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If the word you intended to type isn’t on the list, don’t fret. Word isn’t that
smart. You may have to use a real dictionary or take another stab at spelling
the word phonetically and then correct it again.
The Mini Toolbar, shown at the top of the menu in Figure 8-2, is used for
r
quick formatting. It’s the same Mini Toolbar that appears when you
select text (see Chapter 7); it also appears whenever you right-click text,
as is done with a spell-check correction.
Word turns off automatic proofing when your document grows over a
a
specific size. For example, on my computer, when the document is more
than 100 pages long, automatic spell checking is disabled. A warning
appears to alert you when this happens. Note that you can still manually
spell-check, which is covered in the section “Proofing Your Entire
Document at Once,” later in this chapter.
What to do when the spell checker
stupidly assumes that a word is
misspelled but in fact it isn’t
Occasionally, Word’s spell checker bumps into a word it doesn’t recognize,
such as your last name or perhaps your city. Word dutifully casts doubt on
the word, by underlining it with the notorious red zigzag. Yes, this is one of
those cases where the computer is wrong.
When a word is flagged as incorrectly spelled or as a typo, you can use two
commands, both of which are found on the pop-up menu when you right-click
the word (refer to Figure 8-2). The commands are Ignore All and Add to
Dictionary.
Ignore All: Select this command when the word is properly spelled and you
u
don’t want Word to keep flagging it as misspelled.
For example, in your science fiction short story, there’s a character named
Zadlux. Word believes it to be a spelling error, but you (and all the people of
the soon-to-be-conquered planet Drebulon) know better. After you choose the
Ignore All command, all instances of the suspect word are cheerfully ignored,
but only in that one document.
Add to Dictionary: This command adds words to the list that Word refers to
o
so that the word becomes part of the internal Spelled Correctly library.
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Part II: Word Processing Basics
