Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Spell-Checker Rewrites History:
My friend Rob Morris reports that Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee (Robert
E. Lee's father), has been renamed:
[Lighthorse Harry] earned his nickname during the American War of
Independence as commander of the Legion of Virginia. The nickname
Lighthorse Harry has followed the man for over 200 years. Imagine
dashing the dashing Lighthorse Harry, rallying his legionnaires as
they complete the encirclement of Fort Watson in April, 1781. With
a nickname like that, history remembers Lee as a man of action,
forever in motion.
That is until spell-checking software anchored him on a rocky
shore. It seems that "Lighthorse" isn't an English word spoken in
Redmond, Washington (home of Microsoft Word) or Ottawa, Ontario
(Home of Corel WordPerfect). Their spell checkers want to change it
from "Lighthorse" to "Lighthouse," and they have.
Now various Web sites, including some at reputable locations -- the
University of Houston Library, the Texas Archival Resources Online,
and other places -- talk about Lighthouse Harry. As someone whose last
name is changed by spell-checkers to [1]Moloch, I empathize and
protest.
References
1. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=moloch
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