Are you feeling irregular?

Q: I was surprised when autocorrect changed “intermittent” to “intermit.” I checked and, lo and behold, there is a word “intermit.” Does it not strike you as odd that the base-form is less known than its “built-up” version?

A: We don’t use, or recommend using, the autocorrect function in a word processor. Our spell-checkers flag possible misspellings but don’t automatically “fix” them. Word processors have dictionaries, but not common sense—at least not yet!

As for the words you’re asking about, the adjective “intermittent” (irregular or occurring at intervals) is indeed more common than the verb “intermit” (to suspend or stop). In fact, the verb barely registered when we compared the terms on Google’s Ngram Viewer.

However, “intermittent” isn’t derived from “intermit,” though both ultimately come from different forms of the Latin verb intermittere (to interrupt, leave a gap, suspend, or stop), according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The Latin verb combines inter (between) and mittere (to send, let go, put).

When “intermit” first appeared in English in the mid-16th century, it meant to interrupt someone or something, a sense the OED describes as obsolete.

The modern sense of the verb—“to leave off, give over, discontinue (an action, practice, etc.) for a time; to suspend”—showed up in the late 16th century.

It means “leave off” in the dictionary’s earliest citation for the modern usage: “Occasions of intermitting the writing of letters” (from A Panoplie of Epistles, 1576, by Abraham Fleming, an author, editor, and Anglican clergyman).

As we’ve said, “intermit” isn’t seen much nowadays. English speakers are more likely to use other verbs with similar senses, such as “cease,” “quit,” “stop,” “discontinue,” “interrupt,” or “suspend.”

When the adjective “intermittent” appeared in the early 17th century, Oxford says, it described a medical condition such as a pulse, fever, or cramp “coming at intervals; operating by fits and starts.”

The earliest OED citation is from an English translation of Plutarch’s Ἠθικά (Ethica, Ethics), commonly known by its Latin title Moralia (The Morals), a collection of essays and speeches originally published in Greek around the end of the first century:

“Beating within the arteries here and there disorderly, and now and then like intermittent pulses” (from The Philosophie, Commonly Called, The Morals, 1603, translated by Philemon Holland).

The adjective later took on several other technical senses involving irregular movement, but we’ll skip to its use in everyday English to mean occurring at irregular intervals. The earliest OED citation for this “general use” is expanded here:

“Northfleet a disunited Village of 3 Furlongs, with an intermittent Market on Tuesdays, from Easter till Whitsuntide only” (Britannia, or, An illustration of the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales, 1675, by the Scottish geographer John Ogilby).

Q: I was surprised when autocorrect changed “intermittent” to “intermit.” I checked and, lo and behold, there is a word “intermit.” Does it not strike you as odd that the base-form is less known than its “built-up” version?

A: We don’t use, or recommend using, the autocorrect function in a word processor. Our spell-checkers flag possible misspellings but don’t automatically “fix” them. Word processors have dictionaries, but not common sense—at least not yet!

As for the words you’re asking about, the adjective “intermittent” (irregular or occurring at intervals) is indeed more common than the verb “intermit” (to suspend or stop). In fact, the verb barely registered when we compared the terms on Google’s Ngram Viewer.

However, “intermittent” isn’t derived from “intermit,” though both ultimately come from different forms of the Latin verb intermittere (to interrupt, leave a gap, suspend, or stop), according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The Latin verb combines inter (between) and mittere (to send, let go, put).

When “intermit” first appeared in English in the mid-16th century, it meant to interrupt someone or something, a sense the OED describes as obsolete.

The modern sense of the verb—“to leave off, give over, discontinue (an action, practice, etc.) for a time; to suspend”—showed up in the late 16th century.

It means “leave off” in the dictionary’s earliest citation for the modern usage: “Occasions of intermitting the writing of letters” (from A Panoplie of Epistles, 1576, by Abraham Fleming, an author, editor, and Anglican clergyman).

As we’ve said, “intermit” isn’t seen much nowadays. English speakers are more likely to use other verbs with similar senses, such as “cease,” “quit,” “stop,” “discontinue,” “interrupt,” or “suspend.”

When the adjective “intermittent” appeared in the early 17th century, Oxford says, it described a medical condition such as a pulse, fever, or cramp “coming at intervals; operating by fits and starts.”

The earliest OED citation is from an English translation of Plutarch’s Ἠθικά (Ethica, Ethics), commonly known by its Latin title Moralia (The Morals), a collection of essays and speeches originally published in Greek around the end of the first century:

“Beating within the arteries here and there disorderly, and now and then like intermittent pulses” (from The Philosophie, Commonly Called, The Morals, 1603, translated by Philemon Holland).

The adjective later took on several other technical senses involving irregular movement, but we’ll skip to its use in everyday English to mean occurring at irregular intervals. The earliest OED citation for this “general use” is expanded here:

“Northfleet a disunited Village of 3 Furlongs, with an intermittent Market on Tuesdays, from Easter till Whitsuntide only” (Britannia, or, An illustration of the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales, 1675, by the Scottish geographer John Ogilby).

Artificial intelligence has transformed many industries, and transcription is no exception. While AI transcription software offers un-human speed, it’s far from perfect. Anyone who has used these tools knows they can produce some truly baffling results. These moments of machine misinterpretation are not just amusing but also a reminder of why human transcription remains essential.

Recently, while doing some transcription work, we’ve encountered some examples of AI transcription gone hilariously wrong. From bizarre substitutions to completely nonsensical sentences, these errors highlight the limitations of relying solely on algorithms to understand HUMAN language. Let’s dive into a few of these blunders that show why the human touch is still irreplaceable in transcription.

So we took off in convoy back to the Suez Canal, through the Suez Canal, back to Missouri Bizerte.

I guess you’ve heard of Anahita Enewetak.

My father, his name was Mokosak Markus Zack.

Did you find out when he was transported to Terezin, stat Theresienstadt?

We had a tick tock to tiptoe all the way back to the Philippines.

And the chaplain at Meredith’s that married us was a Catholic chaplain who was from South Portland, Maine.

So, anyway, then when they came with the draft, as I said, I was a for declassification 4D classification.

And this dwarf And Düsseldorf was just like some of the pictures I saw here.

We were at a village called Wingen sur Moder. Wingen on the motor River. Wingen-sur-Moder—Wingen on the Moder River.

They were bored with bartered everything for a piece of food.

No, Mr. Battle fatigue, Pietroforte, don’t do that.

And we’re just biding our time before the attack on Hawken Aachen.

It’s similar to a picture that I have for Michelle Hall from a shell hole.

Artificial intelligence has transformed many industries, and transcription is no exception. While AI transcription software offers un-human speed, it’s far from perfect. Anyone who has used these tools knows they can produce some truly baffling results. These moments of machine misinterpretation are not just amusing but also a reminder of why human transcription remains essential.

Recently, while doing some transcription work, we’ve encountered some examples of AI transcription gone hilariously wrong. From bizarre substitutions to completely nonsensical sentences, these errors highlight the limitations of relying solely on algorithms to understand HUMAN language. Let’s dive into a few of these blunders that show why the human touch is still irreplaceable in transcription.

So we took off in convoy back to the Suez Canal, through the Suez Canal, back to Missouri Bizerte.

I guess you’ve heard of Anahita Enewetak.

My father, his name was Mokosak Markus Zack.

Did you find out when he was transported to Terezin, stat Theresienstadt?

We had a tick tock to tiptoe all the way back to the Philippines.

And the chaplain at Meredith’s that married us was a Catholic chaplain who was from South Portland, Maine.

So, anyway, then when they came with the draft, as I said, I was a for declassification 4D classification.

And this dwarf And Düsseldorf was just like some of the pictures I saw here.

We were at a village called Wingen sur Moder. Wingen on the motor River. Wingen-sur-Moder—Wingen on the Moder River.

They were bored with bartered everything for a piece of food.

No, Mr. Battle fatigue, Pietroforte, don’t do that.

And we’re just biding our time before the attack on Hawken Aachen.

It’s similar to a picture that I have for Michelle Hall from a shell hole.

We all love a good Italian meal, but nothing kills the appetite quite like a grammar gaffe on the menu. Just ask Jodi Amendola, who recently spotted a sign advertising “home maid” sauce—delicious in theory, but questionable in execution. In her Forbes article, she dishes out a timely reminder: proofreading matters.

When you sit down for a fun dinner out at a restaurant with family and friends, the importance of proofreading is rarely top of mind.

Yet that’s where I found myself recently during a visit to a little Italian restaurant while vacationing with my family in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. While the food was great and the chef’s attention to detail was excellent, I can’t say the same for the restaurant’s signage.

A sign on the wall advertised fresh pasta with “home maid” sauce, which sounded right, but of course, wasn’t correct. Of course, the sign should have said the restaurant offers “homemade” sauce.

While the sign gave me a slight chuckle and certainly didn’t detract from my overall dining experience, it nonetheless reminded me of an important lesson we’ve all known since elementary school, yet repeatedly seem to forget: Proofread your work.

It’s not a profound lesson, but it is an important one.

We’ve all heard that “content is king,” but how you present that content matters, too. Misspellings and grammatical mistakes undermine the authority of whatever message you’re trying to get across and are indicative of hurried, shoddy work.

Like it or not: When you put something out into the world, you are being judged.

Or, as the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina states: “When you’ve worked hard to develop and present your ideas, you don’t want careless errors distracting your reader from what you have to say. It’s worth paying attention to the details that help you to make a good impression.”

Why proofread? Isn’t that what spell check is for? Consider this fictional sentence that could have possibly been said by someone, somewhere at some point in time while eating at an Italian restaurant: “Over there, they’re eating their lasagna.”

As someone familiar with the English language with writing experience, I (and, most likely, you) know that “there,” “they’re” and “their” are all spelled correctly in the previous sentence.

But guess what doesn’t know? Your spell checker (at least not always).

Although it’s become a bit of a cliché, that’s why a “human in the loop” is still essential when it comes to most applications of AI. An experienced, competent human proofreader knows to look out for these sorts of little mistakes that can sometimes trip up even veteran writers. Here are a few other tips for proofreading success.

• Start at the end, and read in reverse order: Often when proofreading, we’re looking for the type of misspellings or homonyms that AI will not catch for us, such as “made” versus “maid.” By starting with the last word of the content and then reading each word prior to it, you can divorce your thoughts from the context and meaning of the article and focus exclusively on the word you’re reading at the moment.

• Take a break: Writing and editing sometimes require different approaches and mindsets, so never start proofreading as soon as you finish writing a first draft. Take a little time to get away from the content before you come back for editing, even if it’s only 30 minutes.

• Set aside the distractions: Pick a time of day and a place where you’ll be able to devote your full attention to the text. Hopefully, it is not in front of the TV or on the treadmill. For many of us, the best time is early in the morning while relaxing with a hot cup of coffee before the inevitable stream of emails and texts starts rolling in.

• Ask a friend: It always helps to have an objective viewpoint and a fresh set of eyes. Find a colleague with both.

• Bonus: Cite primary—not secondary—sources: To maintain credibility, it is essential that writers cite the sources of statistics and little-known facts. However, it’s important to cite the original and not secondary sources. In other words, if you’re referencing a survey about executives’ attitudes toward digital health, link to the survey itself or press release announcing it, not a news article about the survey.

One final, critical caveat: When you’re using voice-to-text, these proofreading tips are even more relevant. Proofreading voice-driven texts may reduce the hilarity of your mistaken, garbled messages, but it can save your recipients a lot of confusion.

At Adept Word Management, we are very familiar with the issues unsupervised ai can cause. If you could use a laugh today, read our recent post:

We all love a good Italian meal, but nothing kills the appetite quite like a grammar gaffe on the menu. Just ask Jodi Amendola, who recently spotted a sign advertising “home maid” sauce—delicious in theory, but questionable in execution. In her Forbes article, she dishes out a timely reminder: proofreading matters.

When you sit down for a fun dinner out at a restaurant with family and friends, the importance of proofreading is rarely top of mind.

Yet that’s where I found myself recently during a visit to a little Italian restaurant while vacationing with my family in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. While the food was great and the chef’s attention to detail was excellent, I can’t say the same for the restaurant’s signage.

A sign on the wall advertised fresh pasta with “home maid” sauce, which sounded right, but of course, wasn’t correct. Of course, the sign should have said the restaurant offers “homemade” sauce.

While the sign gave me a slight chuckle and certainly didn’t detract from my overall dining experience, it nonetheless reminded me of an important lesson we’ve all known since elementary school, yet repeatedly seem to forget: Proofread your work.

It’s not a profound lesson, but it is an important one.

We’ve all heard that “content is king,” but how you present that content matters, too. Misspellings and grammatical mistakes undermine the authority of whatever message you’re trying to get across and are indicative of hurried, shoddy work.

Like it or not: When you put something out into the world, you are being judged.

Or, as the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina states: “When you’ve worked hard to develop and present your ideas, you don’t want careless errors distracting your reader from what you have to say. It’s worth paying attention to the details that help you to make a good impression.”

Why proofread? Isn’t that what spell check is for? Consider this fictional sentence that could have possibly been said by someone, somewhere at some point in time while eating at an Italian restaurant: “Over there, they’re eating their lasagna.”

As someone familiar with the English language with writing experience, I (and, most likely, you) know that “there,” “they’re” and “their” are all spelled correctly in the previous sentence.

But guess what doesn’t know? Your spell checker (at least not always).

Although it’s become a bit of a cliché, that’s why a “human in the loop” is still essential when it comes to most applications of AI. An experienced, competent human proofreader knows to look out for these sorts of little mistakes that can sometimes trip up even veteran writers. Here are a few other tips for proofreading success.

• Start at the end, and read in reverse order: Often when proofreading, we’re looking for the type of misspellings or homonyms that AI will not catch for us, such as “made” versus “maid.” By starting with the last word of the content and then reading each word prior to it, you can divorce your thoughts from the context and meaning of the article and focus exclusively on the word you’re reading at the moment.

• Take a break: Writing and editing sometimes require different approaches and mindsets, so never start proofreading as soon as you finish writing a first draft. Take a little time to get away from the content before you come back for editing, even if it’s only 30 minutes.

• Set aside the distractions: Pick a time of day and a place where you’ll be able to devote your full attention to the text. Hopefully, it is not in front of the TV or on the treadmill. For many of us, the best time is early in the morning while relaxing with a hot cup of coffee before the inevitable stream of emails and texts starts rolling in.

• Ask a friend: It always helps to have an objective viewpoint and a fresh set of eyes. Find a colleague with both.

• Bonus: Cite primary—not secondary—sources: To maintain credibility, it is essential that writers cite the sources of statistics and little-known facts. However, it’s important to cite the original and not secondary sources. In other words, if you’re referencing a survey about executives’ attitudes toward digital health, link to the survey itself or press release announcing it, not a news article about the survey.

One final, critical caveat: When you’re using voice-to-text, these proofreading tips are even more relevant. Proofreading voice-driven texts may reduce the hilarity of your mistaken, garbled messages, but it can save your recipients a lot of confusion.

At Adept Word Management, we are very familiar with the issues unsupervised ai can cause. If you could use a laugh today, read our recent post: