Microsoft Word
Sep. 7th, 2003 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarotgalSomething I noticed a long time ago but didn't think of mentioning until now... I'd love to see some actual documentation or essays or something about this, too.
I typically have a lot of red in my sneezefics when I write, mainly because the Microsoft Word spell checker picks up all my lovely sneeze-spellings :-) Usually when starting into writing for a fandom, I'll have to add a lot of fandom-specific words into my dictionary. Like Rivendell and apparate and Hogwarts... you get the idea.
Names, too, I end up adding a lot of. I was astounded way back when I wrote my first Lord of the Rings fic that not only did Microsoft word NOT flag 'Gandalf' and 'Frodo' but also did not flag down 'Aragorn' for me. Apparently, all three of those were already in its dictionary! Go Microsoft staff! LOL! I did have to add Gimli and Legolas if I remember correctly.
Well, jumped into writing a quick Gravitation fanfic earlier today... and was suddenly struck with the realization halfway through that it recognized the proper names used in my fic! Apparently, both Yuki and Shuichi are also in the Miscrosoft Word Spell Checker Dictionary?! It did not, however, have Eiri or Hiro, etc. But it really makes me wonder if they just got a bunch of popular names from different cultures and threw them into their database, or if someone actually sat down and thought, oh, I should add some names from some common series in addition to names from works of classic literature.
I'd love to see if anyone out there in the grand internet world has ever written a piece about this oddity... and if any specific research has ever been done into fandom-specific words... hrm... I wonder...
As far as I remember, I had to add the Weiss Kreiz group(well, Ken was in there already) but hmmm... maybe Yuki and Shuichi are common Japanese names that should been in there? I can't say any of my Japanese friends are named either... but it's possible, I suppose...
Unfortunately, a search online has turned up nothing matching my topic of curiosity :-( But I wonder...
I typically have a lot of red in my sneezefics when I write, mainly because the Microsoft Word spell checker picks up all my lovely sneeze-spellings :-) Usually when starting into writing for a fandom, I'll have to add a lot of fandom-specific words into my dictionary. Like Rivendell and apparate and Hogwarts... you get the idea.
Names, too, I end up adding a lot of. I was astounded way back when I wrote my first Lord of the Rings fic that not only did Microsoft word NOT flag 'Gandalf' and 'Frodo' but also did not flag down 'Aragorn' for me. Apparently, all three of those were already in its dictionary! Go Microsoft staff! LOL! I did have to add Gimli and Legolas if I remember correctly.
Well, jumped into writing a quick Gravitation fanfic earlier today... and was suddenly struck with the realization halfway through that it recognized the proper names used in my fic! Apparently, both Yuki and Shuichi are also in the Miscrosoft Word Spell Checker Dictionary?! It did not, however, have Eiri or Hiro, etc. But it really makes me wonder if they just got a bunch of popular names from different cultures and threw them into their database, or if someone actually sat down and thought, oh, I should add some names from some common series in addition to names from works of classic literature.
I'd love to see if anyone out there in the grand internet world has ever written a piece about this oddity... and if any specific research has ever been done into fandom-specific words... hrm... I wonder...
As far as I remember, I had to add the Weiss Kreiz group(well, Ken was in there already) but hmmm... maybe Yuki and Shuichi are common Japanese names that should been in there? I can't say any of my Japanese friends are named either... but it's possible, I suppose...
Unfortunately, a search online has turned up nothing matching my topic of curiosity :-( But I wonder...
no subject
Date: 2003-09-08 02:08 am (UTC)(On a side note: Viggo Mortensen can't sing *l* Well, no, he can. He just sings really badly! And (I apologise in advance to any Danes - this is just me being ignorant and not understanding right) Danish sounds like a file being played backwards *l* I really think I should stop listening to Viggo files, and get back to studying now!)
girlwithtulips
Viggo sings and dictionary/spellings
Date: 2003-09-09 08:34 pm (UTC)I noticed that about Aragorn, as well! *l* But not for any others - probably because I've never typed them in word before. I hate the squiggle underlining though - I always turn it off.
You wouldn't want to read one of my fics that hadn't been spell checked. I am the word's worst speller. I never learned how to spell phonetically and have a mental block when it comes to some sounds and words. I also switch a lot of letters when I write out long-hand or type (B and P are interchanged, as are D and G, and many times so are gu and qu) I always laugh it off and say that's what editors are for.
As for actual dictionary words... sometimes I'm really impressed with new words added, sometimes (as in the case of some cyber terms) not so happy. I don't want people 200 years from now looking back and saying 'oh yes, back in the year 2003 they must have used the word badass constantly because that is when they added it to the dictionary' *shudder* Some slang should stay burried in the past.
But muggle is certainly interesting- I would be thrilled if something I wrote ever ended up in a library, let alone as part of the culture so much that they added it to dictionaries! In a JKR interview (with Katie Couric, I think it was?) the interviewer mentioned how neat the accomplishment was since words aren't usually taken out of the dictionary once they get added in :-)