Hardest common words for you to spell

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jack action said:
tsk? Or the big reference on the web comes from the book "Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa", by Verna Aardema who uses tlick. Though, I think it is to define the clicking sound heard in some African languages.
What about G-up or Giddy-up?
 
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Stephen Tashi said:
"Dining" as in "dining room". I often spell it "dinning" and the spell checkers don't object.
The double consonant after an i vowel usually changes the vowel's sound, and similar for some other vowels, although I can't think of any examples.

So slimer (think Ghostbusters) would be pronounced differently from slimmer -- long i in the first, and short i in the second. Another example would be griper vs. gripper, or miler vs. miller.
 
Mark44 said:
The double consonant after an i vowel usually changes the vowel's sound, and similar for some other vowels, although I can't think of any examples.
An example would be 'below' and 'bellow'. Also 'folic' and 'follow'.
 
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lieutenant
 
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TIL, cleidoic meaning of an egg. : enclosed in a relatively impervious shell which reduces free exchange with the environment. The eggs of birds are cleidoic.
 
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Hornbein said:
lieutenant
Not so hard if you understand the origin...
https://www.etymonline.com/word/lieutenant said:
from Old French lieu tenant "substitute, deputy," literally "place holder" (14c.), from lieu "place" (see lieu) + tenant, present participle of tenir "to hold,"
 
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Mark44 said:
Not so hard if you understand the origin...
So a lieutenant is a substitute for a leader.
 
Hornbein said:
So a lieutenant is a substitute for a leader.
In the Army, not only a Lieutenant, but a Sergeant or a Corporal or a Private First Class, can and should, if he's of the highest rank still alive, take command on the field of battle.
 
sysprog said:
In the Army, not only a Lieutenant, but a Sergeant or a Corporal or a Private First Class, can and should, if he's of the highest rank still alive, take command on the field of battle.
Maybe so, but thanks to Mark44 and his mnemonic, I will never again not know how to spell lieutenant.

(Now if only there were a mnemonic for spelling lieu...
 
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DaveC426913 said:
Maybe so, but thanks to Mark44 and his mnemonic, I will never again not know how to spell lieutenant.
It wasn't a mnemonic -- what I gave was the etymology.
DaveC426913 said:
(Now if only there were a mnemonic for spelling lieu...
Isn't French one of the two main languages where you are? Lieu is a French word that's now part of English.
 
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Mark44 said:
It wasn't a mnemonic -- what I gave was the etymology.
Fair enough. I'm using it as a mnemonic.

Mark44 said:
Isn't French one of the two main languages where you are? Lieu is a French word that's now part of English.
Why would you think I'm any better at spelling in French than in English? :wink:
 
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Greg Bernhardt said:
There are some words even though not really difficult often require me to spell check in Google. For me it's "maintenance", "ecstasy", "conscience", "entrepreneur", "unnecessary".

"Necessary" is a problem child of mine. But then again English is my second language. (Which doesn't prevent me from beating the natives in scrabble. I don't know who(m?) that says most about? Probably the small weird (weird small?) 2-3 letter words no one ever use(s?).
 
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