Microsoft Word - Readability Statistics

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by tzehoong, Oct 15, 2002.

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  1. tzehoong

    tzehoong New Member

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    If you don't know how to enable them, go to Tools>Options>Spelling and Grammar> Show readability statistics. It shows up the next time you do a grammar check (F7).


    I am unsure if there's something wrong with my English - I am aware of the fallacies of inserting bombastic words unnecessarily. My grammar is near perfect (I'm not boasting, just being honest). Yet every time I check for readability, my scores aren't encouraging at all. I average 50 on the Flesch Reading Ease score (it grades on a scale of 1-100) and 11 on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (Rates text on a U.S. grade-school level).

    Does anyone use this feature? If so, what scores do you usually get? Should I take it seriously?

    I edit articles for my campus website regularly, and am constantly irritated when I correct an incompetent, grammatical nightmare of an article; and find later that it rated 70 on reading ease and 9 on grade level.

    (On the other hand, I just rated 50/9 for this post. Hmm.)
     
  2. Sheriff Fatman

    Sheriff Fatman Active Member

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    The Flesch test (oo-er, sounds a bit rude) only measures number of words per sentence and number of syllables per word. The basic assumption is that shorter, simpler sentences are easier to understand, as are shorter words.

    It ignores context and audience but might give you a clue if you're more wordy than average. Context and audience are extremely important when considering the degree of success for communication.

    Bear in mind that sentences written by a small child, such as "I write well. My words are good. You can read my words easily," would be extremly high scoring, but not as capable of communicating complex concepts or nuance of meaning.
     
  3. Settler

    Settler Member

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    All good, except for noted semicolon - should be a comma. Don't take that kind of crap from Word :wink: , this grammatical horror of a post will probably score fairly highly.
     
  4. tzehoong

    tzehoong New Member

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    Why shouldn't it be a semicolon? To my knowledge when you use commas to list items or adjectives, you should use a semicolon afterwards to separate the text after it from what you were saying earlier.

    Go pick on HKhat :wink:
     
  5. slagger21

    slagger21 New Member

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    Word is crap .

    Your English is pretty much perfect TzeHoong , and most of you guys out there with the exception of a few :razz:
     
  6. Hel Khat

    Hel Khat New Member

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    Hint: try reading it, he 's right your grammar sucks :p

    Nuff said :eek:
     
  7. Sheriff Fatman

    Sheriff Fatman Active Member

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    There are two usages for a semicolon: to separate items in a list where other punctuation also exists, and to join two independent clauses.

    An example of the first would be "There are many ways of making an idiot of yourself: you could, having poor grammar yourself, mock someone's grammar; you could - not knowing an answer - say something trite; or you could just be yourself, if you're an idiot by nature."

    An example of the second would be "I did not know the correct usage for a semicolon; I said something pointlessly insulting to tzehoong." Note, there is a relationship between the clauses, but neither of them is a dependent clause. When using a semicolon this way, the clause should not be joined by any other conjunction.

    If you look at what you wrote, you'll see that where you used the semicolon is not a list. There are three clauses (not list items) and they are joined by conjunctions ("and" in both cases). As Settler said, your use of the semicolon was grammatically incorrect.

    That said, I find your English to have both high grammatical quality and high readability. Don't put your faith in the Flesch test.
     
  8. Qilikatal

    Qilikatal New Member

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    Oh a gramerian. AS for my grammar im still learning, and any comments to it you may stuff firmly upp your respective arses.
     
  9. Milo

    Milo New Member

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    Regarding the Flesch Readability Test, where would I find this? Is it available online somewhere? I tried Googling for it, but couldn't come up with anything. I want to see if I can break it with the ChomskyBot.
     
  10. Sheriff Fatman

    Sheriff Fatman Active Member

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  11. Milo

    Milo New Member

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    Oh, durr. For some reason, I read the opening post to mean that he was doing a grammer check with Word and that he was doing the Flesch test some other way. Oh well, thanks. I'm not gonna bother installing Word right now. I already know that I don't need ChomskyBot to break a Microsoft product anyway.
     
  12. tzehoong

    tzehoong New Member

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    Gah.¹

    The article (among with other stuff you find when you search for "Rudolph Flesch") is actually pretty interesting. Time rates at 52 on his test, a standard auto insurance policy goes at 10, and the Internal Revenue Code at -6. Heh.

    He says that for every 100 words you write, 75 of them should have five letters or less. Something to think about, anyway.

    Hint: Don't you ever know when to stop? This is the third time.

    arghhh...tzehoong, not Tzehoong or TzeHoong!



    ¹You win. I stand corrected.
     
  13. Hel Khat

    Hel Khat New Member

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    I'll never stop! NEVER! (evil laughter fills the air)

    Why? because I am SHAMELESS, and that can be very liberating :nod:
     
  14. DarkUnderlord

    DarkUnderlord Administrator Staff Member

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    BEHOLD! THE QUOTE FUNCTION ERROR!!

    I read this thread. It made no sense. I like apples. Some posts were crap. My English is not good. Why hasn't this been derailed yet?


    So.... how did I score tZEh00nG¹?


    ¹Sorry, what was that again? :)
     
  15. Settler

    Settler Member

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    Hmmm...I think that's quite obvious :-? , but you didn't tell him how to fix it. HK, fix up any mistakes in your quote tags - there's a spare th quote, and your th-quoting-you quote is also off. This isn't the type of thread that goes one for an overly long time (I've done it again, haven't I?), but it'd be much appreciated if you fixed the tags. Honk.
     
  16. tzehoong

    tzehoong New Member

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    We all know that. For goodness' sake just fix your quote and get the hell out of this thread. Stop using smileys to disguise spam.
     
  17. Hel Khat

    Hel Khat New Member

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    FINALLY I get the last word AND leave em speechless! 3:)
     
  18. Calis

    Calis Member

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    Fixed the damn quote already. Stuff like that really bugs me, you know... Oh, and stop spamming. Thank you.
     
  19. Hel Khat

    Hel Khat New Member

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    What quote would you like me to "fixed" ? :roll:
     
  20. tzehoong

    tzehoong New Member

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    Shut up, you moron. Go derail another thread. I mean it. Shut your bloody mouth.
     
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