Macro of the Month – June/July 2022 – CountPhrase

Tells you how frequently a word or term appears in a document

Overused words and phrases! This month’s macro helps you to quickly vet them out. And information about a new way to learn macros—for those who haven't yet gotten started.  

CountPhrase

Have you ever reached a point in a project when you begin to wonder if a word or phrase might be overused? I recently experienced this with “so” in a 2,800-word article and “on the other hand” in a similarly sized chapter in a book. I ran CountPhrase, and it gave me information about their frequency.

How it works: CountPhrase searches the entire document for your selected term(s). (If you don’t select anything, it assumes you want it to search for the word where the cursor currently resides.) It then provides you with various counts of how many times the word or phrase appears throughout: case insensitive, case sensitive, and bold, italics, and bold/italics (if present). 

In the example of “On the other hand,” CountPhase tells me that it appears three times, with one instance capitalized (because I searched using a capitalized instance of the phrase).

With the word “so,” CountPhrase gives me stats on both its frequency as a whole word and as part of another word, such as "resource." In this case, you want to focus on the “Whole word” stats, which show that "so" appears 11 times in total, 10 of which are lowercase.

When to use it: Run CountPhrase while you are editing whenever your instincts tell you that a word or phrase might be overused.

Why it’s useful: Having information about the frequency of a word or phrase tells me whether it is worth investigating further or if my instincts are off (and perhaps it’s time for a break). 

Download the code: www.wordmacrotools.com/macros/C/CountPhrase

Paul Beverley’s Macro Library

If you are looking for guidance on how to get started with macros, Paul has released Macros from Square One to teach you the essentials. This self-guided document leads you through the process of installing macros and assigning them keyboard shortcuts. Along the way, you will be trying out different types of macros, giving you a taste of how macros can increase your speed and efficiency.

Macros from Square One for PC: www.archivepub.co.uk/documents/MSO_PC 
Macros from Square One for Mac: www.archivepub.co.uk/documents/MSO_Mac

Do you have a macro tip for readers? Or a macro you think should be featured in the newsletter? Reply to this email and let me know.
 
Regards,
Jennifer