Article: 261354 of talk.bizarre
From: thwilson@bnr.ca (Diane Wilson)
Newsgroups: talk.bizarre
Subject: Re: what i know will happen
Date: 1 Dec 1995 16:54:45 GMT
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd.
Lines: 26
Message-ID: <49nc0l$i6t@brtph500.bnr.ca>
References: <49mrdp$8cn@athos.itribe.net>
Reply-To: diane.wilson@pobox.com
Originator: thwilson@brtph885
Status: O
X-Status: 


In article <49mrdp$8cn@athos.itribe.net>, adelano@frymulti.com (Art Delano) writes:
|> 
|> fortune telling based on misinterpolation of handwriting or misspelled
|> words in spellchecking programs, grammar checkers, and handwriting
|> recognizers.
|> 
|> malapropomancy

I'm very sorry to inform you that this has already happened.

Microsoft Word (version 5.1 for the Mac) did not include the word
"usability" in its spelling dictionary.  During spellchecking, Word
would always suggest "suability" as the most appropriate correction.
This dictionary dates back to the years of Apple's user interface
lawsuits against Microsoft.

I am not making this up.

Also, in some circles it has been a game for years to do a spellcheck
on your or your friends' names.  My friend Thyra Rauch was not amused
when Word suggested that the correct spelling for her name was "thrall
raunch."
-- 
Diane Wilson
http://www.lava.net/~dewilson