# Ever find out years later that you've been misspelling a word your whole life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 7, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396 "2010-10-07T19:00:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rostfrei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rostfrei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rostfrei)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/1 "2010-10-07T19:00:44Z")
A few years ago, we got a new lock on our office recycle bin and our department secretary gave me a key with a tag, which she had written “recycle bind” with a black sharpie. I had to giggle. She and I are good friends and I immediately told her that the word was actually “bin”. She looked extremely puzzled and checked the dictionary to make sure I was right. She then said she couldn’t believe that she’d gone thru 50 years of life believing that “bind” was spelled “bin”. Have you ever legitimately thought you were spelling a word correctly, only to find out years later that you were wrong? ---
**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 7, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/2 "2010-10-07T19:03:16Z")
Know. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/3 "2010-10-07T19:03:17Z")
Pabulum. I’d been spelling it pablum for a very long time. But the tops in this category definitely has to be “definately.” It’s staggering to me how often I see this word misspelled, including on this very board. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/4 "2010-10-07T19:08:13Z")
I only learned in the past week or two that inditement is not a word, and the correct spelling is “indictment” (which I have been pronouncing wrong for years). Luckily, I am not a lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/5 "2010-10-07T19:42:40Z")
Turns out there’s no word “turrent”, but it’s “turret”. What with the amount of tank- and castle-related games and assorted geekery I’ve been through, I must have read that word tens of thousands of times, mentally seeing the ‘n’ every time. Good thing I never had to write it for a work-related thing. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/6 "2010-10-07T19:49:28Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Pabulum. I’d been spelling it pablum for a very long time. If you discovered the pabulum spelling a few days ago on the SDMB, I’m right there with you. [But I’d say pablum is correct, or else they’re both acceptable.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablum) The original Latin word is pabulum, and the cereal is called Pablum after the Latin word. It seems to me that the common usage today refers to the cereal. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/7 "2010-10-07T19:52:46Z")
Rigmarole. I’ve been spelling it “rigamarole” for years and only discovered my mistake fairly recently when the Firefox spellchecker flagged it. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/8 "2010-10-07T20:05:26Z")
Minuscule. My spelling is nearly perfect (really–once I learn to spell a word, I don’t mess it up again unless it’s a typo), but for years I was convinced that it was “miniscule,” which actually makes a lot of sense. Now that I know better, I don’t do that anymore. But I still prefer the misspelled version. ETA: I never knew that about “rigmarole!” I thought it was “rigamarole” too! See, now, I have learned something today! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/9 "2010-10-07T20:16:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > > [@Morbo](#): > > > > Pabulum. I’d been spelling it pablum for a very long time. > > If you discovered the pabulum spelling a few days ago on the SDMB, I’m right there with you. [But I’d say pablum is correct, or else they’re both acceptable.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablum) The original Latin word is pabulum, and the cereal is called Pablum after the Latin word. It seems to me that the common usage today refers to the cereal. Even when I’m wrong I’m right! Take THAT, Gaudderre’s Law! ---
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/10 "2010-10-07T20:19:19Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Rigmarole. I’ve been spelling it “rigamarole” for years and only discovered my mistake fairly recently when the Firefox spellchecker flagged it. Wow… really? I of course had to verify this, and in my googling I came across this SDMB thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-526118.html](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-526118.html), which also informs me that “sherbert” is also incorrect. 😕 Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/11 "2010-10-07T20:49:32Z")
Oh! Just thought of another one: Chaise longue. I spelled it “chaise lounge” (and pronounced it that way too) for ages before I found out it was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/12 "2010-10-07T20:56:00Z")
I’ve been spelling ‘longevity’ as ‘longetivity’ my whole life. Not that I’ve written it many times, mind you. And I don’t think I’ve ever actually spoken it until I was on a conference call with another attorney a couple years ago and I said it as I had written it, as ‘longetivity’. He paused, and I paused, and thought to myself “that doesn’t sound right… _d’oh_”. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/13 "2010-10-07T20:58:17Z")
I was quite old when I realized that \*canvas \*and \*canvass \*are two different words. I don’t know why I never noticed. I spelled \*surreptitious surrepititious \*for far too long, also. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/14 "2010-10-07T21:00:40Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Pabulum. I’d been spelling it pablum for a very long time. > > But the tops in this category definitely has to be “definately.” It’s staggering to me how often I see this word misspelled, including on this very board. Whoah, you had me scared for a moment. I thought “Oh no, I was sure it was an I not an A!” I didn’t even notice you had spelled it correctly in the same sentence. Fortunately I’ve been doing it right. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/15 "2010-10-07T21:03:42Z")
Also, [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) lists both “rigamarole” and “sherbert” as acceptable spellings. But not “definately” :). ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/16 "2010-10-07T21:14:09Z")
Calender, while a real word, is not the same thing as _calend **a** r_, which is what I was always referring to. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/17 "2010-10-07T21:16:56Z")
I’ve been invited to “bombfires” and “bondfires” before. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/18 "2010-10-07T21:29:30Z")
Amphitheater. Apparently it has an “h” where I thought it had an “l”. I had to look it up several times in several dictionaries to really believe it. In my defense, “Amplitheater” makes sense. It’s a _theater_ that is shaped to naturally _amplify_ the words spoken on stage. Also, for a long time I believed that “bagel” was OK to pronounce “baggle” (like boggle) instead of BAY-gle. I just thought it was an alternate pronounciation, like tomayto/tomahto. Unfortunately, I discovered otherwise when I was reading an announcement in front of my class in high school about a club doing a bagel fundraiser - and everyone laughed. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![rostfrei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rostfrei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rostfrei)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/19 "2010-10-07T21:45:32Z")
Just thought of one. For years, I thought Ophthalmology was spelled Opthalmology. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/20 "2010-10-07T21:54:44Z")
I used to write for a jewelry magazine, one or two articles a month, and I could never keep straight the difference between karat and carat. I had a note on my computer to remind me which one was used for gold and which one for diamonds. It seems odd to me now that I would ever have been confused – gold is labeled 14k so you’d think I could have remembered the difference that way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396.md?page=2)