Soundalikes

   No one is immune from misspelling words, especially those that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings.
   But when the president of the United States fails to pass a spelling check that even a neophyte copy editor or high schooler should know, it's time for comment.
   Note to the Oval Office: The investigation probing allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election is led by a special "counsel," not "council." The first refers to a lawyer, and the second refers to an advisory group.
   Some soundalike words have even more than two forms, each with a distinctive meaning.
   Here are some examples:
   Carat, karat, carrot, caret.
   To, too, two.
   Vane, vain, vein.
   Rain, rein, reign.

   Typographical errors are one thing, and can often be blamed on "muscle memory" as fingers follow a keyboard pattern as they anticipate what the brain may want.
   A similar phenomenon is found in computer word processing programs as the machine offers choices to the writer. The important thing is that the writer must know the appropriate choice.
   Moreover, spellcheck programs don't know meanings. If a word is spelled correctly, the program passes by it, even though it be the wrong word -- a soundalike, also known as a homonym.
   In addition, a particular word may not even be in the spellcheck lexicon, so the computer will flag it and offer other, totally wrong choices.
   Spellcheck is an important tool, and every writer should use it. But it's important to remember that a tool is only as good as the person who uses it.