# Word Spellings You Hate **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775 "2009-04-20T20:50:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/21 "2009-04-21T13:17:55Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Very close. Just two transpositions. > > hors d’oeuvres Wow. You know the ‘urves’ part is really hard to pronounce phoenetically. Hey! There’s another word! ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/22 "2009-04-21T13:21:43Z")
_Maintenance._ I always think it should be _Maintainance._ ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/23 "2009-04-21T13:56:56Z")
To me, convenience is no real convenience to spell. “Two” has a w sound that’s not needed. Gallagher once commented that it should go to “one” that needs it. Of is the only word where F becomes a V. I will second all of the issues the Ough have. Doubt has a b in it. I once read that the only reason it does, is because the latin word for doubt had a b in it. – I don’t doubt that. pneumonia Really? a P ?! How in the world would you “look it up” if you had to? Somewhat related to the issue: Can’t we standardize names ? “Lindsay” alone gets close to 3 Dozen spellings. No Offense intended. It’s a name that illustrates my point precisely. I’m sorry if you just happen to be a Lindsay, Lendsay, Lyndsay, Lyndzee, Lyndsie, Lyndsy, Lindsey, Lindsie, Lindzie, Lendsey, Lindzee, Lendzee, Lindsee, Lendsee, Lindzi, Lindzie, Linsay, Lensay, Lynsay, Lynzee, Lynsie, Lynsy, Linsey, Linsie, Linzie, Lensey, Linzee, Lenzee, Linsee, Lensee, Linzi, Linzie, Or some other variant of E/I and D or no D, and S or Z, and E, I, IE, Y I somehow forgot. Hopefully I made my point. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/24 "2009-04-21T14:00:11Z")
I see that someone simulposted my Doubt. (A lot of simulposts actually) Sorry, I was busy trying to tackle how to spell Lindsay. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/25 "2009-04-21T14:20:11Z")
Epitome. I always see it as epi-tome, and in fact pronounced it that way for a long time before being corrected many years ago. February can kiss my ass. Pronunciation. Why isn’t it “pronounciation”? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/26 "2009-04-21T14:32:01Z")
Pretty much anything French. I can never figure out how to pronounce French-derived words. ] Also, British spelling. I can live with “humour” and “colour” if I have to, but “programme”? “Tonne”? “_Gaol_”? ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/27 "2009-04-21T14:44:11Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Also, British spelling. I can live with “humour” and “colour” if I have to, but “programme”? “Tonne”? “_Gaol_”? That last one is only ever pronounced as “prison”. 😃 Really, though, no one uses the word gaol. Jail is an Americanism, so you sometimes hear it, but by and large the place where criminals end up in is prison. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/28 "2009-04-21T15:30:50Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > Wednesday. > **fuck** that word. I remember it because I was in elementary school when the NES hit the scene… and always remember its spelling because of that… :o ---
**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:** [April 21, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/29 "2009-04-21T15:46:34Z")
> [@Dublin11](#): > > That last one is only ever pronounced as “prison”. 😃 > Really, though, no one uses the word gaol. Jail is an Americanism, so you sometimes hear it, but by and large the place where criminals end up in is prison. _Jail_, the word, is not an Americanism. Oscar Wilde wasn’t American. Gandhi wasn’t sent to jail in America. What’s American is the distinction made between jail (a temporary holding facility – at least one in each county or city) and prison (one of a handful of state or federal facilities where people convicted of crimes are held as punishment). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/30 "2009-04-21T16:08:30Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Pretty much anything French. Ditto. French is a fucked-up language. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/31 "2009-04-21T16:14:58Z")
> [@snowmaster](#): > > Its and It’s… I can never remember which is which. If you could write it is instead, use it’s. Its is analogous to his, hers, ours, and theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/32 "2009-04-21T16:26:59Z")
‘Business’ looks like it should be pronounced Bussy-ness, why isn’t it spelled ‘bizness’ ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/33 "2009-04-21T16:34:34Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > _Jail_, the word, is not an Americanism. Oscar Wilde wasn’t American. Gandhi wasn’t sent to jail in America. > > What’s American is the distinction made between jail (a temporary holding facility – at least one in each county or city) and prison (one of a handful of state or federal facilities where people convicted of crimes are held as punishment). I did not know the difference between an American jail and an American prison, so thank you for that. Wilde and Ghandi have both been dead for a very long time. No one uses the gaol spelling now, is all. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/34 "2009-04-21T16:42:48Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > _Heighth_ and _lenght_. Especially if pronounced right and still spelled wrong. Heighth isn’t a word, it’s an archaic pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/35 "2009-04-21T16:49:05Z")
Misspelling - because I hate the irony ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/36 "2009-04-21T17:15:16Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Also, British spelling. I can live with “humour” and “colour” if I have to, but … “Tonne”? Tonne is not an alternative spelling of “ton” - it is a word in its own right with a (slightly) different meaning. A “ton” is an Imperial measure of weight, and is 2,240 lbs (outside of North America, which has its own “ton” or “short ton” of 2,000 lbs). A “tonne” is a metric ton, i.e. 1,000 kilograms, or 2,205 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/37 "2009-04-21T17:16:11Z")
Gauge It should be spelled gage Also bass (in music) should be spelled base ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/38 "2009-04-21T17:23:57Z")
colour I also hate when they make up an abbreviation that is one letter short of the original word they couldn’t type out or something like this. Computer - Computi ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/39 "2009-04-21T17:31:35Z")
“Through” too damn many letters. For some reason, I don’t have a problem with “though,” though. ---
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775/40 "2009-04-21T17:46:05Z")
Slightly off topic, but you know that cutesy thing of using “z” for the plural? (boys -\> boyz) I’m OK with that except when they do it for words that end in an unvoiced “s”. Remember that movie _Antz_? You don’t say “antzzz”; you say “antsss”. (OK, bad example, because maybe the title was actually _Ant Z_ since the character’s name was “Z”.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-spellings-you-hate/493775.md?page=3)