# Words that need a spelling change **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432 "2006-01-04T18:39:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![silk1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@silk1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silk1976)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/41 "2006-01-05T18:07:27Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > You clearly haven’t been here long enough. _True_ Bay Staters will use the Principle of the Disappearing final ‘R’" and pronounce these as “Woostah”, “Less-tah” and “Gloss-tah”\* > And don’t forget “Pee’b-dee” for “Peabody”, “Chahlston” for “Charlestown” and “Meffah” for “Medford”. > A lot of states probably have these. New York has “Nun-Day” for “Nunda” and “Chy-Lie” for “Chili”. utah has “Spanish Fark” for “Spanish Fork”. > > - The R’s thus saved are then applied to the ends of words deficient in R’s, like “Pizza” (“Pete-zer”) and “saw” (“Sawr”) LOL I think you are referring more to the Boston accent, with the lack of R’s. I wasn’t born in Mass and have found that the Boston accent isn’t really as prevelant in Boston as it is in the surrounding areas (my theory is that with Boston being such a college town, the constant influx of new people keeps the amount of people with the boston accent down). Good call on the other ones though - I hadn’t even thought of them. Add ‘chemsfed’ (and maybe it doesn’t even have the ‘s’) for Chelmsford to the list. ---
**Author:** ![silk1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@silk1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silk1976)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/42 "2006-01-05T18:10:49Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > refridgerator–lose the d. I once had my english teacher (either ninth or tenth grade, I forget which) try to convince me that refrigerator had a ‘d’ in it simply because its pronounced with a ‘d’ (well, it ends up that way, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/43 "2006-01-05T18:23:53Z")
> [@](#): > > LOL I think you are referring more to the Boston accent, with the lack of R’s. Even a lot of people without the classic strong Boston accent tend to not pronounce the final “r” in those town names, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/44 "2006-01-05T18:28:27Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > I thought quay was pronounced kway. We have a Cherry Quay Road in my town. After 37 years of hearing people say “Cherry Kway Road”, I’m convinced that I’m the only person in town who doesn’t mispronounce it. I’m also convinced that people hate it when you tell them that they’re mispronoucing the name of their street. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/45 "2006-01-05T18:49:05Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > We have a Cherry Quay Road in my town. After 37 years of hearing people say “Cherry Kway Road”, I’m convinced that I’m the only person in town who doesn’t mispronounce it. > > I’m also convinced that people hate it when you tell them that they’re mispronoucing the name of their street. Despite dictionaries and people who know how to pronounce it, after this much time you have to accept that for this street it is indeed Cherry Kway Road and not Cherry Ká Road. This is how a language changes and evolves. 😉 Jim ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/46 "2006-01-05T18:50:28Z")
[Mitch Hedberg] Next time you spell xylophone, spell it with a “Z”. If someone tells you that you spelled it wrong, say, “No I didn’t.”[/Mitch Hedberg] ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/47 "2006-01-05T19:12:04Z")
> [@annewaldron](#): > > Since I’m one of the only people I know that pronounces February the way it’s supposed to be pronounced (i.e. Feb-ru-ary), maybe it needs to be changed to Febuary. > > Not. You beat me to it. I had a Kindergarten teacher who always pronounced “February” in a way that emphasized the r. I’ve been saying it that way ever since, and any time someone questions my pronunciation, I ask them to spell the word. Out the dozen or so times that this has happened, only one person actually spelled it correctly. > [@Large Marge](#): > > offen [Pirates of Penzance] When you said “offen”, did you mean “orphan” � a person who has lost his parents, or “often”, frequently? [/POP] ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/48 "2006-01-05T19:21:06Z")
While we’re at it, let’s get rid of all those apostrophe rules and them damn foriegn alphabets too! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/49 "2006-01-05T20:11:45Z")
receet receev defanitly ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/50 "2006-01-05T23:09:39Z")
My “team lead” constantly spells queue (as in my list of work to be done) as que. They don’t even sound the same! Kyoo vs Kay… The word “utilize” is mis-spelled and should be spelled “use” - too many letters otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/51 "2006-01-05T23:16:15Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > We have a Cherry Quay Road in my town. After 37 years of hearing people say “Cherry Kway Road”, I’m convinced that I’m the only person in town who doesn’t mispronounce it. > > I’m also convinced that people hate it when you tell them that they’re mispronoucing the name of their street. Hmmm. Pronounce ‘quay’ in Britain anything other than ‘key’, and you’ll get funny looks. But when I go elsewhere, I accept they’ve got different pronunciations (and impressed a whole bunch of friends by getting Norquay right first time, thankyou SDMB!) On the other hand, when people get pronunciations wrong around here, they’ll be corrected, and I don’t see why they should be offended. (Have a go at Monewden and Debach, if you want 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/52 "2006-01-05T23:18:27Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > defanitly ‘Deffen-lee’, surely?! Or maybe just check my previous post… ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/53 "2006-01-06T16:16:07Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > The word “utilize” is mis-spelled and should be spelled “use” - too many letters otherwise. Oh definitely. And Americans should stop burglarizing homes. Here in Blighty we _burgle_ homes. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/54 "2006-01-06T17:05:51Z")
> [@Nancarrow](#): > > Oh definitely. And Americans should stop burglarizing homes. Here in Blighty we _burgle_ homes. It’s funny how Britain has happily adopted some modern creations of ‘ize’/‘ise’ verbs (computerise, privatise, prioritise), but others have become Americanisms through no fault of their own. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/55 "2006-01-06T18:06:31Z")
> [@Nancarrow](#): > > Oh definitely. And Americans should stop burglarizing homes. Here in Blighty we _burgle_ homes. Yes, but if you get caught, you get taken to _gaol_. What’s up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/56 "2006-01-06T18:44:41Z")
[qutoe=eleanorigby Recommend–why two m’s? Same with accomodate–oh, wait a sec… [/quote] All single-letter double-letter words should be allowed to be spelled in any of the 4 permutations of the single-letter double-letter. tomorrow, tommorow, tomorow, tommorrow corellate, correlate, correllate, corelate recommend, reccomend, reccommend, recomend ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/57 "2006-01-06T19:02:51Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Yes, but if you get caught, you get taken to _gaol_. What’s up with that? Ahh, but we’ve long since starting spelling it p-r-i-s-o-n 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/58 "2006-01-07T03:04:14Z")
The field having to do with stars that is a legitimate science should be spelled “astrology.” Then, of course, the field (if “field” is even the right word) we currently call “astrology” which has to do with star signs and such, would probably be referred to as “astronomy.” I have no idea how we would make the switch without confusing everyone, though. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/59 "2006-01-07T03:52:07Z")
I would nominate the word Definately instead of **Definitely** But only because I never spell in right. 😉 Jim ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432/60 "2006-01-07T04:42:06Z")
**Through.** Talk about a word that’s longer than it needs to be. Fast food joints all over the country have a “drive-thru,” and I really wish that this spelling would catch on in everyday use. For a while I used the spelling “thru” in my posts in the SDMB, but it didn’t catch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-need-a-spelling-change/338432.md?page=4)