# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/41 "2010-10-08T03:24:25Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I was reading a Worst of Craigslist site a while back. They had a tag for all the people selling “Chester drawers.” At least they spell “drawers” right. Too often I see “draws”. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/42 "2010-10-08T03:26:54Z")
Judgment…but then I discovered a few days later there’s really nothing wrong with judgement even though Firefox says different. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/43 "2010-10-08T03:47:04Z")
Prerogative. Thanks to Bobby Brown I said and spelled it “perogative” until I was nearly 40. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/44 "2010-10-08T13:09:01Z")
When I was a kid I spelled tongue ‘tounge’ and no matter how many times I tried it took years to spell it right. Just a few months ago I found out the word ‘circadian’ is not spelled ‘circadinian’ the way I always spelled it in my head. One that I’ve seen a lot of people misspell is “jewlery” instead of “jewelry” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/45 "2010-10-08T17:58:09Z")
I’ve never mispeled anything in my life. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/46 "2010-10-08T18:01:12Z")
I spelled “maybe” as “mabye” until I was about 14 or so. Once I realizeed it’s just a mash-up of “may be”, the correct spelling became obvious. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/47 "2010-10-08T18:15:05Z")
A guy at work emailed me today asking if we should put an asterix in a document. I said no, way because [this guy](http://www.rankopedia.com/CandidatePix/79824.gif) would not conform to our brand guidelines. My brother, who has both a BA and a Master’s in English, always always writes “adress”. Personally I don’t know what I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![curious11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@curious11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious11)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/48 "2010-10-08T20:33:20Z")
The nickel post made me realize that I have a post it with “panel” and “label” to help me remember how to spell those words. I mean, c’mon. A word that rhymes with table ought to be spelled the same. epithet! “Their” has always been a problem for me, over time thier no longer ‘looks’ right, even though I often type it out that way and then go back and re-type it as their. I also have a post it that reads “effect is a noun and affect a verb” and “Hendrik Wade Bode.” We often run Bode plots and it was interesting to learn that this one guy came up with this way to test the bandwidth of a system by running one test. Oh yeah, recipe and receipt are often misspelled by me. and guarantee. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/49 "2010-10-09T01:45:06Z")
Canceled was cancelled for so long, canceling was cancelling. And I am by far not the only one. Traveled and traveling sometimes come out travelled and travelling. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/50 "2010-10-09T02:30:20Z")
Sincerly. I feel like such an idiot for signing off like that for years. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/51 "2010-10-09T03:42:40Z")
I’ve probably also blown “supersede” a thousand times, though in fairness to myself that is one of the most misspelled words in the language. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/52 "2010-10-09T07:13:38Z")
> [@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. I cannot spell that word (definitely) to save my life. The only reason it turns out right is spell-check. Also, up until about 7 or so years ago, I could have sworn that vacuum was spelled vacume. I was positive of it. And frankly, all these years later vacuum still looks funny to my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/53 "2010-10-09T07:31:14Z")
\*\*jjimm \*\*you reminded me of another one. It took me a long time to figure that this thingee \* is called an asterisk, not an asterick. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/54 "2010-10-09T07:44:57Z")
> [@Ruby Sees](#): > > Canceled was cancelled for so long, canceling was cancelling. And I am by far not the only one. > > Traveled and traveling sometimes come out travelled and travelling. All of those can be spelled with the double L. It’s like judgement–there are multiple accepted spellings. The double Ls are more common in Commonwealth English (i.e. British, Canadian, Australian, etc.), while the single L is more common in American English. This [citation](http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/jones/differences.htm) nicely shows the differences. You can see a lot more if you just google travelling british english ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/55 "2010-10-09T07:50:19Z")
I’m not sure if I spelled the word, but for a long time I thought that if you mispronounced a word it was a mispronounciation, and not a mispronunciation. After all, you don’t mispronunce a word. ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/56 "2010-10-09T12:03:04Z")
For a long time, I was under the impression that dilemma was spelled dilemna (with a silent n). ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/57 "2010-10-11T02:18:36Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > All of those can be spelled with the double L. It’s like judgement–there are multiple accepted spellings. The double Ls are more common in Commonwealth English (i.e. British, Canadian, Australian, etc.), while the single L is more common in American English. > > This [citation](http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/jones/differences.htm) nicely shows the differences. You can see a lot more if you just google travelling british english Interesting. There were a lot of words I was spelling British for a long time and thought I was going out of my mind when my spell-check would correct them to American. I’ve never been there and my family emigrated in the 1600s, so I wonder where I picked up those spelling mannerisms. I feel a lot less dumb now! I wasn’t WRONG wrong, just geographically different. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/58 "2010-10-11T02:22:54Z")
> [@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. I also did NOT know that. I’ve been spelling it pablum also (and the message board spell-check thingie doesn’t even “redline” it. Are there maybe two spellings?). ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/59 "2010-10-11T02:29:13Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > I’ve been invited to “bombfires” and “bondfires” before. There was a set of “rot iron” deck furniture on craigslist recently 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HardlySanguine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HardlySanguine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HardlySanguine)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396/60 "2010-10-11T21:25:05Z")
Weird as wierd, for me. (not to mention half a dozen of these others) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-out-years-later-that-youve-been-misspelling-a-word-your-whole-life/556396.md?page=4)