# If you can't spell it right, don't use it! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2001, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331 "2001-04-25T19:00:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/41 "2001-04-30T03:11:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Catenary \* > \*\*one does not flounder (that’s a fish), one founders or is foundered. \*\* Actually, I think one does occasionally flounder nowadays. At least they do if the definition in the [dictionary](http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=flounder) is correct: “to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually.” ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/42 "2001-04-30T03:27:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Catenary \* > > \*\*one does not flounder (that’s a fish), one founders or is foundered. \*\* > > Actually, I think one does occasionally flounder nowadays. At least they do if the definition in the [dictionary](http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=flounder) is correct: “to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually.” \*\* [Continuing on hijack, sorry] Adding to this, I went and looked up ‘founder’ on the same website. The two words, flounder and founder, have different definitions. In fact, the site has a usage note at the bottom, reading: “The verbs founder and flounder are often confused. Founder comes from a Latin word meaning “bottom” (as in foundation) and originally referred to knocking enemies down; it is now used as well to mean “to fail utterly, collapse.” Flounder means “to move clumsily, thrash about,” and hence “to proceed in confusion.” If John is foundering in Chemistry 1, he had better drop the course; if he is floundering, he may yet pull through.” So, apparently, one does flounder. [End hijack] ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/43 "2001-04-30T12:36:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FireUnderpantsBoobs \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Kinsey \*Add to that list the difference between “accept” and “except”, as in: > > There are no **acceptions** to the rules, and > > You have to **except** the fact that I don’t like you. > > Please tell me this is a joke. > > “Accept” is a verb: One accepts an award. > “Except” is a conjunction: All of the children ate dinner, except for Jimmy. \*\* YES, yes, yes, it was a joke. I see those two words mixed up all the time and it drives me up the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Jus\_lookin\_Round](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jus\_lookin\_Round](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jus_lookin_Round)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/44 "2001-04-30T14:31:06Z")
HUKT ON FONIX, WERKT 4 ME !!! Sorry, but just couldn’t resist! ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/45 "2001-05-01T03:12:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kinsey \* > \*\*YES, yes, yes, it was a joke. I see those two words mixed up all the time and it drives me up the wall. \*\* Whew 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/46 "2001-05-01T04:25:58Z")
Axis, access. Tempera/tempura (I study art so I run into this one regularly and it always makes me laugh). ARGH! Also sat through a whole seminar presentation where the speaker (a 1st year grad student, no less) had somehow picked up the word “anecdote” but consistently used “antidote” instead. Painful. I also don’t like the misuse of dearth and droll, and it’s “myriad things,” not “A myriad OF things.” God. Damn. It. Adjective, not a noun (yes, I’m sure our descriptive, not prescriptive, modern dictionaries have probably accepted the latter as also used, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it). ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/47 "2001-05-01T06:35:01Z")
Not exactly the same thing, but I work at a newspaper, and it amuses me when people come in to renew their “prescriptions.” Or course, what we don’t tell you is that there’s a very powerful opiate laced in the ink, thus explaining why people actually read Family Circus. So, maybe, prescription is fitting after all. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/48 "2001-05-01T12:49:59Z")
Well, for all intense porpoises, this is a mute point. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/49 "2001-05-01T13:00:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kferr \* > \*\*Well, for all intense porpoises, this is a mute point. \*\* No, it should be **"intensive purposes."** Well, I think we’ve written a **tomb** on this subject. **Due** you all **except** that some people just can’t spell **right**? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/50 "2001-05-01T13:07:54Z")
Spelling isn’t important. It’s the thought that counts.😃 ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/51 "2001-05-01T19:58:08Z")
That **viola** one drives me berserk. What worries me is that words like “voila,” that I seem to see in their _misspelled_ form more often than in their _correct_ form, may start appearing in new dictionaries in their “alternative” forms, as discussed in [this alarming article.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33595-2001Apr18.html) **Marshal**. It’s Marshall Plan, Thurgood Marshall, John Marshall, but it’s Fire **Marshal**. At my church, someone recently put up signs on about a dozen doors reading “This door must be kept closed by order of the Fire Marshall.” Lord, lead me not into the temptation to rip the signs down. **Dalmatian**. It isn’t “Dalmation.” Please stop writing it that way. “We hired a new Fire Marshall, and viola! New dalmations for the fire house!” Arrggh. There is actually a place called Dalmatia, across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, it used to be in Yugoslavia but I think now it’s Croatia. I don’t know if the spotted firehouse dogs originated there. **Gandhi**. As in Mahatma. It isn’t “Ghandi.” (I think there’s a member of this board with “Ghandi” in his user name.) ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/52 "2001-05-01T20:57:53Z")
A lot is two words. Not one. Use this cute little mnemonic if you must: “A lot” is a lot of words. Never combine them into one word again! ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/53 "2001-05-01T22:39:22Z")
If I were King of the World, all you fucksticks who spell _masturbation_ with an “e” would not be allowed to DO it anymore, much less use the word. A very funny episode of _Seinfeld_ notwithstanding, the word has nothing to do with being a “master,” of your domain or anything else. when those guys from the football team were stuffing you into your locker, they were NOT complimenting you on being a “master debater.” \*\*it’s _masturbate,_ not _masterbate._ Go now and sin no more. (pant, pant) ---
**Author:** ![Tiburon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e36b37/32.png) [@Tiburon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiburon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/54 "2001-05-01T23:43:06Z")
\*\* Kinsey,\*\* I once tried to convince someone that it wasn’t **intensive purposes** but rather **intents and purposes** - she thought I was completely nuts and pulling her leg! I almost banged my head against the wall. I had a teacher who always said, “People are hanged…pictures are hung.” Is that correct? Tibs. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2001, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/55 "2001-05-02T02:49:56Z")
I once saw an ad for some agency that proclaimed proudly: “One of our bonified service representatives will be happy to help you.” …Eh? ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2001, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/56 "2001-05-02T03:49:26Z")
I always hear people saying “has drank”. It’s “has drunk”! I know people don’t like to say “drunk” unless they’re referring to one who’s had too many martoonies, but come on! Drink…Drank…Has Drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2001, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/57 "2001-05-02T09:26:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dijon Warlock \* > **I once saw an ad for some agency that proclaimed proudly: "One of our bonified service representatives will be happy to help you."** What – you don’t know how to “bonify” someone? 🙂 Actually, even with the correct spelling I don’t understand the sentence. Do they also have ersatz service representatives? **Tiburon** : regarding hanged/hung, that’s the rule I’ve always used, and my Oxford Dictionary of Current English agrees (“hung” is past tense for all meanings except the people one). Nevertheless, most people seem to use “hung” for both meanings. ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2001, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/58 "2001-05-02T09:46:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tiburon \* > I had a teacher who always said, “People are hanged…pictures are hung.” Is that correct? It is correct if you’re referring to the means of execution, but there is also a sense in which people (about half of them, anyway) can be hung. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2001, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/59 "2001-05-02T10:00:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TomH \* > It is correct if you’re referring to the means of execution, but there is also a sense in which people (about half of them, anyway) can be hung. Er, yes. And, at least according to legend, if they’re well-hanged you’ll be able to see whether they’re also well-hung. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2001, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331/60 "2001-05-02T12:00:37Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Tiburon \* > \*\*\*\* Kinsey,_\* > > I once tried to convince someone that it wasn’t **intensive purposes** but rather **intents and purposes** - she thought I was completely nuts and pulling her leg! > > I almost banged my head against the wall. > \*\* I need to start using the sarcastic smilie…yes, I was kidding. “Intensive purposes” doesn’t even make sense. And I’ve given up trying to convince people otherwise. Another one…confusing “medal” and “metal.” It needs to be written (guess that’s where the confusion comes in; very similar sound) to see it mixed up. And that reminds me of another one…it’s “sim **i** lar,” not “sim **u** lar”. There’s no “U” in that word! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-spell-it-right-dont-use-it/63331.md?page=4)