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Tom’s Tech Tips

Tom’s Tuesday Tech Tip: Take Back Control of Your Spell Check Function

As we rely more on software programs doing our spelling for us, we can actually create spelling errors that we don’t notice, but your attorney-clients might. One of the issues with any word processing application is that once you accidentally mark a misspelled word as correct, that’s how the software spells the word until you do something about it. For example, you create your legal nurse consulting report for one of your attorney-clients and you misspell pleurisy as pleuricy. When you’re spell-checking the document you figure Word just doesn’t know any medical terms, and since you do, you click Add to Dictionary.

Then, one day your twelve-year-old daughter is looking over your shoulder, watching you work your CLNC® magic and says Mom, everyone knows pleurisy is spelled with an “s” not a “c.” So you Google it and find out she’s right. Here’s how you get the incorrectly spelled word (and any others) out of your Microsoft® Office® product’s dictionary so that it is spelled correctly in the future.

First, click the Pearl or Office Button at the top left corner of your Word document. Then, go to the bottom of the dropdown box and click Word Options. Next, click Proofing and then Custom Dictionaries. Make sure the box next to CUSTOM.DIC is selected and click Edit Word List. You’ll see a list of all the words that have been added to your custom dictionary. It should look like this.

Simply scroll down through that dictionary selecting and deleting any misspelled words you find. When you’re done, simply OK your way out. It’s that simple and you’ll never have to hand-correct pleurisy again! Of course, once you fix your spell Czech yule still need to pay a tension to your graham air – it doesn’t help if a correctly spelled word is mis-used.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

P.S. Comment, if you dare, and share any words you famously misspell.

2 thoughts on “Tom’s Tuesday Tech Tip: Take Back Control of Your Spell Check Function

  1. Thanks for the great tip on editing the Word dictionary. I recently provided a report to an attorney involving multiple fractures of the victim. I worked Orthopaedics (yes, that is the correct spelling per NAON) for many years and was a certified ortho nurse. My spell check changed Colles fracture to Coles fracture and I didn’t catch it until the day after I gave the report to the attorney.

    I immediately sent him a corrected page with an apology for the Spell Check word and he was very kind and replied that he had a lot of experience with legal terms being corrected and having to go back and manually change the words.

    I now double and triple check every word that Office decides to put up as an error in spelling. I am now creating my custom dictionary of anything and everything medical. Thanks again for the great tip.

  2. I am definitely a CLNC® amigo! Here’s my story. I sent out a resume to at least 10 attorneys stating that I worked at a hospital in Phoenix, AR. This resume was proof read by others and myself multiple times. I showed it to my mom and she spotted the error immediately, “Honey, Phoenix is not in Arkansas!”

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*The opinions and statements made by Vickie Milazzo, the founder of Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. are based on her experiences and expertise, should not be applied beyond the specific context provided, and do not guaranty or project actual results. Vickie Milazzo is no longer involved in the operations or management of the business, but is involved as an independent education consultant.

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