Zola ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ Bear Blog

On technical aids for correcting spelling, grammar, and style

FOTOGRAF JONAS BILBERG
Processtekniker säkerställer kvalitet i produktionen genom att övervaka skärm.

Technical tools to help with spelling, grammar, and style have existed since what feels like the dawn of humanity. We've all used them, at times thanked their makers, and often cursed them for constantly squiggly-red-line-underlining the names of our products.

Grammar differs not only between continents but also between diverse cultures and ages. The same goes for spelling. Style adds both complexity and complicatedness by adding flair and borders to how one writes in relation to circumstance and audience. All of these combined make for an interesting cocktail that can either make your audience understand you perfectly and bless your soul or yawn after reading your first couple of sentences.

This is an interesting article that lists and provides brief reviews of current and popular tools. As you can see, all tools struggle with checking basic grammar or style. They're not perfect, but any extra help can't hurt.

Microsoft have now released Editor, a spelling-grammar-and-style tool. It's worth noting that this application competes with Microsoft's own spelling-and-grammar tool that's built into Word, but that's another matter.

Even though a Technical Writer seems easy to replace with robots, some time will pass before that happens in (truly) professional environments; if not even Apple can get their AI to properly and quickly understand circumstance—which obviously is mind-warpingly difficult to do—human interaction won't soon be dissed.

I use a few tools:

If you're ever in doubt: ask a Technical Writer. We'll help if we're kind and up for it.