Easily(?) Confused Words

I know people who actually think supercalifragilisticexpialidoucious is a word. If it is, then what's its definition? Exactly what I thought. Nothing.
 
GT Pro
I do believe it was Noah Webster who pioneered America's deviation from Anglo-English spelling as part of the general movement to distance themselves from Europe during the 19th-C. He was responsible for America's spelling 'mom' (as opposed to 'mum') and 'donut' (instead of 'doughnut'); he, too, thought that the Anglo-English way of spelling was not logical for many words, such as you have described DP, but of course failed to incorporate what he thought were sensible changes to all words.
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I was wondering where those came from.



I'm guilty of using "invite" as a noun, but only referring to a Facebook invite. For some reason in my circle of friends that has become the accepted term for Facebook, but in for a real life invitation we still say invitation.

GT_Prologue5, did you have to look up that spelling? :D I know I would have.
 
I hate patient, patients and patience.

"I can be patient, so take your time."
"I have a patient to attend to, please excuse me."
"Your constant delay is trying my patience!"
"I must see to my patients."
 
The only two words I seem to ever have trouble distinguishing (by virtue of their being spelt differently between the US and here) is tyre/tire and licence/license. Both, as you can see, often pertain to cars and I still can't remember which one is the one I should use. :o
 
You're Australian, in this part of the world we use y and c ;) S instead of z, too - analyse/analyze :)
 
I am ALWAYS spelling 'definitely' wrong. I spell it definately and it isn't just sometimes, it is every time!

I am a top English student achieving top marks all the time but I just cant get my head around that word. I have a spell checker on firefox which is what shows me my mis spelling each time and I just keep seeing it spelt wrong.

On another note, did spell 'spelt' wrong because it says I have but has no suggestion.
 
Legendary
I am ALWAYS spelling 'definitely' wrong. I spell it definately and it isn't just sometimes, it is every time!

I am a top English student achieving top marks all the time but I just cant get my head around that word. I have a spell checker on firefox which is what shows me my mis spelling each time and I just keep seeing it spelt wrong.

On another note, did spell 'spelt' wrong because it says I have but has no suggestion.
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"Spelt" is a neologism form of "spelled". It's more common in US English.
 
Many people think - and will proselytise to the fact - that -ise is the original English and -ize is a filthy American neologism. The oddity is that -ize was the original and it was the English that changed to -ise to distinguish themselves.

In Europe, "spelt" is a cereal crop.
 
Duke
I've never heard anybody except British people use "spelt" as the past tense of "spell".
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Wow, you guys have made me question whether my fellow students use spelt. I know for sure that I use it, I would assume the people in my school use it and I guess maybe even Australia. What I need is for some Australians to jump into this and tell us what they think :/
 
Hello everyone, greetings from Oz.

I have a word which I have noted being used incorrectly, possibly because it would not be picked up by a Spellchecker.

I refer to "Pole" as the word used when it should be "Poll".
It is particularly irritating to me as it usually occurs in a thread title and refers to something the thread creator wants people to Vote on.

To make matters even worse, the correct spelling is clearly visible in the area where the votes are cast.

To summarise : "Pole" is what holds up your String Beans or a Flag, or can be used to belt someone with.

"Poll" : a sampling or collection of opinions on a subject, taken from either a selected or a random group of persons, as for the purpose of analysis.

Thank you.
 
Ok, new error I spotted just now on the 'Un-ban SrRd' thread.

'Fowl' language.

If you sell eggs for a living this might make sense. But if we're talking about swear words, cursing and profanity then we'd be better off using the term 'foul language'.

Remember people, the incorrect use of words is no 'poultry' matter!
 

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