# The most frequently misspelled words online (your spelling pet peeves) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 1, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158 "2003-02-01T20:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/41 "2003-02-02T18:42:25Z")
Alot rather than a lot. Do rather than due. Insure vs. Ensure. I’ve also noticed the entirely too common practice of using _loose_ instead of _lose_ and I’ve often wondered why it’s suddenly so prevalent. It seems like it came out of nowhere, and almost overnight it was everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/42 "2003-02-02T19:10:53Z")
The loose/lose thing drives me nutty, but especially on one of my WEIGHT LOSS support groups. You’d think with the number of times people have to say “lose” that they’d get it. They’ve even been told several times, yet I’d say 80% of the people on the list spell it ‘loose’ AAAAAHHH!!! ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/43 "2003-02-02T19:13:32Z")
Confusing the issue, **loose** does have a meaning as a verb, although it’s seldom used that way. I keep seeing **competant** instead of **competent**. Also **seperately** for **separately**. Of course, English is a funny language, and there are exceptions to all the spelling rules. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/44 "2003-02-02T19:16:11Z")
Baldwin: yes, I’m often tempted to say to people “what, you’re going to loose your weight onto the unsuspecting public?” ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/45 "2003-02-02T19:21:35Z")
Masterbation and cant get on my nerves. Also, people who botch French or Latin phrases…if you don’t know how they’re spelled, don’t use them. Oh…and I _hate_ it when people don’t use _three_ periods when typing out ellipses. They’ll use two. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Insecta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3da27b/32.png) [@Insecta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Insecta)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/46 "2003-02-02T19:36:03Z")
Most of what people have already mentioned really bothers me, but like others, I’d like to take the opportunity to say how much the misspelling ‘hampster’ irritates me. Quite often the -ise and -ice sounds are muddled up in words like advice. Things like this really break up the reading – “Take heed of the old one’s advise young child.” Not too common, but there are people out there who will use weather instead of whether! A more frequent irritation is the misuse of the ellipsis (…), especially when people use more than three dots. ---
**Author:** ![umgabri2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e8c25b/32.png) [@umgabri2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umgabri2)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/47 "2003-02-02T20:09:40Z")
“Nevermind” Never mind is not a compound word!!! ---
**Author:** ![umgabri2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e8c25b/32.png) [@umgabri2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umgabri2)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/48 "2003-02-02T20:12:48Z")
Oh, and: “comming” instead of coming “scarry” instead of “scary” ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/49 "2003-02-02T20:23:18Z")
I’ll fess up to sometimes using more than three periods. Only in casual writing, and just to portray trailing off… ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/50 "2003-02-02T20:23:18Z")
I don’t think I have a single one. Am I strange? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/51 "2003-02-02T20:30:33Z")
People using **i.e.** when they mean **e.g.** , or vice versa. Grrr. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/52 "2003-02-03T00:01:14Z")
Yes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![waddamaroon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/41988e/32.png) [@waddamaroon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waddamaroon)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/53 "2003-02-03T00:14:50Z")
My neighbor just had his dog “spaded”. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/54 "2003-02-03T01:18:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by soulmurk \* > \*\*I’ve also noticed the entirely too common practice of using _loose_ instead of _lose_ and I’ve often wondered why it’s suddenly so prevalent. It seems like it came out of nowhere, and almost overnight it was everywhere. \*\* I first started noticing it all over the place online a few years ago; like you, I thought it sprang up all of a sudden. My theory is that people had been spelling badly like this all along, but the only writing I read (pre-Internet) had been filtered through publishers, through editors. With the Internet, it was suddenly revealed how bad people’s raw spelling really is. Why I started this thread: A typo is a typo, and a homonym is a homonym. But there are certain misspellings you keep seeing over and over, so recurrent and persistent, it makes you wonder what possesses people to get them so obstinately wrong. Especially when it isn’t a question of homonymns— like **tounge** , which just reappeared in a GQ thread on French kissing (a newbie’s very first SD post). What is it with **tounge** , for crying out loud? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/55 "2003-02-03T01:43:41Z")
Here’s one I see often, right here on the SDMB: concider. It’s **consider**! With an “s”! Robin ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/56 "2003-02-03T02:02:24Z")
Check out [match.com](http://match.com), and you’ll find plenty of self-declared _independant_ women. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/57 "2003-02-03T02:30:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Insecta \* > \*\*A more frequent irritation is the misuse of the ellipsis (…), especially when people use more than three dots. \*\* There are indeed times when one should use four dots instead of three. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/58 "2003-02-03T03:01:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by erislover \* > \*\*There are indeed times when one should use four dots instead of three. \*\* Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/59 "2003-02-03T03:06:57Z")
**Congradulations** Whichever greeting card maker decided that was cute to put on congratulationary cards for graduates should be shot. ---
**Author:** ![\_etalhea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/779978/32.png) [@\_etalhea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_etalhea)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158/60 "2003-02-03T03:36:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Orange Skinner \* > \*\*Masterbation and cant get on my nerves \*\* Yeah, masturbation gets on my nerves too, especially when the guy behind me in line at Wal-mart is doing it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-frequently-misspelled-words-online-your-spelling-pet-peeves/152158.md?page=4)