# Words that seem like they are spelled wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797 "2024-07-25T22:12:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/41 "2024-07-26T22:54:31Z")
“Queue” is spelled the stupidest way possible. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/42 "2024-07-27T00:49:04Z")
“Restaurant” gets me sometimes. It seems like the “u” should go after the second “a”. Or maybe omitted altogether, but certainly not after the first “a”. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2024, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/43 "2024-07-27T01:19:29Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > “Queue” is spelled the stupidest way possible. Amen. I want to pronounce it “kwee-wee.” ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/44 "2024-07-27T01:52:28Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Restaurant Yup. I rarely get it right the first time. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/45 "2024-07-27T02:34:14Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > “Queue” is spelled the stupidest way possible. **QUEUE** : A word that doesn’t need 80% of its letters. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/46 "2024-07-27T03:21:52Z")
I agree with almost every one of the above observations, but the word that continues to confuse me to this day is “parallel.” We have “bell” and “smell” and “well” and so on, all showing that a word ending in that sound gets a double-L at the end. Then we have this word about straight lines that don’t meet; it rhymes perfectly with those others and we . . . put . . . the double-L . . . in . . . the middle ? ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/47 "2024-07-27T03:57:29Z")
But it is kind of appropriate that ‘parallel’ has a couple letters in the middle that are, um… oh, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/48 "2024-07-27T04:03:47Z")
I don’t believe I’ve ever looked at it that way. You’ve given me something to think about. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/49 "2024-07-27T04:49:13Z")
Well, the double Ls are parallel regardless of where they are. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/50 "2024-07-27T05:58:40Z")
Not if they’re in an elliptic space. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/51 "2024-07-27T18:31:12Z")
Prowess. To me it always looked like it should be "prow_ness";_ you know, like dark_ness_ or slow_ness_. “-ness” being a modifier meaning that it’s something possessed by the subject. As a kid I even pronounced it like that until corrected, and the correct version still looks and sounds wrong to me. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/52 "2024-07-27T20:38:07Z")
Goverment, Government. Pshaw. I think the first “n” should be repealed. My woeful typing fingers approve. Pronounced Gov er ment … not Gov VERN ment. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/53 "2024-07-28T13:10:10Z")
But they govern. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/54 "2024-07-28T16:26:17Z")
Don’t even get me going on ‘February’. Ditch the middle “R” already. Everybody else does; come on in, the water’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/55 "2024-07-28T19:59:22Z")
You pronunce something using its correct pronounciation. Er, wait, other way around. Look, I get that the -ation suffix messes with the final e; that’s no problem. But the u is all the way back in a different syllable. It should be sufficiently shielded from the suffix. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2024, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/56 "2024-07-28T20:13:55Z")
You have your colonels and lieutenants… ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2024, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/57 "2024-07-28T23:20:05Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > Don’t even get me going on ‘February’. > > Ditch the middle “R” already. Everybody else does; Wednesday has an extra letter or two as well. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/58 "2024-08-07T06:52:52Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Prowess. To me it always looked like it should be "prow_ness";_ you know, like dark_ness_ or slow_ness_. “-ness” being a modifier meaning that it’s something possessed by the subject. > > As a kid I even pronounced it like that until corrected, and the correct version still looks and sounds wrong to me. ⁢ Huh. I always think it’s prowress or proweress. I hear the second R in my head, even though I don’t say it. I guess I presume the second R gets dropped, ala surprise. Though I may also associate it with the word _power_. Oh, and I always spell it _judgement_. I prefer to keep spelling rules consistent in English if possible. I disagree that it’s a UK spelling. I think it’s becoming more and more common in the US. And, if, as @Aspenglow says, it’s catching on even with _lawyers_, notoriously some of the last hold outs, then I think the 1-E spelling’s days are numbered. And I wouldn’t like my spelling changed without my _acknowledgement_. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/59 "2024-08-07T06:58:12Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I disagree that it’s a UK spelling. I think it’s becoming more and more common in the US. Nah, it’s just that most of us never lernt how to spel so good in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797/60 "2024-08-07T07:02:54Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > I disagree that it’s a UK spelling. I think it’s becoming more and more common in the US. ⁢ > > Nah, it’s just that most of us never lernt how to spel so good in the first place. ⁢ Well, it’s in my US English spelling dictionary–the one that comes with Windows and is used in Chrome. I didn’t add it. Your lernt and spel have a red line under them, as does centre and litre. But judgement and acknowledgement do not. And Microsoft gets mad if you spell naive without the diareses. Or facade without the cedilla. So their spellings aren’t exactly the newest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-seem-like-they-are-spelled-wrong/1004797.md?page=4)