Grammar check!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Aalaan
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A

Aalaan

Word 2000. Just found irrefutable proof of something I've long suspected,
and that is the inconsistency and self-contradictory tendency of the grammar
checker.

I was editing a document that contained the expression 'well-being'. On f7,
Word objected and wanted to substitute the two words unhyphenated. OK, only
one mention of the expression so no consistency problems. Let's go with
Microsoft this time. So I accepted but Microsoft now wanted the hyphen back!
I accepted again. Back to the original objection. Repeated acceptances just
left me in a loop. It seemed nothing would satisfy the beast...
 
Hi Aalaan,

You won't get any argument from us or from MS that the grammar checker
always has some ... "issues" is what MS calls them :-) because language is
so free-form. But do remember that Word 2000 is now long in the tooth, if
not completely obsolete, and there have been improvements in the intervening
three versions. Word 2003 doesn't complain about the hyphenated form of
"well-being".

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
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Hello again Jay!

I have deliberately stayed with Word 2000 because it strikes me as a very
stable product (with only a couple of shortcomings like the one I
mentioned). Whereas I read many horror stories here of others using Word
2003 (or even 2007) who are having great difficulties, especially when
they've applied improvement patches! As I make a living with words I simply
cannot afford the time and chaos that can apparently arise from these later
'improved versions'. It has long been a beef of mine. IMHO it is outrageous
when an 'update' is issued that introduces bugs, loses or corrupts files and
generally leads to a great waste of time, to say the least. On the living
nature of words I agree of course. Usage is always changing (witness the
rise and rise of the dreaded 'i'-word!) But in the case I mentioned it could
hardly change backwards and forwards over a period of a few seconds... <G>
 
There are many similar anomalies where the grammar checker and spell checker
are in direct opposition, especially when the hyphen is involved. Try
something like Northwest or Worldwide.

Terry Farrell
 
Aalaan said:
As I make a living with words I simply
cannot afford the time and chaos that can apparently arise from these later
'improved versions'. It has long been a beef of mine. IMHO it is outrageous
when an 'update' is issued that introduces bugs, loses or corrupts files and
generally leads to a great waste of time, to say the least.
Click to expand...

Aalaan,

My sympathies entirely. I too make a living from words. That's why II
haven't progressed beyond Word 97.
 
Understood. But I never regretted my move to Word 2000. It is much better.
However Microsoft has of course now 'withdrawn support' for this version and
it is necessary to apply two service packs to the original, one of which
can't be obtained any more! :-(
 
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