# Consistently misspelled, non-complex words. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 18, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083 "2012-10-18T00:20:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/61 "2012-10-18T13:58:58Z")
Westley for Wesley ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/62 "2012-10-18T14:06:43Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > I saw this recently: “we no longer except checks” “Smile your on camera.” ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/63 "2012-10-18T14:09:12Z")
I also love people who proclaim publicly their pride in misunderstanding apostrophes, namely “The Robinson’s.” ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/64 "2012-10-18T14:14:47Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Even a rant in MPSIMS serves to fight ignorance! This is one of my pet peeves, as I see it so often in news articles. > > Actually, what you “stanch” is something that is flowing (I think). You stanch a wound to stop the blood flow. You can stanch a flood, or you can stanch a torrent of naughty words by banning a bad poster, or you can stanch the proliferation of nuisance lawsuits, etc. > > “Staunch” means “steadfast”. This reminds me of the confusion of **gantlet** and **gauntlet**. It may be too late to separate (even using a rat!) the armored glove (gauntlet) from the row of parallel things one passes between [most commonly, in the idiomatic use of “passing between two rows of people striking the subject, as a punishment”] (gantlet), but I try to remember the difference. > [@Senegoid](#): > > ETA: In fact, some fictionaries do suggest that staunch is a valid alternate spelling for stanch. Fictionaries! That’s great. Indeed, I just ran a gantlet of fictionaries before taking up the gauntlet and posting about this confusion. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/65 "2012-10-18T14:22:20Z")
Actually I was reading The Rescuers the other day, and it used stanch to mean staunch. That was published in England in the 1950s. I was surprised to see that variant in a published work. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Burro\_Buenmozo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@El\_Burro\_Buenmozo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Burro_Buenmozo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/66 "2012-10-18T14:26:09Z")
64 posts and no “loose/lose” mention? The first 5 times I saw loose for lose I noted the typo and just kept reading, then for a while, I got madder and madder every time I saw it. Now I just get sadder and sadder and I see it at least once every day without fail. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/67 "2012-10-18T14:27:10Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > interchangeable use of stanch / staunch (Dammit, these words aren’t even approximately equal!) According to the Cambridge Online Dictionary: **Staunch** means to stop the flow of something (cite [here](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/staunch_2)) **Stanch** is the American version of staunch (cite [here](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/stanch?q=stanch)) ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/68 "2012-10-18T14:28:16Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > This reminds me of the confusion of **gantlet** and **gauntlet**. It may be too late to separate (even using a rat!) the armored glove (gauntlet) from the row of parallel things one passes between [most commonly, in the idiomatic use of “passing between two rows of people striking the subject, as a punishment”] (gantlet), but I try to remember the difference. I though gauntlet was an acceptable alternative spelling of gantlet. > [@Merriam-Webster Online](#): > > gauntlet (noun) > Definition of GAUNTLET > > 1 > a : a double file of men facing each other and armed with clubs or other weapons with which to strike at an individual who is made to run between them —used with run > b : a line, series, or assemblage; especially : one that poses some sort of ordeal \ > 2 > : a severe trial : ordeal \ > Variants of GAUNTLET > > gauntlet also gantlet > Origin of GAUNTLET > > by folk etymology from gantelope > First Known Use: 1645 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/69 "2012-10-18T14:29:57Z")
> [@El\_Burro\_Buenmozo](#): > > 64 posts and no “loose/lose” mention? The first 5 times I saw loose for lose I noted the typo and just kept reading, then for a while, I got madder and madder every time I saw it. Now I just get sadder and sadder and I see it at least once every day without fail. ☹ Post 19. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/70 "2012-10-18T14:29:59Z")
The person who broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games record was Cal Ripken (Jr.), NOT Cal Ripkin. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/71 "2012-10-18T14:44:34Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > The person who broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games record was Cal Ripken (Jr.), NOT Cal Ripkin. It’s not an error to drop “Jr.” in informal circumstances. Do you always refer to the president as “Barack H. Obama II”? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/72 "2012-10-18T14:46:37Z")
> [@Szlater](#): > > I though gauntlet was an acceptable alternative spelling of gantlet. Ludovic needs fud, badly. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/73 "2012-10-18T14:47:50Z")
Too often I see people confusing “then” and “than.” Makes me stabby. Too often it is published news articles. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/74 "2012-10-18T14:49:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s not an error to drop “Jr.” in informal circumstances. Do you always refer to the president as “Barack H. Obama II”? I think he was pointing out the Ripken/Ripkin distinction. ---
**Author:** ![And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/and_his_buzzer_goes/32/377_2.png) [@And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_his_buzzer_goes)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/75 "2012-10-18T14:51:49Z")
I haven’t quiet found the one I’m thinking about. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/76 "2012-10-18T14:52:08Z")
Well I made the discreet/discrete indiscretion yesterday. I really don’t see why people care about these things so much. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/77 "2012-10-18T15:03:54Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I think he was pointing out the Ripken/Ripkin distinction. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/78 "2012-10-18T15:20:40Z")
Slightly obscure, but the creature the modern cow is descended from is an aurochs, not an auroch. Rhyme it with ‘ox’, not ‘ock’. I once had a copy of ‘What Katy Did’ where every single use of the word ‘angel’ (and it occurs far too many times) was spelled ‘angle’. ‘Katy is a perfect angle!’. The mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![lizlizliz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/db5fbb/32.png) [@lizlizliz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizlizliz)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/79 "2012-10-18T15:21:00Z")
I used to see “masterbate” a lot. The one I can never get right the first time is maitenance. Maintanance? Maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083/80 "2012-10-18T15:47:42Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > ‘Katy is a perfect angle!’. That’s obtuse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consistently-misspelled-non-complex-words/638083.md?page=5)