I refer to Dictionary.com often, because just as I’m about to use a word I’ve used a thousand times I sometimes ask myself: does this really mean exactly what I want it to mean here? Plus, I’m a geek and I really dig Dictionary.com.
So, I was totally sucked in when I went to look up a word and saw an article called, “Most common misspellings of 2013.” (Answer: furlough). But here is what I learned that just totally made my day: Dictionary.com keeps records of how people spell what they’re trying to look up. There is a repository of our misspellings, people. That just makes me giggle maniacally.
Here are a couple of gems:
- PERJUDICE and PERDJUICE for prejudice (think “pre judge,” not “smoothie of perdition”)
- AQUAINTED for acquainted (from the 1300s to about 1600 it didn’t have a “c” in English. You were born too late)
Here are a few of my favorites, not listed in the article, but which I see all the time:
- Oops. This one is the one that baffles me the most. We all know how to spell “boot,” so we know how the “oo” sound should be spelled. Oh, I know, words like “look” can confuse us, but “opps”? If I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen “opps” instead of “oops.” Everywhere, all the time. Perhaps I just hang out with too many people who need to be sheepish in writing about their mistakes.
- Loose and lose. Look, I know it doesn’t make any sense. I didn’t learn English until I was 8 years old and I vividly remember being baffled. Spanish, my first language, is strictly phonetic – if you know how five vowels sound (and they sound exactly the same every time, in every word) you can pronounce everything in Spanish. So, after that, English is like a trip to the carnival while on acid. I get it. But if we foreigners can memorize it, so can you.
- And my favorite spoken mistakes: Irregardless. Liberry. NUCULAR. Okay, I just give up.
Click here to read the whole, hilarious piece on Dictionary.com.