Dictate Out of a Spelling Hole

Here’s another dumb tip that’s too good to not love. I don’t dictate much1 but when I need to know how to spell a common word on iOS or my Mac, the easiest way to look it up is through dictation.2

On a Mac running Mavericks, enable off-line dictation in the preferences. Use the Enhanced Dictation option for best results. Also be sure to check which microphone source you are using.

Then, when I forget how to spell “connoisseur” for the 100th time, I double tap the Fn key to start dictating and then single tap again when I’m done.

This also works great on iOS.

  1. David Sparks would be disgusted. ↩︎

  2. Because, let’s face it, if you have no idea how to spell it, it’s a real pain to look it up in the dictionary. ↩︎