An Ode to the Spell Checker

I have a friend who learned late in life that he was dyslexic. Because anything that ever happens anywhere in the world is somehow about me, this made me realize that I had been judging this person’s intelligence pretty unfairly. We keep up with each other via Facebook, and I recently noticed a huge change in his status updates. When I asked him about it, he said that he’d learned how to use Spellcheck on FB.

Of course, there are still the occasional homonyms and such that slip through, but it’s apparently made a real difference for him.

Anyway, I found this poem recently. After searching around the web, I’ve found multiple versions of it, but have not been able to track down the original author:

An Ode to the Spell Checker

I have a spelling checker –
It came with my new pea sea.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.

Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it’s weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud.
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaws are knot aloud.

And now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
Their are know faults with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.

Each frays come posed up on my screen,
Eye trussed to bee a joule.
The checker poured o’er every word,
To cheque sum spelling rule.

That’s why aye brake in two averse
By righting wants too pleas.
Sow now ewe sea why aye dew prays
Such soft wear for pea seas.