Spelling
Any time I misspell a word it's just because I have too much integrity to copy answers from the dictionary.
Any time I misspell a word it's just because I have too much integrity to copy answers from the dictionary.
Search engines like Google offer the correct spelling of most misspelled words. Some people get help with hard-to-spell words like "plagiarism" by entering their best guess into Google, then copy-pasting the correct version.
Cueball has an unusually strict interpretation of plagiarism in which copying the individual word "plagiarism" without attribution would be plagiarizing, and this misplaced integrity makes him morally opposed to doing so.
He also does not consider the option to cite his Google search of the often misspelled word as a source when including the correct spelling "plagiarism" in his document:
"plagerism - Google Search." Google, https://www.google.com/search?q=plagerism. Accessed 24 January 2024.The title text implies that Cueball's absurdist view of plagiarism applies much more widely when he 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 the dictionary to spell a word correctly or lookup its definition is not plagiarism and does not require a citation. Any style guide or professional editor would advise Cueball that correct spelling is much preferred to incorrect spelling or superfluous citations.
Note that while spelling assistance should not be cited, citing a dictionary can be appropriate when using 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.
- Etymology or historical usage: If you are discussing the etymology or historical evolution of a word.
"Plagiarise" rather than "plagiarize" is the common spelling in many parts of the English-speaking world. Search engines may localize(/localise) the appropriate spelling(s) based on the user's (presumed) location.
A common misspelling of "plagiarism" is "plagerism", perhaps because of the way the word sounds when pronounced.