Substance and Style
| Publication year | 2019 |
| Pages | 14 |
| Citation | Vol. 88 No. 10 Pg. 14 |
November, 2019
The Limits of Spell Check: Words Ewe Knead Two No
by Betsy Brand Six
Technology can do so many things to make our lives easier and even safer. Our car may beep if we start to drift onto the shoulder. Our smart phones anticipate the words we might want to type based on what we have typed before. The word processing software identifies when we have potentially misspelled or misused a word or made a grammar error.
The problem is that all of these benefits can lull us into a sense of complacency. We may no longer feel compelled to pay as much attention when driving if we know the car will beep if it starts to drift. And we may not type or proofread as carefully if we think spell check is doing the work for us. And yet Microsoft Word's spelling and grammar check has no problem with the phrase: words ewe knead two no.[1]
Many times, we just need to slow down and carefully read to identify when we have inadvertently typed “statue” instead of “statute.” And you only need to experience once the embarrassment of inadvertently omitting the “L” in “public” before you add that “Find” and “Replace” protocol to your editing checklist.
But there are also some homophones or related words where the correct spelling or usage is harder to detect because, well let's face it, sometimes we just don't know the difference.
Affect vs. Effect
Take this example:
Keanu Reeves has that effect.
Keanu Reeves has that affect.
The first sentence is saying that the actor had a particular impact, as in “She swooned when she saw his gorgeous smile; Keanu Reeves has that effect on most women over 45.” The second sentence conveys something about how the actor is displaying his mood or feelings, as in “He was expertly cast as a laid-back surfer dude in Point Break because Keanu Reeves has that affect perfected.”
One way to remember the difference is that when used in this context, you would pronounce the words differently. Effect begins with the “eh” sound, like in “exit” and has the emphasis on the second syllable. Affect begins with the same sound as the word “after” and has the emphasis on the first syllable.
In the examples above, the words are used as nouns. But effect and affect can also both be used as verbs:
The law effected Governor Kelly's will.
The law affected Governor Kelly's will.
As used in the first sentence...
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