Only Word Check uses the preferred Australian English spelling. Other sites use American or British English. Check your spelling using Australian English spelling.

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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

The preferred Australian English spelling dictionary now available for Apple's MacBook Air and Mac computers using OS X.

If you're not happy with the spelling suggestions made by Apple's built-in Australian dictionary you're not alone. Most people don't like American spelling suggestions (which are secondary spelling variations in Australia).

Previous dictionary products I've supplied for Mac users have only worked with Microsoft Office products Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but not Outlook. Outlook use Apple's built-in dictionary and not Microsoft's dictionary. Now Outlook users on the Mac can have the preferred Australian spelling.

You can find the preferred Australian English spelling dictionary for Mac OS X at http://www.australian-dictionary.com.au/mac/

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.Australian-Dictionary.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Is it New Year's Eve or New Years Eve?

I recently noticed the Christmas opening hours advertising at the Ringwood Shopping Centre (Eastland) didn't quite seem correct. The advertising was missing the apostrophe. According to the Macquarie and Oxford dictionaries the spelling is "New Year's Eve".


I wondered if any other shopping centres had made the same mistake. It turns out Chadstone Shopping Centre also neglected to insert the apostrophe. The following is from Chadstone's website.

In the past I've made similar mistakes with apostrophes and noticed many others also make the same mistake. So if you find yourself putting in, or missing an apostrophe, don't be too hard on yourself. It is a very common error.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Australian-Dictionary.com.au

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Is it camomile or chamomile?

This is one of those words which differ according to which dictionary you use. If you use the Oxford dictionary the spelling is camomile. If you use the Macquarie dictionary the spelling is chamomile.

Both spelling variations are acceptable to Microsoft Office.

A check of the usage of chamomile versus camomile on Australian sites using Search Australia 45,400 to 9,310, which supports the spelling in the Macquarie dictionary.

Until now the preferred Australian spelling has been suggested as being the Oxford spelling. This is now being updated to chamomile based on this review.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.Australian-Dictionary.com.au