How to specify a preferred spelling for a word in MS Word 2003

Zazula

Administrator
Staff member
To specify a preferred spelling for a word, you add unwanted variations of the word's spelling to the exclude dictionary (exclude dictionary: A dictionary with words that the main dictionary recognizes as being spelled correctly, but that you want to verify during a spelling check. For example, if you prefer "theatre" to "theater," add "theater" to the exclude dictionary.).
  1. Click New Blank Document
    on the Standard toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.).
  2. Type the words that you want to add to the exclude dictionary. Be sure to type the words in all lowercase letters. Press ENTER after each word. Note If the AutoCorrect option for capitalizing the first letter of sentences is turned on, Word automatically capitalizes the terms in your exclude dictionary when you press ENTER. If this happens, replace the capital letters with lowercase letters. If you are typing a lot of terms, turn off the AutoCorrect option. (On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options, and on the AutoCorrect tab, clear the Capitalize first letter of sentences check box.)
  3. On the File menu, click Save As.
  4. In the Save in box, browse to the following folder: C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Proof


  1. Note If you don't see the Application Data folder in your user name folder, you may need to turn on the option for viewing hidden folders.​



    How?
    1. On the Start menu in Microsoft Windows, click My Computer.
    2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
    3. Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.
  2. In the Save as type box, click Plain Text.
  3. In the File name box, type a name for the exclude dictionary. Make sure to give the exclude dictionary the same name as the main language dictionary that it is associated with, except use the file name extension .exc. For example, the English (United States) dictionary is called Mssp3en.lex, so you should name the associated exclude dictionary Mssp3en.exc.

    Note To see the file names of the language dictionaries, view the dictionary files in the following folder:

    C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof​

    The last two characters of the file name, before the file extension, identify the language: "en" for English, "fr" for French, and so on.​


    Also make sure that the file extension is correct — for example, that .txt isn't appended to the file name extension.​
  4. Click Save.
  5. In the File Conversion dialog box that appears, select the options that you want, and then click OK.
  6. On the File menu, click Close.
  7. To activate the exclude dictionary, you need to restart Microsoft Word.
 

Zazula

Administrator
Staff member
How to specify a preferred spelling for a word in MS Word 2002 (MS Office XP)

To specify a preferred spelling for a word, you add variations of the word's spelling to the exclude dictionary (exclude dictionary: A dictionary with words that the main dictionary recognizes as being spelled correctly, but that you want to verify during a spelling check. For example, if you prefer "theatre" to "theater," add "theater" to the exclude dictionary.).
  1. Click New Blank Document on the Standard toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, use the Customize dialog box (point to Toolbars on the View menu and click Customize). To see more buttons, click Toolbar Options at the end of the toolbar.).
  2. Type the words you want to include in the exclude dictionary. Press ENTER after each word.
  3. On the File menu, click Save As.
  4. Locate the folder to save the exclude dictionary in. This should be the same location as the main dictionary. The location may vary depending on your version of Microsoft Windows: Microsoft Windows 2000 or later
    Save in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof folder.

    Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
    Save in the C:\Windows_folder\Profiles\User_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Proof folder.

    Microsoft Windows 98
    Save in either the C:\Windows_folder\Application Data\Microsoft\Proof folder or the C:\Windows_folder\Profiles\User_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Proof folder.

  5. In the Save as type box, click Plain Text.
  6. In the File name box, type a name for the exclude dictionary.
    Make sure to give the exclude dictionary the same name as the main language dictionary it's associated with, except use the file name extension .exc. For example, the English (United States) dictionary is called Mssp3en.lex, so name the associated exclude dictionary Mssp3en.exc. Also make sure that the file extension is correct, for example, that .txt isn't appended to the file name extension.
  7. Click Save.
  8. In the File Conversion dialog box that appears, select the options you want, and then click OK. For Help on an option, click the question mark ?, and then click the option.
  9. On the File menu, click Close.
  10. To activate the exclude dictionary, you need to restart Microsoft Word.
Tip
You can also use the AutoCorrect feature to specify a preferred spelling for a word. For example, you can specify that every time you type theater, AutoCorrect will replace it with "theatre".
 

Zazula

Administrator
Staff member
How to specify a preferred spelling for a word in MS Word 2007

The following are a few situations where it is useful to be able to force the spelling checker to flag a word as misspelled, even though it is listed in the main dictionary as a correctly spelled word.
  • Obscene or otherwise embarrassing words While working on a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation, you accidentally type pubic instead of public.
  • Style guidelines that you or your department wants to follow For example, theater is a correctly spelled word, but the style guidelines of your department require the word to be spelled theatre.
How the exclusion dictionary affects the spelling checker


After you add a word to the exclusion dictionary, whenever you check the spelling on a file, the spelling checker:
  • Flags the word whenever you check spelling
  • Does not suggest the word as a correction to a flagged word.
Find and modify the exclusion dictionary for a language

  1. Check the spelling on a file that contains text in the language for which you want to modify the exclusion dictionary. For example, if you want to modify the exclusion dictionary in English, make sure the file contains some text tagged in English. Find links to more information about how text is tagged for a language in the See Also section.
  2. In Microsoft Windows Explorer, go to the location where custom dictionaries are stored. The location is usually one of the following:
    • Windows Vista C:\Users\user name\AppData\Microsoft\UProof
    • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\UProof

      I don't see the folder. How do I make it visible?
      1. In Windows, click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.
      2. Under Pick a Category, double-click Performance and Maintenance. Note If you are using Classic View in Control Panel, skip to the next step.
      3. Under See Also, click File Types. Note If you are using Classic View in Control Panel, double-click Folder Options.
      4. Click the View tab.
      5. Under Advanced settings, under Files and Folders, under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.
  3. Locate the exclusion dictionary for the language whose settings you want to change. The name of the file you need to open is ExcludeDictionaryLanguage CodeLanguage LCID.lex. For example the name of the English exclusion dictionary is ExcludeDictionaryEN0409.lex. Find links to more information about locale identification numbers (LCID) code of the language you are using in the See Also section.
  4. Edit the file using the text editor of your choice (such as Notepad or WordPad).
  5. Add each word that you want the spelling checker to flag as misspelled to the file. Be sure to type the words in all lowercase letters, and then press ENTER after each word.
  6. Save and close the file.
 
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