Word Crimes: And how to correct them!

[Minibit]

Thanks to @Hillan for originally linking

We all have some "word crimes" that really get our goats. as a Barista, I had to laugh when the

"ESpresso, not EXpresso"

thing came up. I used to make that mistake myself, until I googled to find which was right, and found that "cafe espresso" is literally Italian for "pressed coffee", whereas "expresso" is not a word in any language, and "express" does not sound remotely Italian. Haven't made the mistake since.

What tricks, mnemonics, and other tools do you use to keep yourself from committing word crimes? Share your secrets and help end word crime!

 

[Ashi]

Me personally? I've always loved English. Ever since I was little, it was always my favorite part of school, my favorite class through out high school. I like to think I'm pretty good at it. Or that I do it well. ;p Mostly for writing, I type in Microsoft Office Word and use a spell checker to make sure I'm correct. If I really have doubts, I use my handy dandy Writer's Reference book or look things up online. =3

 

[Shenorai]

Firefox has this nifty feature where you can right-click the text box you are writing in and enable Check Spelling. It may not have the full database for the language you are typing in, but you're already connected to the internet. Use the resources at hand! If you become stuck, there's always Thesaurus.com and Wikipedia.com to a lesser extent.

If you type up your posts in a document before pasting them online, that's fine too. Every now and again, if you are using Microsoft Word or a similar program, hit F7. This is the Spell Check hot key. It also has an extra feature in most programs to check your grammar as well.