Why can't the English...

[amethyst73]

I have seen not one, but two different places today where the homonym 'illicit' has been wrongly substituted for 'elicit'.  Both, as it happens, on gaming sites.  (I'm no longer terribly surprised by this sort of thing on IGN, but I've come to expect better from Gamers With Jobs.)  Since people seem to be relying more and more on the ubiquitous spellchecker to point out errors in English (hi orewashinanai's students!), it's becoming clear that someone desperately needs to invent a really good grammar checker.  One that can parse sentences to the point of knowing not just 'yeah, that's an adjective, it's clearly modifying the noun/gerund following immediately after it,' but one that knows about homonyms and it's/its/(and the totally illegal its').

Home again today.  I've been having nasty stomach gas for about the last 18 hours or so.  It's some better than it was last night, enough to the point of 'if I really had to go out and accomplish stuff, I'd take an Advil and/or tummy medicine and deal with it', but since I have buckets of sick leave and since I know that while I'd prolly be able to get myself to work, I'd really want to just go and lie down afterwards, I am home, at least for now.  Bed and semiconsciousness are good things.

Comments

[orewashinanai.livejournal.com]

Well, there is the grammar checker called really-detailed-oriented-friend, but I don't know if it's vista compatible...

[amethyst73.livejournal.com]

Hahaha!

Naw, but give me a printout and a red pen, and watch me go!

[xse99.livejournal.com]

OMG, I know! My favorite is imminent/eminent/imanent. The books I edit have entire chapters that are usage glossaries of just such mistreated terms. I also get to write fun notes about how grammar checkers are basically useless and relying on spellcheck is dangerous.