Today I received a brief, thoughtful message from a successful colleague who works in another field. Here is the email:
Thanks, Ly7nn. Let me know if you have any questions concerning the report.
What went wrong? How could my friend send me a message with my name mangled by a number? Why didn't his grammar and spelling checker catch the error and stop the message from being sent?
The likely problem is that his Microsoft grammar and spelling checker is set to "Ignore words that contain numbers." That is one of the options a user can check. But checking it results in embarrassing mistakes like the one my friend made.
Be sure you have not inadvertently checked "Ignore words that contain numbers" and "Ignore words in UPPERCASE" in your Microsoft Office grammar and spelling checker. If you have checked them, your grammar and spelling checker will skip such words–and any errors in them!
Microsoft Office 2010, 2007, and 2003 all have a different way of getting you to the page to change these settings. Begin in a Word document. Then:
In 2010, go to File, then Options, then Proofing.
In 2007, go to Office Button (upper left corner of your screen in Word), then Word Options, then Proofing.
In 2003, go to Tools, then Options, then Spelling and Grammar.
Once you get to the appropriate screen, uncheck "Ignore words that contain numbers" and "Ignore words in UPPERCASE" if they are checked.
Be sure you are using Microsoft Word as your Outlook editor to apply these changes to your email.
I hope you enjoyed this tip. If you would like to add to it or add another tip, please do.
Ly7nn
Syntax Training