Cupertino effect

Definition:

The tendency of spellcheckers to replace a word that it considers incorrect with a wholly inappropriate word.

See also:

• Commonly Confused Words
• Lessons in Proofreading: Typos, Orpahs, and the Little Demon Titivillus
• Spelling
• Typo

Etymology:

From the practice of early spellcheckers to change the word cooperation to Cupertino, the city in northern California that is home to Apple Computers

Examples and Observations:

• "Foreign words and phrases are easy prey for the Cupertino effect, as when a California lawyer submitted a brief in which the Latin phrase sua sponte (’of one’s own accord’) had unfortunately been changed to sea sponge, or when Reuters referred to Pakistan’s Muttahida Quami Movement as the Muttonhead Quail Movement."
  (Benjamin Zimmer, "When Spellcheckers Attack: Perils of the Cupertino Effect," OUPblog, November 1, 2007)



• A Reuters story from today appears to have fallen victim to an overzealous spellchecker, resulting in an enjoyable typo. Or someone over there hates the British monarchy.

  With its highly evolved social structure of tens of thousands of worker bees commanded by Queen Elizabeth, the honey bee genome could also improve the search for genes linked to social behavior . . ..
  
  Queen Elizabeth has 10 times the lifespan of workers and lays up to 2,000 eggs a day.

  (Craig Silverman, Regret the Error, Oct. 25, 2006)



• Here's a brief sampling of the hundreds of Cupertinos one can find on the ".int" domain used by international groups like the UN, the EU and NATO:
  
  
  • Within the GEIT BG the Cupertino with our Italian comrades proved to be very fruitful.
    (NATO Stabilisation Force, "Atlas Raises the World," May 14, 2003)
  
  
  • The fact that Secretary General Robertson is going to join this session this afternoon in the European Union headquarters gives you already an idea of how close and co-ordinated this Cupertino is and this action will be.
    (NATO Press Point, March 19, 2001)
  (Benjamin Zimmer, "The Cupertino Effect," Language Log, March 9, 2006)



• "If you have ever received a document containing off-putting expressions such as 'At your desecration' or 'Sorry for the incontinence,' then you have witnessed the havoc that can be wreaked by placing unthinking trust in spellcheckers. The problem is widespread enough to have acquired a name: the Cupertino effect."
  ("The Word: Cupertino Effect," New Scientist, December 1, 2007)

Also Known As: death by spellcheck