# Unspellable words **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584 "2022-06-02T17:05:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/1 "2022-06-02T17:05:46Z")
Someone asked me, in a chat, how things are going. I wanted to write, “you know, the …” and use the shortening of “usual”, but I couldn’t figure out how to spell it. [This](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/ill-have-the-usual) article suggests some spellings, but they’re all terrible. It occurred to me that the sound is essentially unspellable in English. We could all agree on a spelling, but whatever it would be would be really odd. Another one that’s not quite as bad is “Aaaugh” or “Aaaah” or however you would spell the exasperated or frightened sound. But, that’s not a word, it’s more of a sound effect, and there are lots of sound effects we can make that can’t be spelled. Are there other spoken words that basically don’t have a spelling? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/2 "2022-06-02T17:09:05Z")
In many many languages there are phonemes or allophones that don’t have a specific spelling. English has several. Indeed, it’s more common for vowels than with consonants. The English alphabet has only five vowel letters (plus maybe one more, sometimes), but most Standard English varieties have around 20 vowel phonemes. That’s why when you use the International Phonetic Alphabet, there are many special characters to transcribe those sounds. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/3 "2022-06-02T17:10:14Z")
Right, but are their fairly common spoken words that are just difficult or impossible to come up with a reasonable spelling for? I can’t think of any others. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/4 "2022-06-02T17:10:35Z")
Gwaah? No way to encode pitch in written English. ~Max ---
**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:** [June 2, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/5 "2022-06-02T17:11:44Z")
You can’t spell, “There are three 2’s in English”. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/6 "2022-06-02T17:11:48Z")
OK, I’m not looking for words in other languages that would be difficult or impossible to write in English. I’m looking for words that English speakers say that can’t be spelled. @Hari_Seldon, I don’t know what you mean – do you mean the plural of two? Twos seems to be accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/7 "2022-06-02T17:11:58Z")
There’s a series of sounds that I use as an equivalent of “I don’t know” that can’t be spelled. It’s really a tonal series, which is interesting, because English is not usually described as a tonal language, but everyone knows what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/8 "2022-06-02T17:12:43Z")
If that’s a word in some other language I’m not aware of it. It’s just shorthand for “what?” with a very distinct lower to upper pitch. mmhmm is another word that is difficult to reduce to writing. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/9 "2022-06-02T17:13:43Z")
If it’s a word in English, I’m also unaware of it. What are you trying to describe? Do you mean, whaa? Mmhmm seems really clear to me, and in any case, isn’t a word, it’s a sound effect like “aaaaugh”. How would you spell “the us[ual]”? It’s a spoke word, not a grunt or sound effect. I guess I’m really not making myself clear here. I’m not saying that there aren’t sounds that English speakers make that can’t be written. I’m saying that there aren’t many _words_ that English speakers say that can’t be written. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/10 "2022-06-02T17:15:48Z")
I think Hari is referring to « to », « too » and « two ». ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/11 "2022-06-02T17:16:14Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Gwaah? > > No way to encode pitch in written English. > > ~Max I know exactly what your talking about, but the way I say it, it’s just a vowel sound that rises in pitch. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/12 "2022-06-02T17:16:33Z")
That’s the thing! I can’t tell you what it is without spelling it out. Imagine you are gobsmacked and instead of the interjection “What!?”, you say “gwaah!?” or maybe just “whaaa…!?” from low pitch to a high pitch. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/13 "2022-06-02T17:17:25Z")
I think “whaa?” is really clear. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/14 "2022-06-02T17:18:05Z")
Well, some people make an audible consonant sound as their jaw literally drops. “whaa?” can be read “wuh?” which is different. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/15 "2022-06-02T17:27:55Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Are there other spoken words that basically don’t have a spelling? With the example you’ve given of “usual”, which obviously does have a spelling, I’m a bit unsure of what you are getting at. People sometimes get a feeling that the correct spelling of a word or any alternate spelling all _seem_ wrong. Is that what you’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/16 "2022-06-02T17:31:51Z")
That - words like marshm **a** llow - seems to be different than what was described in the OP. It was the contraction of _usual_, not _usual_ per se. So yuze, uzhe, yooze, etc. The link in the OP leads to a Merriam-Webster page which concludes there is no established spelling. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/17 "2022-06-02T17:54:03Z")
Similar to the example in the OP (a shortened version of usual): I have a good friend named Marcia _not Marsha_. Her primary nickname is, uh, the first syllable of Marcia. Marsh? Well, that really won’t do, will it? The spelling she approves is Marc, and that’s what I use, but a stranger would have to know the context to pronounce it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/18 "2022-06-02T18:06:04Z")
It sounds counterintuitive, but ITSM it would sometimes be quicker to _ **not** _ abbreviate … ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/19 "2022-06-02T18:15:18Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Someone asked me, in a chat, how things are going. I wanted to write, “you know, the …” and use the shortening of “usual”, but I couldn’t figure out how to spell it. [This](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/ill-have-the-usual) article suggests some spellings, but they’re all terrible. See also, since it has the same ending, the abbreviation for ‘casual’. “What’s the dress code to this function” “Just cahj (cazh?)” “What are you doing right now?” “Just cazhing (cahjing?) out”. Also, isn’t there an expression to “add a little (?) to something”, that I have no idea how to spell? I can’t even google anything approximating what its spelling must be to get a correct hit. It sounds kind of like ‘jeuzh’ as in, “How’s the chili?” “Needs a little jeuzh.” ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584/20 "2022-06-02T18:15:31Z")
Right, but at least “Marsh” is spellable. (Interesting aside – Chrome thinks “spellable” is a typo, but not “unnspellable”) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unspellable-words/965584.md?page=2)