Thursday, March 10, 2011

In Which Spell Checkers Are Not Always The Thing

Spell-checkers aren't the friends you think they are;
They cannot tell you if you've used the right
Word where you should, or if you've gone too far
Describing something when you've taken flight
Imagining. And then there's homonyms,
Those pesky words that all might sound the same
Like "might" and "mite" or all the "to's", the "hims"
That you've replaced with "their" when, no, a name
Won't do again, but you don't want to seem
A sexist scribe. But "their" is plural. Too,
Watch out for transpositions that are deemed
As words in their own right, but aren't what you
Are wanting. "Solider" and "soldier" - such
Mean very diff'rent things. Alas, too much!

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