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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Which of these sentences uses literally incorrectly?

I. I have literally no patience for people who don't wipe around the sink after they wash their hands.

II. Don't they realize that those water droplets contain literally millions of germs?

III. It literally makes me want to scream when I have to use the sink after a sloppy hand washer.

(A) I
(B) II
(C) III
(D) None of them.

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.

Fill in the blank:


I swear, Mom, I'm telling you the _________ story about the three-foot-wide __________ in the carpet!


(A) hole, whole
(B) whole, hole
(C) hole, hole
(D) whole, whole

In which of the following options should the word principle be inserted into the blank?

(A) Janine is a ____________ ballerina with the Sarna Ballet Company.
(B) Skateboarding is guided by the ____________ of momentum.
(C) Phil has no idea how he's going to pay the ____________ on his auto loan.
(D) After she hotwired his car, our daughter's ____________ called us in for a conference.

Which of these sentences uses than incorrectly?

I. It was hotter than Hades when we went to the state fair.

II. I really didn't want to go than, but my mom wanted to see the junior rodeo.

III. And I have to admit: those 6-year-old goat ropers were cuter than a basket full of kittens.

(A) I
(B) II
(C) I and II
(D) II and III

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