The Spill Cheque Feature
My family still has the antique Underwood typewriter that my grandfather used just over one hundred years ago when he served as the marshal of a small west central Missouri town. For its time, this appliance was state of the art. Very readable and professionally appearing printed documents could be created by anyone. The typist would use the alphabetical keys that propelled small hammers, called ‘typebars’, to strike a cloth ribbon impregnated with ink to leave crisp black impressions of those letters on a sheet of paper. The paper was held in place by small cylinders, called ‘free rollers’, that pressed the paper firmly against a larger cylindrical rubber roller, called a ‘platen.’ The typewriter was a marvelous advancement for the creation of business letters and contracts that were clearly readable on the standard paper sizes available at that time. However, there was one very definite drawback. Mistakes were very hard to correct. The user had to be an excellent speller and very precise in their typing skills or it would be obvious, and possibly confusing, for the reader.
In the early 1960’s, when my father opened his business, the first piece of office equipment that he purchased was a mechanical Remington Rand typewriter. Also, it was at about this time that Liquid Paper was appearing on many store shelves; invented by Bette Nesmith Graham, an executive secretary working for Texas Bank and Trust in Dallas. After much experimentation – trial and error – Mrs. Graham was able to develop a formula that was marketed for use to paint over mistakes. A small applicator brush, included with the product, could be used to apply the paint like material over the handwritten or typed error and a correction made after the product had dried.
It was also in the 1960’s that electric typewriters were rapidly replacing mechanical ones. Some of these electric typewriters included a backspacing correction feature and a white plastic supplemental ribbon that allowed mistakes to be typed over and corrected with a new line of keystrokes. But, even with these inventions and improvements, a writer still needed to be careful to spell correctly or those reading the resulting rhetoric might not clearly understand the author’s statement or even feel a sense of embarrassment for creator as they observed the number of smudges and erasures appearing upon the page.
All this would change with the introduction of computer word processors, the widespread application of personal computers and the proliferation of smart phones. And, all of these new devices included what would become the greatest help for all writers and poor spellers alike; the ‘Spell Check Feature.’
Some of these knew electronic devices even offered a verbal dictating application that wood create a written message as the author spoke. Sew, to meat the kneads off awl off those who once snuggled with spilling arrows, anyone could now relay on the Spill Cheque Feature to instantly connect mistakes. Ore, at the vary yeast, this Feature wood fine an displace a wrong word whiff a rite won.
Butt, care musk still bee taken because both the author an the Spill Cheque Feature mite bee fooled bye sum words that sound ore are spilled alike. Words witch half the same sound or spilling, butt differ inn meaning are ‘homonyms’ – such as ‘bail’ (to empty a boat) and ‘bail’ (to release a prisoner). Words that sound alike butt half differing meanings and origins are ‘homophones’ – such as ‘knew’ and ‘new.’ Ann, words that sound alike, butt half a different spilling and meaning are ‘homographs – such as ‘bear’ and ‘bare.’
Even whiff sum additional care, a writer can relay on the Spill Cheque Feature too quickly chick fore spilling arrows oar chews moor appropriate words from the device’s infernal thesaurus. Awl while the Spill Czech Feature automatically reviews four grammatical errors. Now, the writer doze knot halve to waist ours and ours off work editing the work peace. Whiff jest the push of a button oar the waive of a commuter moose, the document is dun whiff knot a spilling arrow inn site. The Spill Czech Feature is a reel help fore the rite-brained architect who kneads too seam like and English mayor when composting contacts and latters that wood empress a client. Sow, bear inn mine, as ewe set at your disk – daze inn an daze out, weak inn and weak out – preparing those documents that are sew impotent two cell you’re design concepts, that life is mooch easier now that wee halve the Spill Cheque Feature!