Microsoft Word is one of the most feature-rich and widely used word processors on the market, and will undoubtedly remain so for the time being. Still, for all its nifty bells and whistles, newspaper editors, college professors, students, writers, and lay users have complained in writing, and perhaps quietly too, about the unexplained absence of a much-needed feature. which would be the finishing touch to Microsoft Word: a homonymous proofreader. They regret that even a third-party Microsoft Word plugin would be welcome.
For those of you who don’t know, a homonym is basically one of two or more words that sound the same but have very different meanings. Some examples are would do Y wood, his Y these, right Y rite, unique Y drunk, meat Y meet. There are thousands more. You can understand why so many people use the wrong homonym. they are writing what sounds right. Websites are loaded with self-titled errors. You’ll also find them in newspapers, abstracts, term papers, legal documents, and dozens of other places. Just about anywhere there’s a document, there’s a good chance you’ll find a homonymous error.
If I were to write the following sentence, “Goodbye, a shoos gnu pear for my ant“, using the latest version of MS Word (version 2007), the program would underline wildebeest Y Forward with a wavy blue line, warning you that a different word (in this case, a homonym) is preferable. Pretty neat, right? What’s going on bye, pear, shoosY ant? Although they are spelled correctly, they are blatant contextual homonymous errors. Unfortunately, Word only partially solves this problem. Hmmmm… Could we use a Microsoft Word plugin here?
Homonymous errors are among the most common typing errors today. Whether you are a student, a writer, a teacher, a lawyer, or someone who just needs to write a letter, resume, or some other document from time to time, you certainly need to produce documents that are free of grammatical errors. Your life would be so much easier if there was a program, perhaps a Word add-in, that automatically checks each homonym for proper usage and then, on request, removes all misused homonyms, replacing them with the correct homonym based on context. . Imagine the time you could save, not to mention the added luxury of producing documents that are completely free of homonymous errors.
Is such a program just an illusion or a dream? Not really. There are some serious businessmen out there who firmly believe that a Microsoft Word add-in is within our reach. Furthermore, there is strong evidence that such a program already exists!
In the meantime, here are some tips on how you can produce homonymous error-free documents until you can find such a plugin:
1. Bookmark one of the many online sites that offer a free online homonym dictionary or homonym definition lists
2. Always use a spell checker first. After…
3. Reread your document specifically to find all homonyms
4. Check if you have used the correct homonym by checking the word in your online dictionary
5. Add to your vocabulary: Make it a goal to learn a few new homonyms every week. There are dozens of lists on the Internet.
All of the above may require extra effort, but if your line of work demands impeccable documents, you’ll agree that the benefits to be gained are well worth the effort.