Add usernames to the spell checker?

April 29, 2004 10:17 AM

Would it be possible to add usernames to the spell checker? Misspelling someone's name is insulting, and it would be nice if the Spell Checker did its bit to help us all get along.
posted by Capn to Feature Requests at 10:17 AM (32 comments total)

And hey, if the box is open anyway, how about some commonwealth spellings (extra u's for everyone!!!)
posted by Capn at 10:22 AM on April 29, 2004

please. if you get insulted over somebody misspelling your whiz-bang intarweb handle, then you probably need to log off and go outside.
posted by keswick at 10:56 AM on April 29, 2004

I don't know about the names, but I like the commonwealth spelling idea! Not that it's a big deal or anything. It is just a little u after all. I think.
posted by loquax at 11:03 AM on April 29, 2004

You don't need a spelling checker for people's names. Presumably, if you're addressing a message to someone, one of their messages is on the screen right there in front of you, so you can just look at their name and type it the same way. Or you can copy and paste.
posted by kindall at 11:05 AM on April 29, 2004

kizick, it's not about being insulted, it's about not insulting.

kendall, what about obsessives who don't like hitting "Ignore"?

(har har har, sorry, couldn't resist)
posted by Capn at 11:11 AM on April 29, 2004

You know, Capn, that very important distinction seems to elude quite a few people. It's a shame.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:45 AM on April 29, 2004

my username gets often misspelled as 'mathowie'. and that's annoying.
on the other hand, I also get a lot of contributions meant for MeFi maintenance, love letters and stuff. cameras, too.

ps how in the world can one mis-spell 'Capn'?
posted by matteo at 12:04 PM on April 29, 2004

the mefi-mafia thing always gives me a chuckle.
posted by clavdivs at 12:12 PM on April 29, 2004

ps how in the world can one mis-spell 'Capn'?
It's not about other people mis-spelling Capn, it's about the Capn
mis-spelling other people.
posted by Capn at 12:26 PM on April 29, 2004

This is a great idea, and you have my full support.

Sincerely,

The Dog Complex.
posted by The God Complex at 12:58 PM on April 29, 2004

w00f w00f?

In all seriousness, unless this is the sort of thing that can be done in about five minutes, there are about a thousand other things I'd like to see done first. Matt seems like a fairly busy guy.

I would, however, like to see a feature in the spellcheck that automatically searched out Quonsar's name and changed it to Quarsan without asking for confirmation.
posted by The God Complex at 1:01 PM on April 29, 2004

Well, I vote for this idea. At least half of everyone who ever addresses me by my username spells it "recklaw", and I have no idea why.
posted by reklaw at 1:04 PM on April 29, 2004

Well, Mr. Klaw, sounds like they're just being a little bit wrekless.
posted by chicobangs at 1:11 PM on April 29, 2004

God only knows how many times I've been addressed as KaibAtsu. grrr...
posted by kaibutsu at 1:40 PM on April 29, 2004

My favourite miscasting of my user name was the time I got called "Orange Cream" in a thread about a vagina conditioning cream.
posted by orange swan at 1:43 PM on April 29, 2004

Considering that HisHighMattness has never even added "MetaFilter" or "MeFi" to the spellcheck dictionary, I think this request is a non-starter. Of course MY name is already in there.
<Nelson> Haw Haw. </Nelson>
posted by wendell at 2:14 PM on April 29, 2004

Since many usernames are made-up words, concatenated phrases and intentional misspellings, adding them to MeFi's dictionary would render it useless.

Try using preview.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:34 PM on April 29, 2004

To those that use it - think yourselves lucky you have a spellcheck function at all. To those that don't - maybe you should.

Sure, proper English spelling would be nice to have, but there are a zillion things that would be on the list above it (like lat/long co-ordinates on the user pages?), so don't hold your breath. Until then, you will have to use the manual spell-check located between your ears.
posted by dg at 3:06 PM on April 29, 2004

I was actually surprised that usernames weren't in the dictionary. That way they don't show up as a misspelled word...even if spelled correctly.
posted by MrAnonymous at 4:35 PM on April 29, 2004

It's not about other people mis-spelling Capn, it's about the Capn mis-spelling other people.

well dude, mine's easy:

q u a r s a n
posted by quonsar at 4:36 PM on April 29, 2004

mathowie - Please add 18,000 mispelled words to the dictionary so that I won't have to scroll up half a page to look at a username spelling. Because I'm lazy, and I know you have plenty of free time.

Thanks.
posted by y6y6y6 at 4:51 PM on April 29, 2004

People get my name wrong about 50% of the time, but it's not a big deal. It's not really insulting to me. Actually, it's sort of insulting to you.
posted by Hildago at 4:54 PM on April 29, 2004

What Hidlago said. People almost never spell my username as it is. Which I think is cute.

Just where the hell are these clamoring, anal retentive hordes who are offended by their fake name being spelled incorrectly?
posted by y6y6y6 at 5:00 PM on April 29, 2004

I was looking for "adn" in the username search and I get this page with a link that leads to caitlinb? Colour me confused.
posted by snarfodox at 5:02 PM on April 29, 2004

People get my name wrong about 50% of the time, but it's not a big deal. It's not really insulting to me. Actually, it's sort of insulting to you.

*sniff*

It's so true, but it was the first 50% of the time that I spelled it incorrectly, and ever since then the percentage has decreased with each subsequent spelling victory on my part. Of course, I was terribly disappointed when I discovered the new movie about the horse and the guy from LOTR wasn't a biopic about you (how does that horse type with those big hooves?!?!), but I got over it.

Which doesn't mean I don't still hate your clan and your house, but our blood feud is separate and distinct from the spelling of your name.
posted by The God Complex at 5:11 PM on April 29, 2004

"I was looking for "adn" in the username search and I get this page with a link that leads to caitlinb? Colour me confused."

As is often the case, "view source" and "search" are the key to unraveling the mystery.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:14 PM on April 29, 2004

If someone has a username "teh" I'm gonna be in some trouble.
posted by Space Coyote at 5:32 PM on April 29, 2004

Some people mix up the capitalisation on the I and H in my username.
...but I've hunted most of them down now.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 6:55 PM on April 29, 2004

I will feast on the bones of your ancestors, The God Complex! Your line will be scourged from the earth and none will be left to remember your deeds!

But yeah, it's no biggie on the name, I probably should have made it Hidalgo anyway.
posted by Hildago at 12:01 AM on April 30, 2004

I have it! The better solution! How about a dictionary that includes all possible letter combinations?
posted by eyeballkid at 1:08 AM on April 30, 2004

Geez, eyeballkid, why not simply provide a dynamic link to Borges Library of Babel?


On preview, what Dagobert said.
posted by Dagobert at 3:09 AM on April 30, 2004

Wow. This is weird. I could not for the life of me understand why I was referring to that film as Hildago.

Sincerely,

Ricky London
posted by Dick Paris at 2:26 PM on May 1, 2004