Spelling and Mechanics Introduction

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Spelling and mechanics errors: the easiest way to make you a laughingstock (other than slipping on a literal banana peel).

There are fewer things more cringe-worthy than a misspelled tattoo or more hilarious than when people spell "morons" like "morans" or "no offense" like "no a fence." We love to be smug about that kind of stuff.

Spelling and mechanics fails are the stuff of endless Buzzfeed lists and Tumblr blogs. Life is so much more enjoyable when autocorrect becomes auto-incorrect, isn't it?

It's fun to smirk over. It's horrible to do…especially because you just know that your essay on The Dairy of Anne Frank (um, did she really like milk that much?) or your mistake-ridden college admissions essay is not going to be taken seriously.

So let's get serious.

Correct spelling is insanely important in a paragraph or essay. It helps you get your ideas across clearly. Tools like spellcheck are great but not foolproof, so it's important to develop some stellar spelling awareness. When you encounter a new word, take note of how it's spelled and how it's used, and add it to your writing stash.

A mastery of mechanics is also crucial for composing good papers. When we say mechanics, we don't mean the good people that get your car back on the road after you run over a monstrous, sedan-eating pothole. We mean capitalization, abbreviations, and numbers. Knowing these writing standards helps you become a more effective communicator and polishes your writing skills.

It also helps you to not be this guy.

Quiz Yourself on Spelling and Mechanics

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What correction would you make to the following passage?


Every afternoon, Paige works on her fantasy novel at the Starbucks on Lincoln Avenue. So far, she's finished fifty pages. Sometimes, she lets the baristas read it. They all agree that the best part is the sword fight between the gnome and the fire dwarf that starts Chap. 2. They also all agree that she should probably order more than one small water if she's going to take up a whole table for five hours every day.


(A) abbreviate Avenue to Ave.
(B) change fifty to 50
(C) change Chap. 2 to Chapter 2
(D) abbreviate hours to hrs.

Which of the following sentences contains a grammatical error?

I. Violent video games—e.g., the Grand Theft Auto series—are a perpetual source of controversy.

II. After Atari's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial video game flopped with consumers, 700,000 unsold cartridges were buried in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

III. The CIA is a faction in both the Battlefield and Call of Duty: Black Ops game franchises.

(A) I
(B) II
(C) III
(D) Error? What error? These all look good to me.

Choose the grammatically incorrect sentence.

(A) When we were touring San Francisco, I was disappointed to see that the Golden Gate Bridge was actually rusty red, not glittering gold.
(B) I tried to explain to the Canadian fisherman that he should go into the water at Miami Beach since it was actually warm.
(C) The country was slipping into another Depression, so I decided to boost the economy with a major shopping spree at Target.
(D) I hate flying, but I will make an exception if I ever get the opportunity to travel to Antarctica because it's my dream vacation spot.

Choose the option that completes the following sentences correctly:


Just ___________ you and me, I had a really hard time choosing ___________ being a bridesmaid in Allison's wedding and going to Hawaii with my sister. But after Allison forced me to select a bridesmaid dress from __________ three styles I hated, I was ready to head down the airplane aisle.


(A) between, among, between
(B) between, between, between
(C) between, between, among
(D) None of these

Fill in the blank, please:


By 5:00 p.m. the snow was falling hard and traffic on I-55 came to a halt. Our car remained ________________ for the next seven hours.


(A) stationary
(B) stationery
(C) Neither A nor B
(D) Both A and B

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