I missed two, and one of them was minuscule. The other was millennium. Two “n’s”. Who’da thunk? Still, this is why bad spelling drives me bonkers. I’m very visually oriented, and while I’m capable of coughing up a honker myself it’s usually due to poor typing and lack of proofreading. When I see typos and misspellings (especially mine) they leap out at me, screaming. It’s like someone who is very musical having to listen to notes that are just off key. It’s not a desire to lord it over people who are more “ignorant” or “careless” than I am or a wish to be a “spelling Nazi.” It’s…“AAARRRRRGGHHHH!!! Doesn’t that bother you?!” The Offspring says punctuation errors bother her more. She also says that “The Offspring” is a band. Shall she be Baby Hawk? She says she prefers Hawklette. She is Hawklette henceforth. (Yes, this is an appalling spelling. It is hers. She claims it is not appalling, it is unique. Okay.)
And since the search function won’t let me ask for “law” even in conjunction with Gaudere, can somebody explain that one to me? Is it related to Godwin’s?
desiccate
indispensable
weird
privilege
embarrassment
liquefy
seize
cemetery
battalion
despair
irritable
accidentally
minuscule
millennium
judgment
existence
independent
occurrence
sacrilegious
insistent
anoint
supersede
irresistible
all right
I’m almost embarrassed to post this actually. I went back and just checked all of the boxes on the left hand side and I got a better score than I just did. This isn’t good for the ego at all.
Named after our esteemed moderator, it states (paraphrased) that when you attempt to correct/criticize someone else’s spelling (or grammar?) in a post, you will surely make a similar error that you will not notice before hitting Submit.
Most of these are words that I rarely even use. In fact, accommodate and desperate are the only two in this list that I use with any degree of regularity.
You won. But I came a close second. I got 22 wrong.
I think I had some bad ‘programming’ influencing my test i.e. I thought it was wrong to have two lots of doulbed letters in words. and some other wrong rules in my head.
Six for me, but I’ll claim Canadian spelling on a couple, and thoughts of higher things for the rest. Yeah, that’s the ticket! Canadian spelling! Higher things!
Missed three. Didn’t expect to miss any, but I choke under any pressure (lost state in 8th grade due to bad marraige).
desiccate
ecstasy
minuscule
…and I’m still bitter about county in 7th grade. “surrogate” is not pronounced /sAir’ uh gut/ with a long “a” in the first syllable! [sub]mumble mumble razzen frazzin caller[/sub]
-AmbushBug
[sub]yes, i did ask for a definition, use in sentence, and it didn’t click[/sub]
She says, “‘Variants’ listed in your dictionary are not correct – they are variants. That means people use them – they are not preferred by educated editors. Ain’t is also in your dictionary – that does NOT mean it’s correct.”
That’s just nonsense. Some words have two equally acceptable variants–they can’t both be listed first. Just because a spelling is listed second doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Look up “back yard” in Websters. Most copy editors use Websters, so they will change the spelling to “backyard.” Now look it up in the American Heritage Dictionary. The first spelling listed is “back yard,” so I quietly change the spelling back. It’s a little game I play with my copy editors. (The same is true of “bloodred” which I think looks ridiculous as one word. The American Heritage doesn’t even list “bloodred” as a variant.)
Any spelling that is listed as acceptable in a reputable dictionary is acceptable, so long as you’re consistent about it. Sure, “ain’t” is in the dictionary, but it’s clearly labelled “nonstandard.”
(Oh, I missed 4, and they were all genuinely wrong, not acceptable variants, but I forgot to write down what they were.)
ARGGHH! The only ones I got wrong (except for a couple) were the ones I went back and “corrected”! How many times do I have to be told go with your first instinct on things like this?!?
I’m not surprised though. When I help my 3rd graders in class with their spelling I have to keep the spelling list handy so I won’t mess up any of the words. (It’s not as bad as it sounds, really I swear. Last week they had pharmacist, penicillin and prescription. When I was in 3rd grade I certainly wasn’t spelling any of those words!)
