Editing 2885: Spelling
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
| + | {{incomplete|Created by JAYSON BLAIR (LOOK HIM UP) - Give some examples of how plagiarism is often often misspelled, if it is! Or explain that it is not a word people have problem plagiarizing. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
| − | Search engines like Google | + | Search engines like Google usually autocorrect misspelled words, offering results with the correct spelling. Some people get help with hard-to-spell words by entering their best guess into Google, then copy-pasting the correct version. |
| − | Cueball has an unusually strict interpretation of {{dict|plagiarism}} in which copying | + | Cueball has an unusually strict interpretation of {{dict|plagiarism}} in which copying ''individual words'' without attribution would be plagiarizing, and this misplaced integrity makes him morally opposed to copying the word 'plagiarism' itself from Google. |
| − | + | It's not clear why Cueball couldn't just cite his source (Google Search) when including the word "plagiarism" in his document to avoid committing plagiarism according to his strict ethical code. If using MLA style, he could cite it as... | |
| − | " | + | "plagiarism - Google Search." Google, https://www.google.com/search?q=plagarism. Accessed 24 January 2024. |
| − | The title text | + | The title text takes Cueball's absurdist view of plagiarism one step further when says he only ever misspells words because he has too much integrity to copy the spelling from the dictionary, an act he also considers to be plagiarism. Simply using a word doesn't require a citation - if it did then the dictionaries would themselves be guilty of plagiarising the sources they gathered those words from - so it wouldn't be plagiarism to copy from the dictionary. Any style guide or professional editor would advise Cueball that correct spelling is much preferred to incorrect spelling or superfluous citations. |
| − | + | There are some scenarios when a style guide might recommend citing a dictionary, where you are using part of the entry associated with a word, for example: | |
* Providing a definition: If you're using a definition from a dictionary to make a point in your writing. This is because the definition is serving as a source of evidence or support for your argument. | * Providing a definition: If you're using a definition from a dictionary to make a point in your writing. This is because the definition is serving as a source of evidence or support for your argument. | ||
* Etymology or historical usage: If you are discussing the etymology or historical evolution of a word. | * Etymology or historical usage: If you are discussing the etymology or historical evolution of a word. | ||
| − | + | Note that outside of American/Canadian/Oxford English spelling, the linked verb is different. It is spelt "plagiarise" and not "plagiarize". This means that a search engine like Google or DuckDuckGo will supply both spellings. | |
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
| − | Randall had previously commented on some ''other'' problems with using Google's suggestion feature as a spellchecker in [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/ the Color Survey Results post] on the xkcd | + | Randall had previously commented on some ''other'' problems with using Google's suggestion feature as a spellchecker in [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/ the Color Survey Results post] on the xkcd blag. |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
