Words that you tend to misspel... mispell... misspell

[Ivan Seeking]

Ugh, I just realized that I've been spelling devastation as devestation. :rolleyes: And the worst of it is that I was doing this on purpose!

Other times, it seems like my fingers have a mind of their own. I often fire off a post while thinking it correctly, and seemingly seeing it correctly, but not typing it correctly. I look back later and wonder who the heck typed that! I know part of the problem is that I need to have my eyes checked. I may need more than reading glasses.

A lot of words seem to get dropped as well. At the time I thought they were there, but upon viewing later I find holes in my sentences.

Maybe it's mainly a vision thing, not sure. Late edits can contribute to the dropped words problem, and I do a lot of that as I think things through a little more.

[hypatia]

I nearly always leave the e, off of before. I'm not sure why. I know I have many common type-o's and short cuts, like suposta. But the e..eludes me.

[cobalt124]

Can't spell diarrhoea. I think I've just got it right for the first time ever. My main problem at the moment isn't spelling though. It's hitting the right keys in the right order. Getting old.

[waht]

I usually botch words that end in -uous like "continuous" the 'u' and 'o' get repeated and swapped.

[cobalt124]

Oh, and there's the exceptions to the "i before e, except after c" rule, can't think of one, but they always throw me.

[Gokul43201]

Can't spell diarrhoea. I think I've just got it right for the first time ever. Heh. An American might disagree.

[cobalt124]

Heh. An American might disagree.

A Brit might, I'm not so sure now.

[Evo]

I often see rediculous when it should be spelled ridiculous. reoccurring when they mean recurring

I seem to misspell words a lot lately, words I know how to spell.

[S_Happens]

My main problems are with exceptions to "i before e, except after c" and sometimes the differences in suffixes "ence" and "ance."

[rootX]

Ugh, I just realized that I've been spelling devastation as devestation. :rolleyes: And the worst of it is that I was doing this on purpose!
...
Maybe it's mainly a vision thing, not sure. Late edits can contribute to the dropped words problem, and I do a lot of that as I think things through a little more.

I think it might be due to the lack of focus. When I have too many things on my mind, I drop a lot of words that I think were there. I hate to drop words like 'not'. I go back and wonder what the hell I just wrote. Sometimes, I wouldn't notice what I dropped even when I review it second time. But, speaking it out loud always helps. I might need new glasses also but I never thought about that.

[lisab]

I think this thread is unneccessary. Unecessary. Unneccesary. Whatever, it's not needed.

[Jimmy Snyder]

Nun off this wood bee a problem if ewe jest used a spell chequer like eye dew.

[nismaratwork]

Tomorrow used to get me, then oddly, I just split it into: "to the morrow", which apparantly bypasses one of the screwier circuits in my brain.

I'm more used to thinking faster than I type... about 80% of my writing occurs in editing, and I rarely if ever edit here (not a shock to anyone familiar with me)... for spelling there is a checker.

[Pythagorean]

Words with ie. I can't be bothered to recite that stupid poem.

[nismaratwork]

Words with ie. I can't be bothered to recite that stupid poem.

I before E, except after C, but now we have spellcheck so we all are FREE!

[russ_watters]

Rediculous.

[nismaratwork]

Rediculous.

Sheeriously?

[Proton Soup]

I think this thread is unneccessary. Unecessary. Unneccesary. Whatever, it's not needed.

that's my big one. and any others with a lot more consonants than necessary. like accomodate. accommodate.

[FrancisZ]

Rithym...Rythme...Rythem?

But no: it's Rhythm, unfortunately. God, it gives me a headache.

And then when you ask someone, they're like: "You mean rhyme?"


"Y" has no business being a vowel, only part of the time either. That's total bull crap.

[nismaratwork]

Rithym...Rythme...Rythem?

But no: it's Rhythm, unfortunately. God, it gives me a headache.

And then when you ask someone, they're like: "You mean rhyme?"


And "Y" has no business being a vowel, only part of the time either.

Same here! And.. Assymetry... I always try to make it Asymmetry.

[FrancisZ]

Same here! And.. Assymetry... I always try to make it Asymmetry.


Boy, but does that have room for a joke. It's literally written all over it.

But it does actually look less offensive, with the single s. o:)

[Ivan Seeking]

Tomorrow used to get me, then oddly, I just split it into: "to the morrow", which apparantly bypasses one of the screwier circuits in my brain.

I have to remember it as to-mor-row.

Jimy, spelchequers are pointles.

[Ivan Seeking]

...the differences in suffixes "ence" and "ance."

sion vs tion

[S_Happens]

sion vs tion

good one.

and ise vs ize (when pronounced "eyes")

[FtlIsAwesome]

I like selping.

[nismaratwork]

I have to remember it as to-mor-row.

Jimy, spelchequers are pointles.

Yeah... I read too much old English as a kid... rots the brain.

Ahhh.. who HASN'T misspelled "brain" as "brian" at least once on keyboard?

[FtlIsAwesome]

Ahhh.. who HASN'T misspelled "brain" as "brian" at least once on keyboard?
Me. :rofl::rofl::rofl:

[FrancisZ]

Actual written content, from my great uncle to my grandfather, while the former was on his honeymoon (ca. 1950)...

"Having a wonderful time playing glof."

[Ivan Seeking]

Sidebar: When very young, did anyone else here think LMNO was a single letter - elemmenno?

as in ...H, I, J, K, ELLEMMENNO, P...

[BobG]

Oh, and there's the exceptions to the "i before e, except after c" rule, can't think of one, but they always throw me.

It's .....

i before e,
Except after c,
Or when sounded as "a,"
As in neighbour and weigh.
Or other weird words
Such as species, science, and seize.

But I always liked the idea that "weird" broke the rule. How fitting.

[nismaratwork]

Actual written content, from my great uncle to my grandfather, while the former was on his honeymoon (ca. 1950)...

"Having a wonderful time playing glof."

Maybe 'glof' is a fun alternative to Golf, and you've been missing out this entire time? :wink:

@BogG: I love English, but it's absolutely insane. I'm not sure what we expect from a Franco-Deutsch-Dutch-Latinate-Etc... language. Hungarian is easier...

[Dembadon]

Here are the ones that cause me to pause:

Correct Spelling (My spelling)

- Separate (Seperate)
- Unnecessary (Unecessary)
- Pharaoh (Pharoah) - Just wrote a paper on ancient Egypt and this word was quite the nuisance.
- Because (Becuase) - Not because I don't know how to spell it, but because my fingers are rebellious.

My mistakes are usually grammatical; I'll leave something and come back later to see that I'm missing an indefinite article somewhere, or my verb tense is screwed-up. This usually happens when I'm correcting something and don't re-read the sentence, or when I simply type something incorrectly, even though what I heard in my head was correct.

My wife and I will always exchange papers / lab reports for this very reason. When I proofread my own stuff, I'll sometimes read mistakes and not notice them because I'll see/hear what I meant to write, not what was actually written.

[Gokul43201]

Rithym...Rythme...Rythem?

But no: it's Rhythm, unfortunately. God, it gives me a headache.

And then when you ask someone, they're like: "You mean rhyme?"


"Y" has no business being a vowel, only part of the time either. That's total bull crap.Rhythms is the longest English word in current usage that has no vowel. Maybe that knowledge will help with the spelling?

It's .....

i before e,
Except after c,
Or when sounded as "a,"
As in neighbour and weigh.
Or other weird words
Such as species, science, and seize.

But I always liked the idea that "weird" broke the rule. How fitting.'Weird' is one of those words that I have to think of for half a second, before I can spell it right. I just remember that it is completely back-***-wards: not only does it break the "i before e" rule, it breaks it for no good reason ('science' and 'being' have good reasons).

I think the word I mistype the most is 'an' - I seem to almost always end up with 'and'.

[nismaratwork]

Rhythms is the longest English word in current usage that has no vowel. Maybe that knowledge will help with the spelling?

'Weird' is one of those words that I have to think of for half a second, before I can spell it right. I just remember that it is completely back-***-wards: not only does it break the "i before e" rule, it breaks it for no good reason ('science' and 'being' have good reasons).

I think the word I mistype the most is 'an' - I seem to almost always end up with 'and'.

Think of Weird in terms of its origins: Wyrd. Wi-e-rd would sound like "we air ed", and you're aiming for the proto-saxon: "Wyrda" like "vir-dah"... You want e-i "eh-ee" not "ee-eh".

[jobyts]

congradulation...congratulation...congragulation

ok, the PF spell checker says the second one is correct...

[physics girl phd]

I was going to post to this thread yesterday, but thought at the time I'd wait til tommorrow. (Finally managed to train myself to "tomorrow" a few years ago...)

[FrancisZ]

Sidebar: When very young, did anyone else here think LMNO was a single letter - elemmenno?

as in ...H, I, J, K, ELLEMMENNO, P...


Not that, per se. But other things like that: yes, definitely.


I used to think the opening lyrics of All in the Family..."Gee didn't our old LaSalle run great..." was actually "Gee doesn't that all sound real great..."


For years, I also actually believed that my grandmother's favorite soap opera: "The Young and the Restless;" was "The Young...and the Rest of Us."


Indeed, those were the days.

[pergradus]

i can NEVER spell neccissary <---- see?

[qspeechc]

The "y" in "rhythm" is a vowel. Every word has a vowel.

Some difficulties in spelling would go if you remember the prefixes and suffixes. Tomorrow = to morrow
Misspell is American and should be mis-spell!!! The same with unnecessary = un-necessary!
When in doubt use "ise", but some words only take "ize", like "prize".
Words like "ridiculous" would not be mis-spelt if they were pronounced properly. The first "i" is short, like the second.

After all that pontificating, I must admit my spelling is just as faulty as everyone else's :p

[Borek]

I have problem with words with double consonants - but I see that's a common problem. And often my typing is too fast for th ecorrect "the". Not that I know where/when to use "the" and "a", so it is th emoot.

And sometimes, although rarely, I use "a" instead of "e" - like in "anough".

But then, contrary to most of you, for me English is almost only a written language; I have no idea how to correctly pronounce most of th ewords, so my writing is not clouded by phonetics.

[Jimmy Snyder]

Every word has a vowel.
Actually that's a quotation. Here's the source:
Lenhard Ng (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenhard_Ng)
There's a word of 5 letters that's always spelled wrong.

[nismaratwork]

i can NEVER spell neccissary <---- see?

Just remember the Latin, which hasn't changed:
necessarius/necesse

Necess-ary

[nismaratwork]

I have problem with words with double consonants - but I see that's a common problem. And often my typing is too fast for th ecorrect "the". Not that I know where/when to use "the" and "a", so it is th emoot.

And sometimes, although rarely, I use "a" instead of "e" - like in "anough".

But then, contrary to most of you, for me English is almost only a written language; I have no idea how to correctly pronounce most of th ewords, so my writing is not clouded by phonetics.

Having figures out how Polish is roughly proncounced during a rather complex journey to understand Hungarian... I can see how english would be... alien. I personally find the rules of Polish to be... comprehensible, but I'm not sure how well the reverse would work. I think the nature of s, c, and z in English would be a headache.

[Gokul43201]

The "y" in "rhythm" is a vowel. Every word has a vowel.Well, sorta. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_without_vowels

[FlexGunship]

"Vacuum" and "Continuum"

In my head, when I type or write "vacuum" I pronounce it (internally) as "vack-you-um" to help me remember.

In the same way that when I type "Wednesday" I pronounce it (internally) as "Wed-ness-day."

[jobyts]

****

The above word is not misspelt by me. Somehow, the PF software converts it to 4 stars :devil:

[cobalt124]

I struggle knowing when to use learned or learnt.

[qspeechc]

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_without_vowels

In [...] Received Pronunciation, every lexical word must contain at least one spoken vowel in its pronunciation. In some [...] dialects, such as General American, a word may contain no other vowel sounds if it instead has a syllabic R sound, as in word.

Well that says it all. "General American" is not English.

*Awaits barrage of abuse*

[nismaratwork]

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_without_vowels



Well that says it all. "General American" is not English.

*Awaits barrage of abuse*

What? I'm American and I'd agree that "GA" is a dialect of English... of course, every dialect is just that...

[FtlIsAwesome]

And often my typing is too fast for th ecorrect "the". Not that I know where/when to use "the" and "a", so it is th emoot.
Cool! That's like th email!
Just remember the Latin, which hasn't changed:
necessarius/necesse

Necess-ary
Necessarius sounds like the name of a large Neptune-like exojovian with 8 major moons and three other planets in the system, two inner small terrestrials and one outer superterrestrial with a moon the size of Ceres.


:bugeye: ............ :bugeye:


I just wowed myself with that.

[nismaratwork]

Cool! That's like th email!

Necessarius sounds like the name of a large Neptune-like exojovian with 8 major moons and three other planets in the system, two inner small terrestrials and one outer superterrestrial with a moon the size of Ceres.


:bugeye: ............ :bugeye:


I just wowed myself with that.

I have one response, "Duuuuuuuuuude... whooooaaaa." :wink:

[Evo]

I struggle knowing when to use learned or learnt.Learned is American, learnt is British.

[nismaratwork]

Learned is American, learnt is British.

What about "Lorna-Doont"?

[FtlIsAwesome]

What about "Lorna-Doont"?
Wahtt?

[Evo]

What about "Lorna-Doont"?I loved that movie, the one on A&E. Back when A&E was about quality classics, not a tv tabloid.

[nismaratwork]

I loved that movie, the one on A&E. Back when A&E was about quality classics, not a tv tabloid.

:blushing: I was thinking of the shortbread cookies...

[Evo]

:blushing: I was thinking of the shortbread cookies...Those are great too.

[nismaratwork]

Those are great too.

Heh... I don't think I've ever had one, but the name stuck in my head for some reason. Possibly where my Spanish language course was supposed to be... it would explain a lot.

[FtlIsAwesome]

nu repplee
wuds taht yu tned two myzzpal... myzpull... miyzzdell...

:tongue2:

[cobalt124]

Learned is American, learnt is British.

I didn't know that, I thought they were used for different reasons depending on the sentence. I'm with the U.S. version here though, learnt just looks wrong to me.

[Borek]

Whenever I write "learnt" I can't understand why spell checker marks it as incorrect.

[FtlIsAwesome]

Whenever I write "learnt" I can't understand why spell checker marks it as incorrect.
Broke, spelchequers ar poyntlis.

[cobalt124]

Whenever I write "learnt" I can't understand why spell checker marks it as incorrect.

It's an American spellchecker? That'll learn you!

[physics girl phd]

Just thought of this one yesterday as I wrote up the grocery-list:

BANANA

I used to spell it "bananna" until I noticed the spellings in little E's books seemed consistently incorrect. (At 1 1/2, she doesn't say it right yet. She asks for a "bee-ah" instead. She'll eat a whole banana in one sitting though.)

[FtlIsAwesome]

Bananas... makes me hungry.

Oups. I mispeled it rong.

Banananananananananananananananananas.

[rootX]

Learned is American, learnt is British.

I didn't know that, I thought they were used for different reasons depending on the sentence. I'm with the U.S. version here though, learnt just looks wrong to me.

I thought it goes like
learn (first) -> learned (second form) -> learnt (third form)

And same for dream:
dream -> dreamed -> dreamt

[Evo]

I thought it goes like
learn (first) -> learned (second form) -> learnt (third form)

learnt\ˈlərnt\
Definition of LEARNT
chiefly British past and past participle of learn

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/learnt?show=0&t=1300407408

Also spelt in America has nothing to do with spelling, in American it's spelled. Spelt is an ancient variety of wheat.

[jhae2.718]

I almost always spell behavior as behaviour.

I also mess up with o's, but that's just because the O key on my laptop gets stuck...

[lisab]

I don't know why, I always want to put a "p" in dreamt - dreampt. Dreampt? Where the heck does that come from :confused:?

Luckily I'm American and can proudly use "dreamed" :biggrin:.

[rootX]

I only use dreamt or learnt when I want to make it sound very special or bring lots of emphasis on what I am talking about.

[jhae2.718]

Also, I frequently write ration instead of ratio.

[DaveC426913]

Not 12 hours ago, I FB'd a request for a pneumonic to help me remember the difference between discrete and discreet.

Not 1 hour ago, I FB'd a request for a mnemonic to help me remmber the difference between a mnemonic and a pneumonic.

True story.

[lisab]

Not 12 hours ago, I FB'd a request for a pneumonic to help me remember the difference between discrete and discreet.

Not 1 hour ago, I FB'd a request for a mnemonic to help me remmber the difference between a mnemonic and a pneumonic.

True story.

:rofl:

[Proton Soup]

m for memory, p for pressure

[Ivan Seeking]

Misspell is one of 100 most misspelled words.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/misspelled.html

Here is one that I would haves never spelled correctly: daiquiri

I remember being surprised to realize that bellwether is not bellweather. I always assumed that the word referenced the weather, not sheep!

[nismaratwork]

Not 12 hours ago, I FB'd a request for a pneumonic to help me remember the difference between discrete and discreet.

Not 1 hour ago, I FB'd a request for a mnemonic to help me remmber the difference between a mnemonic and a pneumonic.

True story.

My Greek ancestors weep.

:rofl:

[FtlIsAwesome]

The Greeks resulted from the alliance of the Geek tribe and the Reek tribe.


Wait, this isn't lame jokes...

[nismaratwork]

The Greeks resulted from the alliance of the Geek tribe and the Reek tribe.


Wait, this isn't lame jokes...

Hey!!! We're a complex people with a rich history, that unfortunately often seems to involve young boys. *sigh*... but hey, you like western civiliation right? :biggrin:

[FtlIsAwesome]

but hey, you like western civiliation right? :biggrin:
East, west, its all relative.

Einstein said so.

[nismaratwork]

East, west, its all relative.

Einstein said so.

He also said, "Wow, that Pamela Anderson is a total prostitute!"


I think he said that.

Well, he would have... smart guy!

[Pythagorean]

Wasn't he also there when they stopped the siege at Middle Eath?

http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/16500/The-Lord-of-E-mc2--16547.jpg

[nismaratwork]

:rofl:

"Vell.. vee could just drop a hydrogen bomb on that big evil eye. Hey, I bet it would do for the zee ring too, ja?" (Legolastein)

[Kenneth Mann]

"Vacuum" and "Continuum"

In my head, when I type or write "vacuum" I pronounce it (internally) as "vack-you-um" to help me remember.

In the same way that when I type "Wednesday" I pronounce it (internally) as "Wed-ness-day."

Actually, the way you pronounce vacuum "internally" is also the way we should pronounce it "externally". It is a three syllable word.

I actually like pronouncing Wednesday as a three syllable word also.

One pet peeve of mine is the way people in the public eye (commentators, ad announcers, etc.) pronounce the word "vegetable". It is a four-syllable word. These public faces, however, pronounce it either as "veshtable" or "vetchtable", and sometimes use both mispronunciations.

KM

[Kenneth Mann]

Learned is American, learnt is British.

Generally, I see nothing wrong with the distinctions between American and British word spellings.

There are a couple of cases, however, that have always puzzled me, and this involves the differences in the pronunciation of the words "been" and "again". Americans pronounce "seen", "green", "spleen", "queen", "keen", "teen" and many others as the British do, so why did we drift off in our pronunciation of "been"?

The same holds for the word "again". (re: "rain", "Spain", "plain", "main", "refrain", etc)

KM

[TylerH]

I usually botch words that end in -uous like "continuous" the 'u' and 'o' get repeated and swapped.That's probably an artifact of the Qwery keyboard layout.

I constantly misspell "theorum." I guess I'm writing with dialect,

[DaveC426913]

That's probably an artifact of the Qwery keyboard layout.

I constantly misspell "theorum." I guess I'm writing with dialect,

Do you mean theorem?

[TylerH]

Do you mean theorem?

Yes, didn't you catch the irony? :tongue:

[Ivan Seeking]

Yes, didn't you catch the irony? :tongue:

You mean ironi?

[DaveC426913]

Yes, didn't you catch the irony? :tongue:

I thought you were transposing the 'eo'.

[Ben Niehoff]

I scarcely misspell anything. However, I have letter-color synaesthesia, which makes any misspelled words look glaringly out of place.

Apparently, I borrow a few British-isms, such as the "ae" in "synaesthesia", which Firefox has underlined. On the other hand, many other British-isms seriously annoy me, such as using "-ise" when it should be "-ize". For the most part, "-ise" should be for Latin-derived words (e.g. "advertise"), and "-ize" should be for Greek-derived (e.g. "philosophize"). One exception is "prize", but "prise" is also a word and your spellcheck will do nothing for you there.

Oh, and the worst things I see rampantly used online are:

1. "Defiantly" for "definitely". Because "defiantly" is a perfectly good word, and it's amusing to see everyone doing things so defiantly all the time...

2. "Everyday" when you mean "every day". "Everyday" is an adjective, it means "commonplace, ordinary". Most of the time, it's not what you meant to say. "Every day" is an adverbial phrase that means "daily". This one even appears in print by semi-respectable sources...editing must be a dying art.

[Jimmy Snyder]

Khadaphee.

[qspeechc]

Learned is what the Americans use. The British use both learned and learnt as the past tense and past participle of learn.

-ize is what Americans use, and is used by some British publishers, like the OUP. However this is a minor point. If you are writing something for print, the publishers will change it according to their rules anyway; otherwise, who cares? Since it is sometimes wrong to use -ize, as in advertise, but never wrong to use -ise, if in doubt use the latter.

[fuzzyfelt]

Learned is what the Americans use. The British use both learned and learnt as the past tense and past participle of learn.


A learned friend. :smile:

[DaveC426913]

2. "Everyday" when you mean "every day". "Everyday" is an adjective, it means "commonplace, ordinary". Most of the time, it's not what you meant to say. "Every day" is an adverbial phrase that means "daily". This one even appears in print by semi-respectable sources...editing must be a dying art.

Anymore versus any more. I see people use the former when they mean the latter.

The difference:
"I don't buy books anymore because I don't need any more books."
http://alt-usage-english.org/anymore.html

[Ivan Seeking]

Khadaphee.

...In 2009, ABC News listed 112 different ways to spell Gaddafi, which have appeared in various news outlets. The leader's name was even the topic of a 1981 Saturday Night Live sketch, offering the most creative spelling a one-way ticket to Tripoli...
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/23/how-do-you-spell-gaddafi-the-linguistics-behind-libyas-leader/#ixzz1HG06UoxO

[lurky]

I used to be an excellent speller, but spelling has morphed so much in my lifetime (American vs. Canadian spelling, basically) that I now feel a little lost.

[Gokul43201]

Even with 111 wrong spellings, Gadhafi can't touch coffee*.

* Dad: You can go to the ballgame only if you pass a spelling test I give you.
Tommy: Aw, you know I'm no good at spelling. Oh well, what do I have to do?

Dad: I'll give you 5 words. Spell them all correctly and you can go.
Tommy: Naw fair dad, that's too many.

Dad: Okay, how 'bout I give you just one word?
Tommy: One whole word, Dad? You know I'll never get it.

Dad: You're probably right. Okay, I'm going to give you one word, and all you have to do is get one letter correct.
Tommy: Okay, I think that's fair.

Dad: Alright Tommy, spell the word 'coffee'.
Tommy: K - A - U - P - H - Y ?

[DaveC426913]

Q: How do you pronounce ghoti?
A: Fish.

Laugh
Women
Ambition

[Femme_physics]

Separate I used to spell as seperate till recently...

Occurring as occuring

Reference as referrence

Probably more but can't remember... Definitely some words that people mentioned here....had issues with unnecessary in the past as well...


Necessarius sounds like the name of a large Neptune-like exojovian with 8 major moons and three other planets in the system, two inner small terrestrials and one outer superterrestrial with a moon the size of Ceres.

*blinks*....*blinks*....

*binks*....

*blinks....blinks*

That's it. Going back to smoking pot.

[turbo]

When touch-typing, my fingers have a propensity to type "yield" as "yeild". I know how to spell the word, but somehow it keeps showing up in spell-checks. "Niece" is another word in which my fingers want to flip the e and the i. I have to watch myself when using the word "quandary", because somehow I leave out the second "a".

[BobG]

When touch-typing, my fingers have a propensity to type "yield" as "yeild". I know how to spell the word, but somehow it keeps showing up in spell-checks. "Niece" is another word in which my fingers want to flip the e and the i. I have to watch myself when using the word "quandary", because somehow I leave out the second "a".

Are you left handed? Most people inadvertantly transpose the right hand letter before the left hand letter.

[turbo]

Are you left handed? Most people inadvertantly transpose the right hand letter before the left hand letter.I'm not left-handed, but playing guitar for decades, often professionally, means that I have more dexterity in the fingers of my left hand than in the right.

[edward]

I still struggle with Albequerque er Albuquerey Albequeque...never mind.

[Borek]

When touch-typing, my fingers have a propensity to type "yield" as "yeild". I know how to spell the word, but somehow it keeps showing up in spell-checks. "Niece" is another word in which my fingers want to flip the e and the i.

There are letter I swap quite often, I guess that's because they are typed with different hands, so it is not that difficult to miss the correct order. That's exactly "th eproblem" I explained in my earlier post.

[Ivan Seeking]

GoDaffy
Ahmadinnerjacket

Got it.

[fillipeano]

decietful...deceitful

[qspeechc]

Q: How do you pronounce ghoti?
A: Fish.

Laugh
Women
Ambition

Fallacy started by Shaw, I think. gh only has an f sound at the end of a word, never at the beginning. The same with ti, which only has the sh sound in -ition, which you can't willy-nilly break up. So a word like ghoti could never exist in English.

[DaveC426913]

Fallacy started by Shaw, I think. gh only has an f sound at the end of a word, never at the beginning. The same with ti, which only has the sh sound in -ition, which you can't willy-nilly break up. So a word like ghoti could never exist in English.

While I'll grant that most examples of gh pronounced as 'f' are at the end of a word, is that a rule, or merely a precendent? Once the precedent is established, who is to say how it can or cannot be used?

[nismaratwork]

While I'll grant that all examples of gh pronounced as 'f' are at the end of a word, is that a rule, or merely a precendent? Once the precedent is established, who is to say how it can or cannot be used?

If you start a trend of neo-proto-english that I need to learn to "keep up", I'm going to be pissed. :tongue:

[DaveC426913]

If you start a trend of neo-proto-english that I need to learn to "keep up", I'm going to be pissed. :tongue:

That's kind of what I thought qspeechc was trying to do. Do you suppose there's really a rule that says 'gh is only pronounced 'f' if at the end of a word?

[DaveC426913]

gh only has an f sound at the end of a word,
Laughter.

[nismaratwork]

That's kind of what I thought qspeechc was trying to do. Do you suppose there's really a rule that says 'gh is only pronounced 'f' if at the end of a word?

I've studied English from its roots in old Saxon, to present... I'm yet to find any rule that hasn't been broken to the point where the very "rule" concept doesn't become laughable.

Besides, I like the idea of, "fadaffi" :biggrin:

[qspeechc]

What on Earth is "neo-proto-English"?, please explain for the slow people like me.

I would like you to give an English words that starts with a gh that is pronounced as f. There isn't. I thought your point was that English spelling is odd; why make it even worse by creating new things with no precedent? In laughter, the -ter is an obvious suffix to the root word laugh.

The same applies to ti. I was slightly wrong before, though, it also has the sh sound in -itious. You will never find a ti that is not in the construction -ition or -itious that is pronounced sh.

No English-speaking person would read ghoti and think fish, precisely for the reasons I gave above.

English spelling is not nearly as bad as people pretend it is. English spelling is still phonetic or follows simple spelling rules, largely. The final proof of this is that millions of people have learnt to spell English well, including those for whom it is not their mother tongue.

[DaveC426913]

What on Earth is "neo-proto-English"?, please explain for the slow people like me.
He's simply saying you are inventing rules where there are none.

The fact that no English words start with xqh does not mean there is a rule that says no english word can start with xqh.

I would like you to give an English words that starts with a gh that is pronounced as f. There isn't.

Didn't say there was.

What you did say is:
gh only has an f sound at the end of a word
Which, as you have been shown, is not true. So be careful with those rules of yours.

[nismaratwork]

He's simply saying you are inventing rules where there are none.

The fact that no English words start with xqh does not mean there is a rule that says no english word can start with xqh.



Didn't say there was.

What you did say is:

Which, as you have been shown, is not true. So be careful with those rules of yours.

You said it better than I did, or could, thank you as always kind sir! :biggrin:

@qspeechc: "neo" = new "proto" = original... it's meant to be a playful oxymoron. If you added the various rules for English in its many forms over just the last 200 years, there would be an absurd number of contradictions. English is a rapidly evolving language, and the best that can be said is that there general conventions observed by some.

[qspeechc]

He's simply saying you are inventing rules where there are none.

It would have been much better to say that than use "neo-proto-English", isn't it?

And I am not inventing rules. I never said anything was a rule. I merely stated the fact that gh only ever has the sound f at the end of a word, and never at the start.

The fact that no English words start with xqh does not mean there is a rule that says no english word can start with xqh.

O-kay. I suppose someone will invent such a word then. I await it eagerly. How exactly would it be pronounced? That's too many consonants in a row, by the way. If you want to multiply the difficulties of English spelling then you are welcome to cut such a path. Besides onomatopoeiaic words, all English words come from some other language, Old English, French, Greek, Latin, etc.-- where would we get xqh from?


What you did say is:

Which, as you have been shown, is not true. So be careful with those rules of yours.

To which I have already said:

In laughter, the -ter is an obvious suffix to the root word laugh.

Even if you are correct it changes nothing, because the point that gh at the beginning of a word never has the f sound still stands.

Nevertheless, if anyone wants to complicate English spelling for no good reason he is welcome to do so. Don't expect me to be a follower.

[nismaratwork]

You don't have much in the way of a sense of humor do you? :rolleyes:

Beyond that, you're just re-stating precedent, nothing more.

[qspeechc]

You don't have much in the way of a sense of humor do you? :rolleyes:

Oh, I don't know. What do think I was trying to do here:

I suppose someone will invent such a word then. I await it eagerly. How exactly would it be pronounced? That's too many consonants in a row, by the way.

:D

[nismaratwork]

Oh, I don't know. What do think I was trying to do here:



:D

"What part of "ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" didn't you understand?" (sig from another place and time)

[DaveC426913]

...I am not inventing rules. I never said anything was a rule. I merely stated the fact that...

No, you said:

Fallacy started by Shaw ... So a word like ghoti could never exist in English.
First you said it is a fallacy, then you said it could not exist.


O-kay. I suppose someone will invent such a word then.
Still completely missing the point....

Lack of precedent is not tantamount to a rule.



Even if you are correct it changes nothing, because the point that gh at the beginning of a word never has the f sound still stands.
And the point that lack of precedent =/= rule still stands.


Nevertheless, if anyone wants to complicate English spelling for no good reason he is welcome to do so. Don't expect me to be a follower.
Perhaps this is not the thread for you then...

[qspeechc]

I don't know why you are so very eager to get me to say it is a rule. Ok then, here it is: it's a rule. If it isn't a rule, it's as near as makes no difference. I suppose you want me to say it's a rule so you can say all rules are broken in English. Apparently not this one.

Why is the idea that ghoti can be pronounced as fish so striking? Precisely because no English-speaking person would ever pronounce it like that, and for precisely the reasons I gave.
No one has ever looked at ghetto and thought "Ah, fetto!" No one has ever looked at tight and though "Ah, sht!"

I suppose you think it isn't a rule because no one has stated it as rule in any grammar book or whatever as arule. No, indeed, it has not been set down in any book as a rule that a gh at the beginning of a word can never have the f sound, probably because it's too bleeding obvious (the same with ti). If we have to set down every last rule about language on paper we end up with an impossibly large book.

I am saying this: that for a very long time, and without a single exception, those two "rules", if you like, have stood and never been broken, not once. Nobody even thinks of them any other way. It makes perfect sense to continue using these rules.

You are saying we should break both those rules, and in two instances, with both gh and ti, start using them in a way that has never been done before, even though we have a perfectly good way to do it: fish. You seem to be saying "Why not? So what if it hasn't been done before?" Do you have any reason for doing so, other than simply to be perverse? You will be consciously increasing the randomness and difficulty of English spelling for no good reason. Why?

I don't know why I have had to repeat myself so many times on this.

If you want to multiply the difficulties of English spelling then you are welcome to cut such a path.
...
Nevertheless, if anyone wants to complicate English spelling for no good reason he is welcome to do so. Don't expect me to be a follower.

I thought your point was that English spelling is odd; why make it even worse by creating new things with no precedent?

[Ken Natton]

Gspeechc, what you are saying doubtless has some merit, but it is a pity that what was always a tongue-in-cheek thread has taken this turn. DaveC’s post about ghoti being pronounced fish was just a joke and should have been taken as such.

I too disagree with the assertion that ‘learnt’ is particularly British. I would have said that ‘learnt’ is old-fashioned and ‘learned’ is the modern way. But then, goodness knows, there are plenty of other ‘Americanisms’ that are now the common mode in the UK – just another aspect of the general dominance of American culture. British kids used to play cowboys and indians and the only reason they don’t now is because the fashion for such films has passed.

Perhaps the point that is being missed when people complain about some of the strange spellings in English is that the words were not always pronounced as they are now. This whole thing about words like bough and rough is because, at one time, they were pronounced with a much stronger use of the throat, like clearing phlegm. The pronunciation has changed but the spelling hasn’t, that’s all.

And of course none of these things are ‘rules’ they are all just attempts to identify general patterns. As has been said before, you can’t spot a misshapen pear if you don’t know what a pear normally looks like.

[Jimmy Snyder]

In 2009, ABC News listed 112 different ways to spell Gaddafi
Looks like I can't hit the side of a barn.

[DaveC426913]

I don't know why I have had to repeat myself so many times on this.
You have to repeat yourself so many times because you insist on having the exclusive viewpoint on it.

If I say 'x might happen', and you say 'x cannot happen', then your argument attempts to exclude mine. And yours has the onus to defend itself, whereas mine does not.



No, indeed, it has not been set down in any book as a rule that a gh at the beginning of a word can never have the f sound, probably because it's too bleeding obvious
By what logic do you arrive at the conclusion that it is a "bleeding obvious" rule? Is there fine print hidden in the frills of the letter 'g' that I'm not seeing on my monitor?

I would point out (once again) that your first claim was that it can never have that sound unless it's at the end. Which has been shown to be false.

Yet you then turn around and lay claim to "obvious" rules.



q, you're backing a dead horse, but you're too stubborn to concede that you overstated your case.

[BobG]

I just found out that I've been misspelling email and cellphone since 3AM EDT, 19 Mar! (AP Stylebook editors share big changes (http://www.aces2011.org/sessions/18/the-ap-stylebook-editors-visit-aces-2011/))

Dropping the hyphen in 'e-mail' is a disturbing trend. How long until we drop the 'e', making it impossible to tell if we're reading mail on our computer or mail that was delivered by the postman?

And what's with deleting the space between 'cell' and 'phone'?! Don't they know that space is cheap?! Just look at Detroit! There's all kinds of empty space in Detroit, seeing as how their population has dropped from 2 million to just 700 thousand. You could fit an entire city in the empty space left in Detroit. I think people from Detroit should use two spaces when they spell 'cell phone'!

Edit: PF obviously disagrees with my suggestion, as it won't display extra spaces. Maybe we could just call a cellphone a phone and the other kind of phone a landline.

[DaveC426913]

Dropping the hyphen in 'e-mail' is a disturbing trend.

I have an editor friend who has been watching the evolution over the years.
It has gone through distinct phases of correctness:
Electronic Mail
E-mail
e-mail
email


Speaking of which, is anybody else old enough to remember when the correct way to spell today was to-day? That's how they taught us in Grade 1.

[nismaratwork]

I just found out that I've been misspelling email and cellphone since 3AM EDT, 19 Mar! (AP Stylebook editors share big changes (http://www.aces2011.org/sessions/18/the-ap-stylebook-editors-visit-aces-2011/))

Dropping the hyphen in 'e-mail' is a disturbing trend. How long until we drop the 'e', making it impossible to tell if we're reading mail on our computer or mail that was delivered by the postman?

And what's with deleting the space between 'cell' and 'phone'?! Don't they know that space is cheap?! Just look at Detroit! There's all kinds of empty space in Detroit, seeing as how their population has dropped from 2 million to just 700 thousand. You could fit an entire city in the empty space left in Detroit. I think people from Detroit should use two spaces when they spell 'cell phone'!

Edit: PF obviously disagrees with my suggestion, as it won't display extra spaces. Maybe we could just call a cellphone a phone and the other kind of phone a landline.

Bob... BOB... ejust erelax eman! Eets all goEing to bE alright... E.

[nismaratwork]

I have an editor friend who has been watching the evolution over the years.
It has gone through distinct phases of correctness:
Electronic Mail
E-mail
e-mail
email


Speaking of which, is anybody else old enough to remember when the correct way to spell today was to-day? That's how they taught us in Grade 1.

Nope, your butt is ancient. :wink:

Hell, I was taught "colour" and "armour", in the USA with no excuse such as age.

[Borek]

mail that was delivered by the postman

What's that?

[nismaratwork]

What's that?

I think it involved snails and licking pieces of paper. I don't know...

[BobG]

I think it involved snails and licking pieces of paper. I don't know...

Mmmmm, licking 2-cent stamps! And then sticking them to the table leg. I could knock off an entire roll of stamps in an afternoon as a pre-schooler!

[Borek]

I think it involved snails and licking pieces of paper. I don't know...

Licking paper? :yuck:

What is it with these people, they will lick everything.

[malty]

For some reason every so often I spell "those" as "does" and it annoys the hell out of me when I find my mistake later.:mad:

[nismaratwork]

Licking paper? :yuck:

What is it with these people, they will lick everything.

I just lick the keyboard for good luck, yeah it's teeming with bugs, but so what?! *slurp* :tongue2:

[DaveC426913]

I just lick the keyboard for good luck, yeah it's teeming with bugs, but so what?! *slurp* :tongue2:

I was going to post a link to the Breyer's Ice Cream ad, but
a] it is not G-rated and arguably NSFW, and
b] it is a hoax.

[nismaratwork]

I was going to post a link to the Breyer's Ice Cream ad, but
a] it is not G-rated and arguably NSFW, and
b] it is a hoax.

PM me, I don't mind, and I could use a good laugh. :biggrin:


I just remembered, I can never spell, "cessation" correctly... except this one time where I seem to have done so.

Oh, the rich and bitter irony. :wink:

[qspeechc]

I won the argument.

http://www.deviantart.com/download/103449383/I_win_by_peterpandagirl.png

Btw, I'm the chap on top.

[lisab]

I won the argument.

Btw, I'm the chap on top.

:rofl:

[DaveC426913]

PM me, I don't mind, and I could use a good laugh. :biggrin:

Just Google for the image.

[DaveC426913]

I won the argument.

http://www.deviantart.com/download/103449383/I_win_by_peterpandagirl.png

Btw, I'm the chap on top.

Oof! :tongue:

[nismaratwork]

Awww.. that adorable underbite, those wrinkly foreheads... the cute little dark hairs that stand up when annoyed.

:!!)

[turbo]

I won the argument.

http://www.deviantart.com/download/103449383/I_win_by_peterpandagirl.png

Btw, I'm the chap on top.Lay down! Stay!

[nismaratwork]

I love how the "bottom dog" looks pretty content with the state of affairs. I love bulldog/pit mixes.

My pal rescued a bull/pit/mutt mix that's similar to these (pit's there though) and she's a big thick-boned muscular softie. That scrunchy nose and underbite, soft little ears, and big brown eyes will melt your heart.

[mikelepore]

Separate (Seperate)

To remember "separate", you can remember the letters "par" in the word "part."