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Melnick at Large

Aye Hope Yule No Better

By Arnold Melnick, DO, FACOP

Arnold Melnick, DO, FACOP

At your computer, you've finished the draft of your new article/report/letter and are very satisfied with it, but to be sure it's OK, you run it through the spell-checker. Fine, nothing seems amiss and you are ready to submit it.

Like so many thousands of us who use computers, you are consciously or unconsciously assuming that computers make no mistakes. But we are wrong, present-day computers with all their innovations and advances, do have inherent problems-- something we rarely consider. The more improved an invention becomes, the more there are dangers. A model-T Ford required only simple and easy care, but today's super-charged luxury car has so many more things to consider--more things to go wrong-- and complicated mechanisms beyond the scope of the average driver. And so it is with the computer and internet. That's not all bad; I'll take the modern luxury car and the up-to-date electronic inventions.

Forget for the moment such computer/internet stumbling blocks as incorrect citations or errors in the entering of original information that it not realized until after being put on line (and perhaps that has already been read by someone who assumed it  as a basis of further exploration}. In this article, I am emphasizing the potholes in using spell-check, generally a helpful and good assistant. But it absolutely needs human scrutiny on every use.

In order to illustrate my spell-check point, let me quote from my column Melnick on Writing  (American Medical Writers Association):

Here's a poem (source unknown) that was run through a spell-checker:

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased to no   
Its letter perfect in it's weigh
My chequer tolled me sew."
So, in the future, when you are worried about your spelling,
Aye hope that Yule no better.

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Do you have some favorite anecdotes? Personal? Office? Are you willing to share them with me? I’d like to collect them and maybe share them with others. Please send them to melnick5050@comcast.net and be sure to include your name and address (street or e-mail). They will be appreciated.

 

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PULSE is published four times a year in conjunction with the American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians, 2209 Dickens Road, Richmond, VA 23230-2005; (804) 565-6333 or fax (804) 282-0090. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the express written consent of ACOP. All rights reserved. The American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians is not responsible for statements made by any contributor. Statements or opinions expressed in PULSE reflect the views of the author(s) and not necessarily the official policy of the ACOP.

American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians | 2209 Dickens Road | (804) 565-6333 | Fax (804) 282-0090 | www.acopeds.org

Editor in Chief: Robert G. Locke, DO, MPH, FACOP     Emeritus Editor: Arnold Melnick, DO, FACOP     Contact the Editor