style, and seeking alternate terms for common verbs and expressions. Also worthy of note is the always-free Grand Dictionnaire, the product of the Quebec government's Office de la langue française, which is far less robust than Termium but has a stronger focus on "proper" language for Quebec. And, if you're struggling to improve your French writing skills, Bon Patron is a (frequently slow-loading) Java-powered tool that will check your French spelling and grammar and offer correction suggestions in real time.

hi cutie ur realy sexy. msn?

Kadin2048 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:05:25 -0800

How (not) to write an online-dating message, based on a sample of 500,000 "first contact" messages. The average message from a man to a woman on OK Cupid has a 32% chance of getting a response. (Although longer is apparently better. Also, women seeking men, men seeking men, and women seeking women have somewhat better odds.) But not all messages are created equal: “netspeak, bad grammar, and bad spelling are huge turn-offs,” while the “top three most popular ways to say ‘hello’ were all actually bad beginnings.” OkTrends, the OK Cupid development/statistics blog, has come up previously. [Via Hacker News.]

The Misspelled Signs of New York City

milquetoast — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:29:15 -0800

"Even though my glory years of competitive spelling are long past, some things stay with a person. As I explore, I can't help but notice signs which contain spelling errors. I capture them for posterity with my handy digital camera and present them here for our collective education and entertainment." Thirty-two pages of misspelled signs in the New York metropolitan area -- each one lovingly annotated.

Dynasty

Joe Beese — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:47:44 -0800

Coincidental to the publishing of her memoir, Candy Spelling - the widow of legendary television producer Aaron Spelling - is selling her Beverly Hills mansion for $150 million. (Daughter Tori Spelling is not expected to share in the proceeds.)

Children's Letters to God? Check.

Lacking Subtlety — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:03:02 -0800

Children's Letters to God? Check. Came across this and if they're real, they're very funny. Even if they're faked, they're very funny... That is all.

another time sink

netbros — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:44:55 -0800

another day, another word

That's Dum

blue_beetle — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:04:32 -0800

Ed Rondthaler on english pronounciation. (Quicktime Video)

I can’t believe that posting corrections to comments takes that much time away from real work.

blasdelf — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:59:53 -0800

So apostrophree corrects these kinds of errors before people see them, preventing employees from spending time posting corrections and engaging in online flame wars about English usage?

Scroo Grammer. Hows Yer Speling.

ericb — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:33:53 -0800

In honor of tonight’s Scripps National Spelling Bee final, take a stab at these spelling tests – Scripps Test, MSNBC Test. Previous Spelling Bee posts -- A, B, C, D.

Errin' USA

Rhaomi — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:54:20 -0800

Immediately, Herson spotted an offense—a second-floor awning outside a tarot shop that advertised "Energy Stone's." They climbed the stairs to the second floor and approached a middle-age women with a quizzical expression. "We happened to notice the sign for energy stones," Deck said, "and there happens to be an extra apostrophe. 'Stone's' doesn't need the apostrophe."

"And?" she asked, her voice flat with annoyance.

"And we wanted to bring it to your attention," Deck said.

A look inside the daring lives of Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson, vanguards of the Typo Eradication Advancement League.

Get Your Red Pens Ready.

laconic titan — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:48:26 -0800

Zip up that dangling modifier--it's National Grammar Day! Let the ranting begin...

eBay Arctic Ale Ouchy

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:12:40 -0800

Man buys Allsop, relists it as Allsopp - proving that on eBay, presentation is everything. via b3ta

I HAVE TO KNOW THE LANGUAGE IT IS IN!

exlotuseater — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:01:28 -0800

Evan M. O'Dorney, a 13-year-old speller from Danville, Calif., won the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee, with the final word "serrefine". Here is an interesting interview with the winner. Did you say my name wrong?

"Where's the 'T' at?" she asked.

staggernation — Thu, 03 May 2007 06:54:13 -0800

The caferteria had garbage an all tables. At my middle school in Staten Island, thought the dean, this cannot stand. So he sent home a letter.

A CAPTCHA for Internet Access

exogenous — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:22:54 -0800

A CAPTCHA to weed out certain potential users of the internet.

fact checkers out there in the factosphere

ibmcginty — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 17:17:08 -0800

"Tired of the LIBERAL BIAS every time you search on Google and a Wikipedia page appears?" At Conservapedia, a "conservative encyclopedia you can trust," you can learn that "faith" is a concept "exclusive to Christianity," and about how Wikipedia is biased in matters such as its description of the Bell Trade Act of 1946, its gossipy treatment of the private life of NPR reporter Nina Totenberg, and its seeming acceptance of evolution. The Wikipedia bias entry also complains of a "rant" against the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a group for which Conservapedia founder (and son of conservative gadfly Phyllis Schafly) Andrew Schlafly has worked. Signups are here; its take on evolution is criticized here.

I feel sorry for the boy who got yenta

dead_ — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 08:46:49 -0800

Word. Eighth-grader Katharine Close has finally won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on her fifth attempt. She beat out 274 other competitors and won with the word ursprache, sounding it out live on national television. If spelling out rarely used historical-linguistic jargon seems tough, try weltschmerz on for size. That's the word runner-up Finola Mei Hwa Hackett stumbled on. While your at it, why not take a look at the entire word list and see how many you can get, or even just recognize. Prior escapades in spelling documented here, here [YouTube], and if you want to head out to theaters, here.

Aargh!

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 10:45:45 -0800

Aargh!

Fourmilab -- reading unedited text

hank — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 18:00:39 -0800

John Walker's method How and when to pay attention -- by the author of the Evil Empires bumper sticker and other treasures.

Poor Walter

Holly — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 14:37:14 -0800

Walter Miller's homepage Picked up recently via kottke.org, this is a years-old webpage (not updated recently) detailing the miserable details of poor Walter's white trash existence. It deserves to be read by a whole new generation. The art of misspelling is taken to new heights.

Think about it, we could achieve a world where people would no longer look at "mathowie" and think "Math Owie" or "Ma Thowie"

Kattullus — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 14:11:03 -0800

Some counterarguments to those who argue against spelling reform in English put forth by Justin B. Rye. Here are some interesting sites on spelling reform: John J. Reilly's page on Spelling Reform. English Spelling Reform. American Literacy Council's Spelling Matters and Spelling Chaos and finally Spelling Reform @ Everything2.com. Many well-regarded anglophones have tried to bring about spelling reform, such as Noah Webster, Benjamin Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt.

Tools for editors

etaoin — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 07:30:25 -0800

Tools for Editors. Find all kinds of useful language-related links; take a side trip to a site where you can recall the joys of diagramming sentences, corral misplaced apostrophes, check your spelling, set free pet peeves, or read lovely essays on the English language written by a retired professor of Dutch.

Antidisestablishmentarianism

five fresh fish — Sun, 02 Jan 2005 20:05:43 -0800

MetaFilter... can you spell it? An exercise in co-operative play.

SpellingReform

srboisvert — Mon, 09 Jun 2003 10:04:24 -0800

The Simplified Spelling Society. Finally, a cause I can really get behind. More.

dhacker — Mon, 21 Oct 2002 07:07:50 -0800

Yesterday I saw a wonderful movie - Spellbound - a documentary about the annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee - which won the Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at SXSW. It explores the dynamics surrounding kids and parents desire for success in the competition, reconciliation with failure and differing models of education, competition and success. When I was a kid I was on the TV show It's Academic - along with lots of other famous faces. While you may want to make fun of the show - I still remember it fondly. My parents were happy to see me compete but generally unconcerned about the outcome in any way. Now we've got Math Olympics, the Academic Decathlon and a host of other competitive ventures. Any other MeFites remember school days competitions and the drive to succeed?