@orbis: You could also try the
excellent AutoCorrect script.
Refer: How to Get Spelling Autocorrect Across All Applications on Your SystemRather than a simple spell-checker it just seeks out most of the usual (and some perhaps not-so-usual) misspellings and auto-corrects them.
If you do not yet use
AHK (AutoHotkey), then
AutoCorrect could be your single biggest reason for starting to use AHK - several freeware apps (e.g., including some on DonationCoder) are written in AHK and released as code/script, so, if you know how to use AHK script, then you could tailor the apps to more precisely suit your peculiar needs, without needing to bother the original developer.
Also:- (a) AutoCorrect is fully editable: You can personalise the words and AHK script contents (add, remove, edit) as much as you want, and
- (b) it's a "text expansion repository": It has a rather nifty feature whereby you can either import all of your most-used AHK general hotkey strings (sentences or paragraphs) as a group, or add them singly on the fly, using the default Win+H hotkey (the default can be changed).
__________________________
Sample from the
AutoCorrect.ahk file:
;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; CHANGELOG:
;
; Sep 13 2007: Added more misspellings.
; Added fix for -ign -> -ing that ignores words like "sign".
; Added word beginnings/endings sections to cover more options.
; Added auto-accents section for words like fiancée, naïve, etc.
; Feb 28 2007: Added other common misspellings based on MS Word AutoCorrect.
; Added optional auto-correction of 2 consecutive capital letters.
; Sep 24 2006: Initial release by Jim Biancolo (http://www.biancolo.com)
;
; INTRODUCTION
;
; This is an AutoHotKey script that implements AutoCorrect against several
; "Lists of common misspellings":
;
; This does not replace a proper spellchecker such as in Firefox, Word, etc.
; It is usually better to have uncertain typos highlighted by a spellchecker
; than to "correct" them incorrectly so that they are no longer even caught by
; a spellchecker: it is not the job of an autocorrector to correct *all*
; misspellings, but only those which are very obviously incorrect.
;
; From a suggestion by Tara Gibb, you can add your own corrections to any
; highlighted word by hitting Win+H. These will be added to a separate file,
; so that you can safely update this file without overwriting your changes.
;
; Some entries have more than one possible resolution (achive->achieve/archive)
; or are clearly a matter of deliberate personal writing style (wanna, colour)
;
; These have been placed at the end of this file and commented out, so you can
; easily edit and add them back in as you like, tailored to your preferences.
;
; SOURCES
;
; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Lists_of_common_misspellings
; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Typo
; Microsoft Office autocorrect list
; Script by jaco0646 http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/topic8057.html
; OpenOffice autocorrect list
; TextTrust press release
; User suggestions.
;
; CONTENTS
;
; Settings
; AUto-COrrect TWo COnsecutive CApitals (commented out by default)
; Win+H code
; Fix for -ign instead of -ing
; Word endings
; Word beginnings
; Accented English words
; Common Misspellings - the main list
; Ambiguous entries - commented out
;------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...etc.
Near the end of the file:
;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Anything below this point was added to the script by the user via the Win+H hotkey.
;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So it is well worth a look. I have used it for ages and wouldn't be without it (like
ClipboardHelpAndSpell).
For
spelling lookup, with some etymology, I'd recommend the Concise Oxford Dictionary (10th Ed.) - if you can still find it (I think it was not $FREE but I found it in a bundle of secondhand software I bought years ago). It seems to work fine on all Windows OSes/versions from XP and up. I did have the Shorter Oxford, but that failed on later Windows versions.
