BS: On 'Mudcatting'

Subject: On 'Mudcatting'
From: GUEST, A Mudcatter
Date: 26 Aug 02 - 02:32 AM

I was sending an e-mail to a friend of mine, recently, and I happened to use the term 'Mudcatting' as part of the ongoing anecdote. My spell-checker immediately sprang into action, and unceremoniously drew that yukky red squiggly line underneath the unregognised verb.

I right-clicked, and received all these 'similar' words I could use in its' stead.

Medicating
Mutating
Mulcting
Muscatine

Isn't the Chaos Theory something else, or what?

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Amos
Date: 26 Aug 02 - 11:17 AM

Man, you want your verbs regognized yer gonna have to buy into something more high-powered than Microsoft!! Regognizing is much too subtle an art for even the most advanced forms of AI today when you do it to verbs. Even noun regognizing requires the use of distributed networks of super-computers (G4s connected byfirewire network for speed). God, for example, is a verb which no system known to computer science has been able to regognize worth a shit.

Most folks just settle down and enjoy their verbs as they are. Regognizing them just pushes them into intolerable degrees of clarity and precision, and they get into all kinds of trouble tryin' to communicate with muddy and catty thinkers of all ages thereafter.

A

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Hippie Chick
Date: 26 Aug 02 - 11:32 AM

well shooooot, I jist add the verb/noun/adjective/whatever to the system vocabulary, since *I* know what it means, phooey to the rest. :)

HC

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: MMario
Date: 26 Aug 02 - 11:40 AM

me three!

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 Aug 02 - 12:39 PM

Microsoft does have its limitations. It probably doesn't even recognize "regognize." Ha!

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: MMario
Date: 26 Aug 02 - 12:41 PM

probably because Bill doesn't think anyone should be allowed to gognize except himself.

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Chip2447
Date: 27 Aug 02 - 01:42 AM

So, By the illogical thought prosseses that make up an averager Mudcatter... If Bill Gates purchases Google, then he would be the only one that could GOOGLEGOGNIZE?

Chip2447

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 27 Aug 02 - 01:01 PM

presumably the spell checker needs to be cognizant of a word in order for it to then be re-cognizant of it. It's all very well just hitting "add to user dictionary", but check the proffered alternatives first, you may have mis-spelt the word

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Amos
Date: 27 Aug 02 - 05:35 PM

Oh, Nigel, you make so much sense!!

A

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Jock Morris
Date: 27 Aug 02 - 05:44 PM

Well if you will keep using a 'z' where it should be an 's' then it's no wonder it can't recognise the word:-)

If you colonials are going to mess with the spelling can you please have the decency to stop calling it English:-)

Scott (Runs and ducks for cover)

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Don Firth
Date: 27 Aug 02 - 07:46 PM

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Don Firth
Date: 27 Aug 02 - 07:50 PM

Sorry. Twitchy finger on the mouse button.

My wife's last name is Palecek (pronounced PAH-luh-chek. Remember the old TV show "Banacek" with George Peppard?). That can drive a spell-checker absolutely bananas.

If you have Microsoft Word, try this: type "I'd like to see you naked," highlight it, bring up the thesaurus (Shift-F7), and see what you get.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Amos
Date: 27 Aug 02 - 08:45 PM

Mine just suggest "idiosyncratic", which makes little sense. What does your presumably Windoze version do?

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: GUEST,A Mudcatter
Date: 28 Aug 02 - 07:05 AM

It is quite funny, really. I have found my self questioning my own grammatical knowledge, which albeit is not that great. But still...

I keep getting hit for 'passive sentences'.
.... and fragments.

I don't suppose, though, that it would matter what engine you used, there will never be any accurate way one can measure inflection in sentences; that quality that makes the sentence make perfect sense, at the expense of throwing a few rules to the wind.

Sorry about the thread... just me getting philosophical in my old age.... :-;

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Amos
Date: 28 Aug 02 - 11:58 AM

There ya go regognizing the world again!! You can call it philosophical, but I think it is more than that -- old age provides a deep motivation for regognizing just about everything. Comes with the territory. No apologies needed -- just tell 'em all your mad as hell and yer gonna regognize, and proud of it, too!!

A

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: MMario
Date: 28 Aug 02 - 12:08 PM

Didn't that used to bring up the 3D dungeon maze - part of MS-Word's incredible bloatware?

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 28 Aug 02 - 02:22 PM

If your spell-checker/grammar-checker annoys you, you can turn it off or change the way it works. In Microsoft Word 97, click on Tools, then Options, then Spelling & Grammar. You will see several optional functions you can check or uncheck. Under "Writing Style" you can select Casual, Standard, Formal, Technical, or Custom; and if that doesn't give you all the flexibility you want, you can click the Settings button and it will bring up an even more detailed list of options.

A guest above mentioned passive sentences. Passive voice really is a problem in business communication. I have seen managers issue orders like "project schedules will be turned in every Friday" without saying who was supposed to turn them in. People would read this and wonder, "Is he telling me to do it? Or just informing me that someone else will do it?"

If you don't care about spelling, that's your business, but if you ever post lyrics or information about music, consider that unorthodox spelling may make it difficult or impossible for anyone to find that information with a search engine.

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: euclid
Date: 28 Aug 02 - 05:09 PM

I'm with you, Amos

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: GUEST,A Mudcatter
Date: 30 Aug 02 - 05:10 AM

It's all right, Jim, I'm not that philosophical; as I said, grammar is as grammar does (well, for me anyway), and apart from the odd few unregognised phrases... like 'Mudcatting', my spelling and grammer is actually quite good.
Although, maybe I should have changed the word to 'Mutating'.

Pefrectly so, Amos. Pround as punch

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Don Firth
Date: 30 Aug 02 - 12:34 PM

That little "I'd like to see you naked" thing above works in MS Word 97. Apparently lots of programs are filled with gags that bored programmers stick in. The trick is to find them. I haven't checked lately, but there are several web sites that detail them. Go to google's "Advanced Search," type in the name of the program you're interested in, and type "Easter eggs." That's what they call 'em.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: On 'Mudcatting'
From: Amos
Date: 30 Aug 02 - 01:21 PM

My grammar used to do Easter Eggs, too, Don; but I outgrew all that stuff and she died, anyway....