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You are here: Books --> Effective onscreen editing --> Exclusion list for spellcheckers
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Many correctly spelled words that are being used incorrectly won't be found by a spellcheck. There are a few common reasons for this:
They're frequently confused with other words.
They result from simple, easy-to-make typos.
In each case, creating an exclusion list can force your spellchecker to stop at these words and ask you to check them once more, just to be sure. In Microsoft Word, this list is referred to as an "exclusion list". (See Chapter 10 and 9 of the 3rd and 4th editions (respectively) of Effective Onscreen Editing for details on creating and using exclusion dictionaries.)
The table of word pairs that follows was originally compiled by Carolyn Haley and members of the copyediting-l discussion group, but I've modified and updated it as new words were suggested by my work and my colleagues. Additional words were suggested by Matt Stevens. The list is in alphabetical order, with the word that comes first in the left column.
After the table, I've provided a single-column list of the words that you can copy and paste into your word processor to create the exclusion list. (Details on how to do this will vary among word processors. Consult the online help for details.) Review the list and delete word pairs that aren't relevant in your work. Some of the words result from visual errors in distinguishing English letters (e.g., h vs. n, b vs. d) by the Asian authors I work with and may not occur in your work.
If you have any words or word pairs you'd like to add to the list, please send them to me via my Contact page.
Note: an easy-to-copy list can be found after the table.
| adaption | adaptation |
| adviser | advisor |
| affect | effect |
| ameba | amoeba |
| as | ass |
| asses
|
asset |
| assess | assets |
| assume | subsume |
| ate | eat |
| barely | barley |
| bride | bridge |
| canceled | cancelled |
| catalog | catalogue |
| calvary
|
cavalry |
| cites | cities |
| collage | college |
| compiled | complied |
| complement | compliment |
| county | country |
| curser | cursor |
| dairy | diary |
| deceased | decreased |
| descendant | descendent |
| dialog | dialogue |
| doe | does |
| drier | dryer |
| economic | economical |
| eg | e.g., |
| filed | field |
| flair | flare |
| foreword | forward |
| form | from |
| fungi | funguses |
| gaol | goal |
| gorilla | guerrilla |
| gray | grey |
| hair | hare |
| he | the |
| hear | near |
| historic | historical |
| home
|
hone |
| ie | i.e., |
| important | impotent |
| impute | input |
| input | inputted |
| intension | intention |
| irregardless | regardless |
| it's | its |
| lager | larger |
| led
|
lead |
| liner | linear |
| loose | lose |
| manage | mange |
| manager | manger |
| managers | mangers |
| marital | martial |
| miniscule
|
minuscule |
| necessarily | necessary |
| patent | patient |
| pease | please |
| penal | penile |
| perform | preform |
| phenological | phonological |
| phenology | phonology |
| poses | posses |
| posses
|
possess |
| predominantly | predominately |
| principal | principle |
| perspective | prospective |
| pubic | public |
| quadrat | quadrate |
| quadrats | quadrates |
| rabbi | rabbit |
| raged | ranged |
| raped | rapid |
| ratio | ration |
| reign | rein |
| sail | sale |
| sale | sell |
| scare | scarce |
| sequester | sequestrate |
| stationary | stationery |
| straight | strait |
| subsides | subsidies |
| sued | used |
| supercede | supersede |
| that | which |
| their | there |
| than | then |
| toward
|
towards |
| trail | trial |
| under way | underway |
| usable | useable |
| valance | valence |
| were | where |
adviser
advisor
affect
ameba
amoeba
as
ass
asses
assess
asset
assets
assume
ate
barely
barley
bride
bridge
calvary
canceled
cancelled
catalog
catalogue
cavalry
cites
cities
collage
college
compiled
complement
complied
compliment
country
county
curser
cursor
dairy
deceased
decreased
descendant
descendent
dialog
dialogue
diary
doe
does
drier
dryer
eat
economic
economical
effect
filed
field
flair
flare
foreword
form
forward
from
gaol
goal
gorilla
gray
grey
guerrilla
hair
hare
he
hear
historic
historical
home
hone
important
impotent
impute
input
inputted
intension
intention
it's
its
lead
led
liner
linear
loose
lose
manage
manager
managers
mange
manger
mangers
marital
martial
miniscule
minuscule
near
necessarily
necessary
patent
patient
pease
penal
penile
perform
perspective
please
poses
posses
possess
predominantly
predominately
preform
principal
principle
prospective
pubic
public
rabbi
rabbit
raged
ranged
raped
rapid
ratio
ration
reign
rein
sail
sale
scare
scarce
sell
stationary
stationery
straight
strait
subsides
subsidies
subsume
sued
supercede
supersede
than
that
their
then
there
toward
towards
trail
trial
under way
underway
used
valance
valence
were
where
which
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