Monday, August 03, 2009

Spelling Lesson

Do you remember when you were in elementary school and you had a spelling book? Did yours have "elephant words"? Words that were harder than the other words that week?

I am a pretty good speller. I'd say I'm above average. I won my fair share of spelling bees in my youth. Except for that one time I spelled "cylinder" with an "s". I don't even remember saying "s". What a dumb word to misspell.

Anyway, I should have been a copy editor or something because I love to proofread things and find spelling and grammar errors. Maybe it caters to my need to feel smart. Who knows.

ANYWAY. Attention, class. *clap, clap* Attention! Today we are going to learn how to spell a word. An elephant word that shouldn't be an elephant word. That word is:

DEFINITELY

It really does boggle my mind how anyone misspells this. Although a recent study says that it is the most commonly misspelled word. And I believe it. There's even a website dedicated to this word! I see it misspelled almost daily.

Like this: definately. And it drives me crazy to see it spelled like this.

This is not a hard word to spell, people. Say it slow, sound it out, just like in 3rd grade.

Def-i-nit-ely.

I'll give you that maybe the 2nd "e" is tricky. But the a? Where do you get the "a" from? Do you say def-i-NAT-ely?
I don't know anyone who pronounces it like that, yet it's spelled like that all the time.

If it makes it easier for you, think of the word finite. Strong "i" sounds in that word. Add a "de" and an "ly" and you have definitely. There is definitely not an A in definitely.

Please, for me, spell it correctly. And don't even get me started on your/you're and their/there/they're.

If you're going to your house here, then they're going to their house over there.

Got it? Good.

12 comments:

Antony said...

sounds a lot like a post I wrote a little while ago.
http://www.antonywilliams.com/2006/11/why-are-so-many-mormons-grammatically.html

Caitlin said...

AMEN! A thousand times, amen!

Lara said...

LOL!

My personal pet peeve is "Lightening." It's LIGHTNING, people!!! No one has ever been "struck by Lightening." (Well, except for maybe the King of Pop!) (Oh who said that!)

Amy North said...

Oh my gosh, THANK YOU Karen. Although I've got about a million other words I ALWAYS see spelled wrong, this is a start. Bless you, woman!

Emmy said...

I hated spelling bees. I would make it through the first round but that was about it. I was the exception to the rule, the one that states the more you read the better speller you will be. Yeah I proved that untrue in a major way.

Lindsey said...

Misspelled words drive me crazy, especially when people spell tonight tonite :)

Unknown said...

You're sooo funny Lindsey! I do spell tonight tonite, but that's because I'm lazy. :) Come home already!

vanessa said...

I'm the same way. My pet peeve word lately is Judgment. I've seen it in several published books lately spelled with the extra "e": judgement.

DeAnn said...

Natalie misspelled 'yang' in a spelling bee--she said capital y. It was a heartbreaking mom moment. Now I'm nervous to ever spell around you. :)

Samantha said...

Thank you thank you and thank you. I could list a gazillion words like this that drive me nuts when people misspell them. You should make this a series.

Here's a funny one: ON HER WEDDING INVITATIONS, my cousin used the phrase "come be apart of our big day." Not "a part," which would make sense. "Apart." Which actually means the opposite of "a part."

Daniel Smith said...

Here Here! I too consider myself an excellent speller. I actually know a girl who spelled John as Jhon!!!! I almost committed suicide when I saw that!

Other popularly misspelled words are:

suprise instead of surprise

Cesar instead of Caesar

restrant instead of restaurant

Febuary instead of February

Oh and FYI it's pronounced def⋅i⋅nite⋅ly not def-i-nit-ely!

If there's one thing I hate more than people that can't spell it's people like you that can't pronounce!

Jennifer Gilmore said...

I DEFINATELY agree. :) j/k Had to do it! Did you know there is no such word as anyways...that's a pet peeve. Same with funnest.