Users Claimed They'd Never Seen a Spell Checker and Panicked at the Sight of Red Squiggles
The Register, Friday, June 19th, 2026
A tech support worker calmly explains Word's spell-checker to a panicked colleague who had never seen red squiggles.
Cooper's employer uses a Word document form system for recording customer orders, requiring staff training. When new hire Mitch encountered red underlines in a form-Word's spell-checker flagging unfamiliar terms like SKU-he panicked and sought help.
Cooper explained that an SKU is not a normal dictionary word, so the spell checker was bound to flag it. He suggested ignoring the marks or disabling the feature entirely.
The lighthearted Register column highlights how some users, regardless of age, can lack familiarity with everyday software functions.