I use Microsoft Word 2016 when writing. By and large it's a great program, but one thing that annoys me is that the spellchecker flags the phrase "according to" as bad and suggests the word "per" instead.

It's annoying because 'per' is not an improvement. If anything, it makes sentences worse. For example:

• Per Heller & Frederick (2014), tea sales are declining in Europe.
• Paris is full of thieves, per my brother.
• Per this map, we have to go west.

How are these improvements on:

• According to Heller & Frederick (2014), tea sales are declining in Europe.
• Paris is full of thieves, according to my brother.
• According to this map, we have to go west.

How to fix the problem

So how do you get Word to stop forcing 'per' down your throat? Go to File > Options > Proofing > Settings (next to Writing Style), scroll down to 'Clarity and Conciseness' and untick 'Wordiness'.

This will stop Word from trying to correct 'according to' to 'per'. However, it will also stop Word from correcting all the other instances of wordiness too. So perhaps there's a better solution to the problem. If you've found one, let me know in the comments below.