Ten Words You Need To Stop Misspelling

[Críostóir]

English lexicographers have always been far too loosey-goosey -- even Oxford -- when it comes to immortalising uneducated or inept English.

The strength that comes from the language's adaptability would be fully preserved by admitting useful neologisms, but suppressing the crap instead of following any fad, no matter how ill-conceived, no matter what vandalism it does to words and constructions that are already useful, fully-formed, and precise in their meaning.

Unfortunately we've seen the results of trying to control language by authority. It fails, and to the extent it succeeds it stifles the language's vitality. The French are universally regarded as being so up their own asses about their language that they have to take a laxative to talk to themselves. And if they don't get OUT of their own asses their language will die, and "French" will be the name of a language spoken in Africa and Quebec, where authoritarian control has never been implemented (of the language, I mean).

 

[bankside]

Unfortunately we've seen the results of trying to control language by authority. It fails, and to the extent it succeeds it stifles the language's vitality. The French are universally regarded as being so up their own asses about their language that they have to take a laxative to talk to themselves. And if they don't get OUT of their own asses their language will die, and "French" will be the name of a language spoken in Africa and Quebec, where authoritarian control has never been implemented (of the language, I mean).

I see you have never been to Québec; 50 years of Official Government French™:
http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/

and a really good online dictionary to show for it too:
http://www.granddictionnaire.com/btml/fra/r_motclef/index800_1.asp

They measure the font size of signs in public places to ensure prominence of Official Government French. That is not satire or hyperbole.

The Feds get in on the act too: http://www.btb.gc.ca/
And it is going so well at home, you'll note in that Web site that Canada now even has Official Spanish™ for all your hispanophonic needs, no matter where you are in the world, even though none of us speak Spanish.

It may not be called anything so grand as l'Académie française with its Immortels and so on, but make no mistake, it's the same thing.

P.S. Do you get a flashback to an image of Bush Junior whenever anyone says "make no mistake?" Because I do.

 

[bankside]

Because I see "judgement" all the time in Canadian English; their observation that "judgment" encompasses all of North America is inaccurate.

Of course maybe my version is no better; if American posters are being annoyed by the sight of "judgement" in things most likely written by their fellow Americans, then I'm just as wrong as Oxford, and people everywhere know how to spell it correctly.

Incidentally, that was not an Oxford definition, but the footnote from an Oxford definition explaining usage. But now I'm being pedantic. Yes; now.

 

[Joshua_me]

A monopthong:

Misspell that.

I think his participle is dangling....

 

[TheOscar]

Teh instead of The

Do people actually accidentally misspell "the" often?

 

[evanrick]

one time i asked my friend to type something in a search box and he says ' i dont know how to spell that '

im guilty of the whether/weather one but the other ones are pretty easy.

 

[gsdx]

I guess I've been spelling it "wrong" my whole life. I have always spelled judgement with the 'e'.

judgment
judgement

I use the Firefox Canadian English dictionary for spell check. This is what my spell check shows for the words above:

I've always spelt it with an 'e'. I guess we're both wrong, and so is my spell check dictionary.

I just checked with Word 7, which also uses the Canadian dictionary for spell checking. Both 'judgment' and 'judgement' were accepted as correct spellings.

 

[Kioygan]

tomorrow instead of tommorow

 

[Críostóir]

I see you have never been to Québec; 50 years of Official Government French™:

...

It may not be called anything so grand as l'Académie française with its Immortels and so on, but make no mistake, it's the same thing.

Wow, was I ever wrong. WRONG WRONGITY WRONG on me. Sorry. I should have checked that.

Well, it's just as stupid in Quebec. It's a dumbass thing to try to do. An attempt to do it to English would be a laughable failure.

tomorrow instead of tommorow

Um...'tomorrow' (as in to the morrow, or next day) is the correct spelling.

 

[MindBlast]

I have a lot of trouble with whether some words should be hyphenated. Here are some examples:

halfspace/half-space/half space (geophysical term)
cross section/cross-section

Sometimes I have problems with plurals as well. Some examples follow:

aegis (what's the plural of this word?)
antenna (do you use antennas or antennae?)

 

[Críostóir]

Little known fact: in the 1920s, it was spelt "to-morrow", and often, "to-day".

Not only that, but there used to be an apostrophe before 'til' (as in "this has continued 'til the present day"). That's because it's a contraction of 'until' rather than being related to 'till' as in "till the soil" or as in a store's money box.

I have a lot of trouble with whether some words should be hyphenated. Here are some examples:

halfspace/half-space/half space (geophysical term)
cross section/cross-section

I'm told with some authority that one hyphenates when the word is used attributively ("Here is a cross-section diagram") but not when it/they is/are used predicatively ("Here is a diagram in cross section"). I'm somewhat dubious myself, and don't always follow that rule; but I think if you followed it you would avoid criticism.

Sometimes I have problems with plurals as well. Some examples follow:

aegis (what's the plural of this word?)
antenna (do you use antennas or antennae?)

'Aegis' is Greek, so the plural is 'aegides'. But if you use that, everyone's going to think you're a stodgy old pedant (you may rely on my experience in this matter). I'd cast the sentence to avoid it. So instead of writing "These programs happened under the aegides of various charitable organizations," write "Each of these programs happened under the aegis of one of a number of charitable organizations."

'Antennas'/'antennae' are both accepted. Use whichever one you like better. Anyone who twits you for 'antennas' really is a stodgy old pedant! Personally I'd use 'antennas' in informal writing, and 'antennae' in school papers etc.

 

[pat grimshaw]

… a stodgy old pedant! …

Oh, I get by.

 

[Críostóir]

So let's add the confusion with "then" and "than."

 

[pat grimshaw]

I said I get by.

I suppose I'm a traditonalist but I use the word 'adaption' rather than 'adaptation'. All those unthinking, unnecessary syllables. I suppose people have mashed up a verb to create a noun but there is no verb 'adaptate'.

I also hate how Americans created the word 'burglarise' instead of 'burgle'.

 

[Críostóir]

I said I get by.

I suppose I'm a traditonalist but I use the word 'adaption' rather than 'adaptation'. All those unthinking, unnecessary syllables. I suppose people have mashed up a verb to create a noun but there is no verb 'adaptate'.

I also hate how Americans created the word 'burglarise' instead of 'burgle'.

You're a very silly person. You invented the word 'adaption'. There's nothing "traditional" about it! There's no word *'transformate' either, but it's still 'transformation'; in fact things form rather than *formate, but 'formation' is the correct noun. There are large numbers of these.

And 'burgle' is a back-formation (and a goofy one, because it's 'burglar' not *'burgler'). Even if it weren't, Americans would never make up the word 'burglarise'. We'd spell it 'burglarize' (and that's just how we do spell it).

I know you know all this. I'm just saying it to keep people who are unsure from being confused.

 

[pat grimshaw]

You're a very silly person...

Yes I am, rather. I suppose I need to be spanked on my bot-bot.

…There's no word *'transformate' either, but it's still 'transformation'….

Yes I'm happy to speak of 'transformation', 'information' and 'conformation' but I baulk at 'adaptation'.

 

[Críostóir]

Yes I'm happy to speak of 'transformation', 'information' and 'conformation' but I baulk at 'adaptation'.

Do you also strain at gnats and swallow camels?

You wouldn't be a lawyer, by any chance?

 

[pat grimshaw]

^
I'm used to silent 'g's on gnats but I don't understand the significance of the camel— do you mean the one that tried to pass through the eye of the needle? I equate lawyers with politicians, pederasts and the advertising industry.

 

[frankfrank]

antenna (do you use antennas or antennae?)

Actually, I use BOTH of these. And I do *NOT* use them interchangably.

If I'm talking about insect appendages, I **always** will say/write ANTENNAE.

If I'm talking about those things which are used to receive radio or TV stations better, I **always** will say/write ANTENNAS...

 

[Reika]

People typing LOOSE as in "You're gonna LOSE the game"...unless there's alot of Loose people on the internet...