S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G

by Pat Laster

Spell “mosaic,” Ms. Laster.
“M-O-S-A-I-C.”
Correct. Last week, you know, you spelled it . . .
I know, I know! I noticed it as I was posting it onto my blog. I promise to do better.
On the subject of spelling: I recently sent an e-note to my sis and one word wouldn’t pass the spell check. On g-mail, it merely tells you what word(s) is (are) misspelled. The writer has to fend for him/herself to locate/guess at/ stumble upon the correct spelling.
After I tried several different spellings, and none of them took away the yellow from the word, I grabbed my torn-in-two dictionary and looked it up. Finally, I spelled “Provincial” as in French Provincial (a dresser) correctly. I had insisted (in my ignorance) on a “t” when it should have been a “c.”
A friend wrote back after my admission of the mosaic (mosiac) spelling gaffe, which he hadn’t noticed. He allowed that for him, “spell-check” was the greatest invention since sliced bread.
I remember that sometime during my schooling, I missed the word “concentration” on an oral spelling test/bee. I must have put an “s” where the “c” should have been.
When I was teaching, I attended a bee at the old Eastside Junior High, now Benton Junior High, and cringed when a gifted-and-talented student of mine misspelled “ninety.”
Collegian/grandson Billy is among the worst—admittedly—spellers around, though when we lived in Arkadelphia and drove once or twice a week to Benton to my job, I would coach him on his spelling words. I blame (faciciously, er facetiously—thank goodness, Jim, for spell-check in Word) the invented spelling with which first-second-and perhaps even third graders were allowed to use in their creative writing. Billy never quit using that system—and he’s a fourth-year Reddie!
Of course, with e-mail and texting shortcuts, this generation of students and probably the next one, will reinvent spelling altogether. Have you received these email forwards that have letters omitted from the words in the paragraph, and yet you can read them anyway?
I Googled “the most misspelled words” and yourdictionary.com obliged. Using one word in each alphabet letter, here is part of that list.
A – altar; B – bellwether; C – cemetery; D – definitely; E – existence; F – fiery; G – gauge; H – harass; I – its/it’s; J – judgment; K – kernel (colonel); L – liaison and lightning; M – misspell; N – noticeable; O – occasionally; P – pastime; Q – queue; R – relevant; S – sergeant; T – their/there/they’re; U- until; V – vacuum; W – weird; Y – yacht.
I added “xylophone” and “zucchini.”
A funny story lifted from the website alphadictionary.com:
The assistant Vice-President of Personnel notices that his boss, the Vice-President himself, upon arriving at his desk each morning, opens a small locked box, looks inside, smiles, and locks it up again. Some years later when the assistant is promoted to his boss's position, he comes to work early one morning and opens the secret box to see what was inside. He finds a single piece of paper on which is written: "Two Ns, one L." That's the way you spell personnel.
Here’s to correct spelling!
And forgiveness when misspelling occurs.