Synopsis
There are hundreds of instances in which two or more words are pronounced alike but are spelled differently—for example, ”role” and “roll.” In addition, there are hundreds of instances in which two words are pronounced differently but do exhibit some similarity in appearance—for example, “compel” and “impel.” Even well-educated people occasionally commit what can be called a “word-choice blunder”—that is, mixing up sound-alike words or similar-looking words. Those blunders can undermine your professional credibility and can embarrass you in social settings. Knowing the “right” word by heart is important. When you compose text on a computer, you cannot depend on a spell-check program to catch mistakes related to sound-alike or similar-looking words. When you forgo a spell-checker or when you hand-write a note, you are on your own. And, when you speak, you are on your own, too, because you need to know the distinctions between similar-sounding words. The book "Spell-Checker Follies" provides guidance on the correct usage of 435 pairs of words—182 sound-alike pairs and 253 similar-looking pairs. "Spell-Checker Follies" is designed to be read cover-to-cover and studied, much like a textbook. The book is divided into 16 units, each four pages long, with the most-common word pairs being addressed in the early units. An index lists the word pairs alphabetically.
About the Author
Joseph D. Keefer is director of the Center for Excellence in English Usage, based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Keefer’s varied career has included service as: An associate professor of communications at Penn State University; An associate professor of social sciences at Zayed University in Dubai and Abu Dhabi; A senior-level staff assistant to Congressman Walter Flowers in the U. S. House of Representatives; Chief lobbyist for the Council on Alternate Fuels, a Washington, D. C.-based trade association; A policy analyst for the Iowa Utilities Board; A copy editor for The Columbus Dispatch; A copy editor for The Des Moines Register; A reporter and editor for United Press International; and A reporter and editor for McGraw-Hill Publications Keefer has written five books aimed at helping students and professionals communicate better in words and numbers. Keefer holds a Ph.D. in mass communication research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.A. in international communication from The Ohio State University and a B.A. in journalism from Ohio State.
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