Walla Walla, Washington Spell Checker Error

cecilw · External Since: May 08, 2005 Posts: 2

Can anyone tell me how to make Word 2003 (and Outlook 2003) stop
listing legitimate repeated words as an error? Such as Walla Walla,
Washington - I have family there and every time I mention Walla Walla
in an email or Word document it hangs the spell checker. Adding "Walla
Walla" to the custom dictionary doesn't work. Remembering to using a
nobreak space between the two words everytime is a real pain and just
isn't right. Why can't it just be added to the Dictionary? This problem
has existed in all previous versions of MS Word. Since Walla Walla
isn't planning to change their name anytime in the foreseable future,
Microsoft needs to get a clue and fix this issue. Or is there a fix and
I just haven't found it yet?

Peter D. Hipson · External Since: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 2

If adding a non-breaking space is hard, define an AutoCorrect to do it
for you?

On 8 May 2005 21:58:07 -0700, cecilw DeleteThis @pullman.com wrote:

>Can anyone tell me how to make Word 2003 (and Outlook 2003) stop
>listing legitimate repeated words as an error? Such as Walla Walla,
>Washington - I have family there and every time I mention Walla Walla
>in an email or Word document it hangs the spell checker. Adding "Walla
>Walla" to the custom dictionary doesn't work. Remembering to using a
>nobreak space between the two words everytime is a real pain and just
>isn't right. Why can't it just be added to the Dictionary? This problem
>has existed in all previous versions of MS Word. Since Walla Walla
>isn't planning to change their name anytime in the foreseable future,
>Microsoft needs to get a clue and fix this issue. Or is there a fix and
>I just haven't found it yet?

PeterD, the Darkstar Network
To email, fix my address!
ExpertZone!

Doug Potter [MSFT] · External Since: Oct 21, 2004 Posts: 13

The short answer is no, you can't change this behavior.

The repeat word checking in Word is not part of the spell checker. The
exception list is a hard coded list that - alas - does not include Walla.

I would be interested to know if you really mean "hang" when you talk about
what Word does. I'm interpreting what you say as not a hang, but just that
it always marks this error.

--
Doug
__
The Legal Guys make me say:
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. This alias is for
newsgroup purposes only. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no
warranties, and confers no rights.

<cecilw DeleteThis @pullman.com> wrote in message
news:1115614687.424924.71740@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Can anyone tell me how to make Word 2003 (and Outlook 2003) stop
> listing legitimate repeated words as an error? Such as Walla Walla,
> Washington - I have family there and every time I mention Walla Walla
> in an email or Word document it hangs the spell checker. Adding "Walla
> Walla" to the custom dictionary doesn't work. Remembering to using a
> nobreak space between the two words everytime is a real pain and just
> isn't right. Why can't it just be added to the Dictionary? This problem
> has existed in all previous versions of MS Word. Since Walla Walla
> isn't planning to change their name anytime in the foreseable future,
> Microsoft needs to get a clue and fix this issue. Or is there a fix and
> I just haven't found it yet?
>

cecilw · External Since: May 08, 2005 Posts: 2

By "hang" what I mean is, every time I type up an email in Outlook 2003
with "Walla Walla" in it and click on "send", the Spelling checker
window comes up and claims I have a repeated word error. This stops the
send process and requires my intervention, and it gets very old and
irritating after a few years. From an end-user standpoint it makes no
difference if this repeated word error is not technically a part of the
Spell checker - it's the spell checker that chokes on it and reduces my
efficiency by forcing me to click on "ignore" rather than just sending
the bloody email. If the Microsoft Office Spell checker choked on the
names "Seattle" or Los Angeles" or "London" you can bet the problem
would get fixed in a New York minute. No one would dare suggest to
manually type in some strange character or make your own auto-correct
entry to ameliorate the problem. The problem would simply get fixed.

BTW, Walla Walla isn't the only city in the world with a double name.
Australia has plenty of them, and I bet other places do too. Examples:

Wagga Wagga
Kurri Kurri,
Bong Bong,
Bli Bli,
Grong Grong
Woy Woy,
Goonoo Goonoo
Gin Gin
Bongil Bongil
Tilba Tilba

- Cecil Cecil