Double, triple, even sometimes quadruple – we ask a lot of our English language. Many, many words have to do double-duty – at the very least.  For example, think about the word present; it is a noun, an adjective, and with a quick shift of the accent to the second syllable, a verb as well.

Just another ingredient to stir into the brew . .. (Photo: The Orange County Register)

There are other words that belong to even more word classes, that is, parts of speech. How about round: noun, adjective, intransitive and transitive verb, adverb and preposition (while OK in the UK, around is generally the preferred form by us in the US as a preposition).

For proofing systems, this overlap and vague boundaries pose problems when we try to write search-replace strings. For example, it seems easy enough to change round to around in US English . .. but then suddenly the round ball becomes the around ball . .. well, it may be amusing, but it’s rather silly and a nuisance.

The solution then most definitely needs to be more comprehensive. As you can see, we can’t rely only on simple replacement strings;  we have to write specific algorithms to handle this type of problem. Please keep this in mind when you write strings in Tansa’s Auxiliary Dictionary too.

Note: While I feel quite comfortable borrowing quotes from Shakespeare, here from Macbeth, I prefer to refrain from inventing new words à la Palin – at least not while officially wearing my editor’s cap, but definitely when circumstances so allow. For more on this subject, see the blog entitled All words are NOT equal.