# MS Word Canadian dictionary?



## tedj (Sep 9, 2004)

I am looking for a Canadian spell-check dictionary file for MS Word. I'm getting rather fed up with Word trying to change "honourable" to "honorable", etc. There's an option for a custom dictionary. I just cannot find one..



thanks...


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## treif (Jul 12, 2004)

No need for Canadian, use the UK English dictionary. Under tools, select language, select English UK, click default, say yes.


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## Moscool (Jun 8, 2003)

UK dictionary is perfect. Simply change tyre to tire, that's about the only difference between the UK and Canada ('talking about spelling of course  )


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

tedj said:


> I am looking for a Canadian spell-check dictionary file for MS Word. I'm getting rather fed up with Word trying to change "honourable" to "honorable", etc. There's an option for a custom dictionary. I just cannot find one..
> 
> 
> 
> thanks...


Right-click or control-click, select "Add" from contextual menu.


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

Moscool said:


> UK dictionary is perfect. Simply change tyre to tire, that's about the only difference between the UK and Canada ('talking about spelling of course  )


False. 

Standard Canadian spelling generally uses -ize where UK uses -ise (with certain exceptions where all variants use -ise).
Standard Canadian spelling drops the ae and oe ligature used in the UK for such words as "fetus", "hemorrhage" and "encyclopedia".
Standard Canadian spelling follows the American lead on "aluminum".

...to cite just a few examples.

In short, this strategy will produce the same problem, only now the -our, -re and double-l (traveller, jewellery, etc.) words won't be highlighted, but the -ize words and others will be.

There is a real need for a Canadian dictionary in Word. I understand it exists on Windows, but apparently it's too much of a chore to port it to the Mac.


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## macsackbut (Dec 15, 2004)

iMatt said:


> Right-click or control-click, select "Add" from contextual menu.


Matt, I assume you're talking about individual spellings, not adding a dictionary itself. I use this same method, but it's a real PITA to have to start over again after every re-install (thankfully not that often). It sure would be nice if MS included a real Canadian dictionary with Office.


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

macsackbut said:


> Matt, I assume you're talking about individual spellings, not adding a dictionary itself. I use this same method, but it's a real PITA to have to start over again after every re-install (thankfully not that often). It sure would be nice if MS included a real Canadian dictionary with Office.


Yes, I was talking about doing it for individual words. I haven't looked into saving the resulting custom dictionary, but it should be possible to hang onto it and reload it after a reinstall...

Absolutely agreed that a real Canadian dictionary would be best. As I said, it exists for Windows but for whatever reason MS refuses to make it available for us Mac users. Interestingly, when I receive a document where the Windows user has set spelling to Canadian, the highlighting behaviour is correct unless and until you select "Language..." in the Tools menu.


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## treif (Jul 12, 2004)

Fetus hemorrage dictionary is my favourite band, they rock!


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## Moscool (Jun 8, 2003)

Not sure I agree with classic Canadian spelling and -ize, but there is a third way: Oxford International Spelling which is basically a UK spelling with -ize... Unfortunately not offered in MS Word! Has anyone tried the Australian dictionary? I attach an example. Doesn't seem to do the trick unfortunately... Stick to UK.


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

Moscool said:


> Not sure I agree with classic Canadian spelling and -ize,


Canadian Oxford, second edition, two examples:

realize, organize (also esp. Brit. -ise)

Canadian Press and every Canadian newspaper and publisher I know of follows this; many even list the Canadian Oxford as their dictionary of record. Some individuals do use -ise, and that's fine by me, but it is uncommon in Canada. Perhaps you've been living in the UK a little too long? 



Moscool said:


> but there is a third way: Oxford International Spelling which is basically a UK spelling with -ize... Unfortunately not offered in MS Word! Has anyone tried the Australian dictionary? I attach an example. Doesn't seem to do the trick unfortunately... Stick to UK.


Six of one, half-dozen of the other IMO. While we wait in vain for a proper Canadian dictionary (or perhaps support for OS X built-in spell checking, which does have a Canadian dictionary), might as well do whatever works best for you because either way you'll have some customizing to do. If you're set on using -ise spellings, then I agree that UK English is best. Just don't expect many editors to leave your -ise's unchanged if you're publishing in this country.

Also, I don't think Australian would be much help. AFAIK their spelling is far closer to British than Canadian is, and they also have a healthy amount of uniquely Australian vocabulary. I wonder if New Zealanders have similar angst about being stuck with a close-but-not-quite electronic dictionary?


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## harrytse (Nov 3, 2005)

the custom dictionary is saved under ~/Preferences/Microsoft. 

Microsoft Office doesn't use the same spelling engine as the one integrated into Mac OS X.

these dictionaries don't take into consideration the duality or plurality of Canadian English, and only consider one or the other, while others like OpenOffice.org does. plus what compromises of Canadian English isn't governed in education like other languages and countries.


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## Pelao (Oct 2, 2003)

For word proceesing switch to Nisus Writer Express. very effective app, no issues exchanging with Word, and a nice Canadian spelling habit...


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

Pelao said:


> For word proceesing switch to Nisus Writer Express. very effective app, no issues exchanging with Word, and a nice Canadian spelling habit...


I don't know about anyone else, but spell-checking is really a secondary feature for me. I don't trust it, and I wouldn't trust it if there were a Canadian dictionary. The real feature that keeps me using Word is Track Changes, awkward though the implementation is. If you can tell me that Nisus has a Word-compatible version of that feature, I'll check it out.


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## Gerbill (Jul 1, 2003)

There is _no _Canadian spelling dictionary in Word 2004. There _is _one in Word for Windows 2000. 

For an interesting discussion on the topic see:

http://www.mcse.ms/archive264-2005-9-1865549.html


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## Moscool (Jun 8, 2003)

Oh well it's good to know that Tiger has an English Canadian built-in spell checker but no French Canadian, whereas Word 2004 has exactly the contrary!

Of course the other interesting fact is that although one can point to hundreds of spelling differences between US and CDN English, I can't think of a single difference in French! (different uses for some words, Yes; different words and places, Yes; spelling: No! Go figure...)

iMatt: you're probably right; I have been on the 'wrong' side of the pond for a loooong time...


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## iMatt (Dec 3, 2004)

Moscool said:


> Oh well it's good to know that Tiger has an English Canadian built-in spell checker but no French Canadian, whereas Word 2004 has exactly the contrary!
> 
> Of course the other interesting fact is that although one can point to hundreds of spelling differences between US and CDN English, I can't think of a single difference in French! (different uses for some words, Yes; different words and places, Yes; spelling: No! Go figure...)
> 
> iMatt: you're probably right; I have been on the 'wrong' side of the pond for a loooong time...


That's a really good point about Canadian French. There may be enough unique words and variations of usage and punctuation to justify a separate dictionary, but French spelling really is French spelling.

What's really odd is that Microsoft provides Canadian French on all platforms even though there are roughly 3x as many users of Canadian English.


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## macsackbut (Dec 15, 2004)

iMatt said:


> The real feature that keeps me using Word is Track Changes, awkward though the implementation is.


Yep, me too. And while I agree it's awkward, it's practically Nirvana beside the Compare Documents feature, which usually just strikes out the original and adds the second document underlined at the end.


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