On Wed, Sep 12, 2001 at 04:38:42PM -0500, Michael Leddy wrote:
> Robin wrote
>
> > Grammar checkers are at best irritating and at worst misleading. In the
> > days when I used MS Word, I would sometimes turn on the grammar checker
> > for amusement. Frequently it would mark sentences as ungrammatical which
> > I was convinced were perfectly normal English <snip>
>
> You're absolutely right. There's a helpful writing handbook (the sort of
> book college students use in freshman comp) by Diana Hacker, A Writer's
> Reference, with sidebars pointing out (all through the book) the kinds of
> mistakes grammar checkers cannot spot. Nothing can really replace a
> writer's careful attention to his or her work. Michael
:-S
Is 3 not greater than 1, because 5 is greater than 3?
A grammar checker that can replace a human grammarian (a 5) will be a
long time in coming. Meanwhile, we have a 3 in the works, which is
probably better than the 1 (no grammar checker) we have now.
--
Dan Stromberg UCI/NACS/DCS
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