Today’s article is about trying to work around common misstrokes by dropping those pesky vowel keys. Radical idea? Don’t be so quick to rule it out.
A common misstroke is caused by the pesky weak right-hand pinkie not being able to hit that final –D , DZ, or even the final –Z consistently – or inconsistently enough that it causes problems with realtime output. Are you trying to type “find” or “mind” only to end up with “fine” or “mine” a greater percentage of the time than is desired? Try elimination of the middle keys to create a work-around solution.
Steno Wizard suggests writing “find” as TP-D and “mind” as PH-D. This will work also for the words “finds” and “minds” by writing them TP-DZ and PH-DZ. If PH-DZ is also “merchandise,” Steno Wizard recommends writing “merchandise” as PH-RDZ .
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Steno Wizardry: Resolving the SL-/SHR- Words Without Using the Asterisk Key
Have you been slugging shoulders and shrugging someone if they talk at the same time as the other parties during testimony? How about a nifty little trick to help you distinguish the SL- words from the SHR- words that doesn’t require an asterisk key or – yikes! – an extra stroke for a one-syllable word?
Steno Wizard suggests using the steno keys SWR- for the beginning of “shr”- sounding words. This resolves the issues of the slug/shrug debacle that occurs at Mach speed in the first 5 minutes. This also resolves the sled/shred, slew/shrew, shrine/centerline, shriek/sleek, and shrink/slink issues . There’s no harm in writing the words shrub, shrubbery, shrewd, shrift, shrill, shrimp, shrank, shrapnel, shroud, or the proper names Shreveport and Shropshire with the SWR- combination either.
Steno Wizard concedes that there’s not many “shr”-sounding words; however, it no doubt is easier to stroke the SWR- keys than using the asterisk key or two-stroking one-stroke words unnecessarily. The additional benefit is your phonetic translation will improve if you tweak your software program so that it identifies that the SWR- keys are always “shr”- words and that the SHR- keys are always “sl”- words.
Bonus brief – “century” can be written SWREU.
If you have a writing issue that you’d like to receive a suggestion or some assistance with, feel free to email the Steno Wizard at stenowizard@gmail.com. Till next time!
Steno Wizard suggests using the steno keys SWR- for the beginning of “shr”- sounding words. This resolves the issues of the slug/shrug debacle that occurs at Mach speed in the first 5 minutes. This also resolves the sled/shred, slew/shrew, shrine/centerline, shriek/sleek, and shrink/slink issues . There’s no harm in writing the words shrub, shrubbery, shrewd, shrift, shrill, shrimp, shrank, shrapnel, shroud, or the proper names Shreveport and Shropshire with the SWR- combination either.
Steno Wizard concedes that there’s not many “shr”-sounding words; however, it no doubt is easier to stroke the SWR- keys than using the asterisk key or two-stroking one-stroke words unnecessarily. The additional benefit is your phonetic translation will improve if you tweak your software program so that it identifies that the SWR- keys are always “shr”- words and that the SHR- keys are always “sl”- words.
Bonus brief – “century” can be written SWREU.
If you have a writing issue that you’d like to receive a suggestion or some assistance with, feel free to email the Steno Wizard at stenowizard@gmail.com. Till next time!
Steno Wizardry: Visualization, Conflict Resolution, and the Asterisk Key
Are you STILL working on those conflicts? Still? How do you resolve them? Can you even REMEMBER how you’ve resolved them when called upon to do so in a split-second? If you’re a visual learner or even if you’re not, one method you might want to try is to visualize the conflict resolution.
How do you differentiate words such as canvas/canvass, discrete/discreet, meet/mete? Let the Steno Wizard help you with that!
Let’s say you stroke “canvas” KAN/VAS. Do you write the soundalike word “canvass” the exact same way? Picture this: A police officer canvasses the neighborhood to look for a criminal. It’s dark outside, and he’s holding a flashlight. That flashlight has a bright bulb in it. It shines right in your eyes. Do you see stars or a twinkling light? Starry or twinkling flashlight = asterisk! Insert the asterisk in the second syllable of “canvass”!
Let’s try another one. “Discreet” is stroked STKRAOET. How do you distinguish “discreet” from “discrete”? It helps to know a definition for “discrete.” The Steno Wizard correlates the word “discrete” to mean distinct and separate. If you are distinct about something or want to separate out something, you purposely point it out (like with your index finger). Index finger = asterisk because you’re distinctly pointing to the correct word.
What about “meet” and “mete”? “Meet” is stroked PHAOET. One definition of “mete” is dole, i.e. dole out punishment or mete out punishment. Dole reminds the Steno Wizard of Dole pineapples, and what’s the top of a pineapple look like? Steno Wizard would suggest – you guessed it – an asterisk! (Ah, what about “meat” you ask? Steno Wizard suggests visualizing how it’s spelled and resolve it by writing PHAET.)
How about the words “suite” and “sweet”? Steno Wizard suggests using the asterisk to “dot the ‘i’ in “suite.” Pretend you’re in the OSU band and you’re dotting the ‘i’! This visualization trick works with lien/lean, peer/pier, tear/tier, anti/ante, flair/flare, devil/delve, staid/stayed, gate/gait, sail/sale, seize/sees, slay/sleigh, and probably many more but the Steno Wizard wants to get this done today.
How do you differentiate words such as canvas/canvass, discrete/discreet, meet/mete? Let the Steno Wizard help you with that!
Let’s say you stroke “canvas” KAN/VAS. Do you write the soundalike word “canvass” the exact same way? Picture this: A police officer canvasses the neighborhood to look for a criminal. It’s dark outside, and he’s holding a flashlight. That flashlight has a bright bulb in it. It shines right in your eyes. Do you see stars or a twinkling light? Starry or twinkling flashlight = asterisk! Insert the asterisk in the second syllable of “canvass”!
Let’s try another one. “Discreet” is stroked STKRAOET. How do you distinguish “discreet” from “discrete”? It helps to know a definition for “discrete.” The Steno Wizard correlates the word “discrete” to mean distinct and separate. If you are distinct about something or want to separate out something, you purposely point it out (like with your index finger). Index finger = asterisk because you’re distinctly pointing to the correct word.
What about “meet” and “mete”? “Meet” is stroked PHAOET. One definition of “mete” is dole, i.e. dole out punishment or mete out punishment. Dole reminds the Steno Wizard of Dole pineapples, and what’s the top of a pineapple look like? Steno Wizard would suggest – you guessed it – an asterisk! (Ah, what about “meat” you ask? Steno Wizard suggests visualizing how it’s spelled and resolve it by writing PHAET.)
How about the words “suite” and “sweet”? Steno Wizard suggests using the asterisk to “dot the ‘i’ in “suite.” Pretend you’re in the OSU band and you’re dotting the ‘i’! This visualization trick works with lien/lean, peer/pier, tear/tier, anti/ante, flair/flare, devil/delve, staid/stayed, gate/gait, sail/sale, seize/sees, slay/sleigh, and probably many more but the Steno Wizard wants to get this done today.
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