Red and Green Squiggly Line Loops in Microsoft Word

Posted by Jeff Lipshaw

Lawyers and law professors do a lot of writing in Word.  I like the red squiggly lines, because it’s usually a good sign that I’ve either misspelled something or am using a name or expression that I ought to add to my dictionary.  I don’t like the green squiggly lines that signify syntax or grammar or usage errors because, while they are sometimes helpful (as in identifying passive voice when I shouldn’t use it), clicking “ignore” doesn’t really make them go away.

Word just did something to me that I’ve not seen before.  I was writing a book chapter with a sentence that used the word “Midwestern” to describe a law firm.  When I typed it with a lower case “m”, it gave me a red squiggly line, suggesting that I change it to “Midwestern,” but when I did that, it gave me a green squiggly line suggesting that I change it back to “midwestern.”

I wish I could learn simply to ignore the green squiggly lines.