Spelling has been the bane of many a student. People that have trouble with spelling grumble about ‘meaning’ while people that have a knack for spelling torment the non-spellers by solving crossword puzzles in ink. While I was looking for a list of the most commonly misspelled words, I ran across this list at Waxy.org that’s a compilation of some of the most commonly misspelled words on the Web.
Do people write differently for the Web? Are the misspellings different? Possibly. But only because a keyboard is involved and the Web is considered an ‘immediate’ medium. In short, people don’t tend to edit when they write for the Web. I’ve only seen a few misspellings that are peculiar to the Web. ‘Noone’ comes to mind. What’s interesting about the list from Waxy though is that it’s nearly four years old. Has anything changed since then? Let’s take a look.
- transexual (2860k)
- didnt (1230k, via Matt)
- doesnt (1080k, via Evan)
- seperate (804k, via Bill)
- calender (727k, via Graham)
- definately (693k, via Shannon)
- recieve (667k, via Matt)
- offical (366k)
- managment (359k)
- goverment (317k)
- commerical (277k)
- Febuary (245k)
- enviroment (242k)
- occurence (186k)
- commision (167k)
- assocation (134k)
- Cincinatti (70k)
- milennium (32k)
Compared to today’s numbers:
- - transexual (4,330,000)
- - seperate (18,900,000)
- - calender (18,400,000)
- - definately (19,700,000)
- - recieve (13,200,000 )
- - offical (7,230,000)
- - managment (16,900,000)
- - goverment (8,360,000)
- - commision (3,210,000)
And let’s just stop there. It’s apparent that the numbers have increased, but that doesn’t tell us if the number of poor spellers has increased, just that the Web has grown. However, there are a couple of interesting bits of information I noticed while doing the comparison. First, I had to omit ‘didnt’ and ‘doesnt’ because Google simply ‘fixes’ that search to include the apostrophe.
Take a look at ‘transexual’ though. Google doesn’t provide the well known “Did You Mean” phrase when a search is performed for that misspelling. Managment and Commision also seem to be accepted spellings. At least by Google. ‘Managment’ is quite possibly a result of following the tradition that makes ‘judgment’ or ‘judgement’ okay but ‘commision’ looks like a result of sheer numbers. Spell it incorrectly often enough, and Google simply treats it like a correct spelling. Which leads me to wonder if Google will ever become the authority on spelling and grammar.
Stands to reason that if language is dynamic, that a dynamic search engine might reflect the language of the day better than a static dictionary. So all you poor spellers out there, rejoice. Keep misspelling words and eventually you’ll gain Google’s approval.
-
1
Pingback on Mar 24th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
[...] Poor Spellers Of The Web, Untie – Dean at SpeakingFreely.wordpress.com highlights a fascinating list of some of the most commonly misspelled words on the web. [...]
Leave a Comment
-
Blog Stuff
Word Of The Day- leitmotif: Dictionary.com Word of the Day July 17, 2009leitmotif: a dominant and recurring theme.
- Presented By: July 17, 2009
- leitmotif: Dictionary.com Word of the Day July 17, 2009
- Quote Of The Day
- Frank B. Kellogg"It is not to be expected that human nature will change in a day."
- Frank B. Kellogg
- Neologisms
- frequency illusion July 16, 2009frequency illusion n. The tendency to notice instances of a particular phenomenon once one starts to look for it, and to therefore believe erroneously that the phenomenon occurs frequently. Example Citations: The word issues bothers a fair number of people, including reader David Devore, who recently sent me a link to a language complaint in the […]
- wallet neuropathy July 3, 2009wallet neuropathy n. Lower back pain caused by sitting on an overstuffed wallet kept in a back pants pocket. Example Citations: Physiotherapists have coined the term 'wallet-neuropathy' for the lower back pain caused by men sitting down (such as when driving or in the office) on wallets always carried in their back trouser pocket. The […]
- intexticated July 2, 2009intexticated adj. Preoccupied by reading or sending text messages, particularly while driving a car. —intexticating pp. —intextication n. Example Citations: The usual concerns arise, knowing teen drivers will be packing the ever-present buzzing and ringing cell phones from which most seem incapable of parting. We've had the disc […]
- Wikipedia kid June 30, 2009Wikipedia kid n. A student who has poor research skills and lacks the ability to think critically. Example Citations: As an English professor at Algonquin College in Ottawa, I was very impressed by the report's neologism: "Wikipedia kids." Too many graduates of Ontario's high schools know how to cut and paste, but have learnt […]
- carrotmob June 26, 2009carrotmob n. An event where people support an environmentally-friendly store by gathering en masse to purchase the store's products. Also: carrot mob. —carrotmobber n. —carrotmobbing pp. Example Citations: Forget sticks, and stick with carrots instead. So says Brent Schulkin, founder of a fledgling movement of activist consumers […]
- phantom fat June 25, 2009phantom fat n. Lost body fat that is still perceived by a person who used to be overweight. Example Citations: Body-image experts say it's not uncommon for people, especially women, who have lost a lot of weight to be disappointed to some extent to discover that they still aren't "perfect." The excess fat is gone when they re […]
- weisure June 8, 2009weisure n. Free time spent doing work or work-related tasks. [Blend of work and leisure.] Example Citations: Weisure has been fueled by social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, where "friends" may actually be business partners or work colleagues. "Social networking as an activity is one of those ambiguous activities, […]
- DDo$ June 4, 2009DDo$ n. A scheme where a fine or fee is paid using a massive number of small electronic payments, particularly when each payment generates a transaction cost greater than the payment itself. Example Citations: After the Pirate Bay founders were fined $3.5 million, they swore they wouldn't cough up a single cent. Instead, they've come u […]
- space headache June 4, 2009space headache n. A debilitating headache experienced by astronauts during space travel. Example Citations: Astronauts need to add space headache to their list of occupational hazards, say researchers. ... The researchers believe there are a number of reasons why space travel could cause headaches, the root cause being microgravity. Micrograv […]
- VB6 June 3, 2009VB6 n. A person who eats a vegan diet before 6:00 PM, and then whatever they want after that. [From the phrase vegan before 6.] Example Citations: VB6. No, it's not a tomato cocktail or the latest version of a computer programming language. VB6 is short for Vegan Before 6, the increasingly popular veggie-heavy diet that converts say can do […]
- frequency illusion July 16, 2009
-
More Blog Stuff
March 23, 2007 at 4:48 am
One that drives me crazy is one that Google can’t figure out because it’s actually a word. Loose for lose. C’mon, people, just sound it out. No one needs to loose weight.
Don’t you hate when you look up the spelling of a word, and the dictionary won’t tell you the proper spelling? It tells you that two different spellings can be correct, but one might be an “alternate” spelling. No, just because lots of people misspell a word, that doesn’t make it an alternate spelling.
March 23, 2007 at 10:45 am
>>No one needs to loose weight.
Maybe if it’s a ship dropping ballast… ; )
>>It tells you that two different spellings can be correct, but one might be an “alternate” spelling
I’ve noticed that not all words get the alternate spelling treatment. ‘Receive’ and ‘receipt’ are misspelled frequently but I’ve never seen the misspellings offered as ‘alternate’ spellings.