Is this an accepted alternative spelling somewhere?

[wring]

I know that, for example, color is spelled differently in GB (couler? looks wrong still), but in the past couple of days, I've seen 'ridiculous' spelled 'rediculous' by several different people.

Now, I admit I'm a lousy speller and I don't usually get on folks case for misspellings (unless it's a really funny one or they're being an asshole in some other way), so I thought, instead, I'd ask. 'cause, like, maybe it is an accepted spelling in some exotic place, like Canada.

[Fish]

"Rediculous" is wrong everywhere.

[severe delays]

Well it's wrong for a certain value of wrong. Seems to have come about by means of a slighty change in pronunciation. 'Definitely' seems to often be pronounced as 'definately' now and I've seen the misspelling lots in recent years.

Which all provokes the interesting question of whether language use should be defined by dictionaries or whether dictionaries should follow language use.

PS It's colour.

[Taur]

That's a ridonkulous way to spell ridiculous.

[Roo]

Everywhere. Especially where you saw it.

[Elyanna]

Rediculous: a redhead who's ridiculously hot.

[wring]

Originally Posted by severe delays

PS It's colour.

Thanks.

I also hear folks say "pacificly" (as opposed to 'atlanticly' I suspect) when they mean "Specifically".

[Islander]

I've seen this bumper sticker. It took me a while to figure it out.

READ ICCULIS

[severe delays]

From what I recall of the various rages on the durp 'pacifically' may mostly be a dialect thing stemming from certain communities. Possibly in southern USA but I forget the details.

[Roo]

Originally Posted by wring

I also hear folks say "pacificly" (as opposed to 'atlanticly' I suspect) when they mean "Specifically".

Yikes! I've never seen these spellings before. I must lead a sheltered message board exisence.

[BJMoose]

I used to be an interlectual, but now I know better.

[lifeboat]

Rediculous is a perfectly cromulent alternate spelling.

[Roo]

Originally Posted by BJMoose

I used to be an interlectual, but now I know better.

Good thing too. It was getting scary for a while there.

[whirlingbladesofkick]

Originally Posted by severe delays

Well it's wrong for a certain value of wrong. Seems to have come about by means of a slighty change in pronunciation. 'Definitely' seems to often be pronounced as 'definately' now and I've seen the misspelling lots in recent years.

Which all provokes the interesting question of whether language use should be defined by dictionaries or whether dictionaries should follow language use.

PS It's colour.

a good trick to definitely is to remember the root: finite. de-finite = "of the finite" or "absolutely sure"

[severe delays]

Originally Posted by whirlingbladesofkick

a good trick to definitely is to remember the root: finite. de-finite = "of the finite" or "absolutely sure"

Well that works if people pronounce the word in that manner. If there is a change of pronunciation then they will not necessarily relate it to the original root word. Assuming that they were ever educated enough to see the root word in the first place.

[Martini Enfield]

If I might pontificate a bit here, I suspect that the lack of publishing "gatekeepers" means that this sort of "phonetic spelling shift" is more noticeable now than it used to be,

Before The Internet, if you wanted to get published (be it a letter to the local paper, a short story, an academic paper, and so on), you generally had to go through an editor of some sort- an editor who would correct your spelling and grammar for you so you didn't look like... well, we've all seen the comments section on YouTube. Let's leave it at that.

Of course, now anyone can type their musings for all to see, thanks to the wonders of the Internet- but there's no "editor" checking to make sure that someone's post conforms to standard and acceptable spelling and grammatical practices.

I've certainly noticed a lot more people using "Definately" and "Rediculous" lately, but as severe delays says, that's arguably reflective of a pronounciation* change. I'd still argue that doesn't make them "right", but then, if language never changed, then we myght stille fynde ourfelvef commvnicating lyke it were Ye Renaissance.

The solution, I'm sure you'll all agree, is to affix one's monocle firmly in place and harumph about the atrocious state of spelling and grammar amongst the commoners, all the whilst enjoying a snifter of brandy and a fine cigar from one of the colonies.

*Yes, that's deliberate

[AHunter3]

Yeah... wait until you get hit by "viola", "vola" "wala", or "waa laa".

Not to be confused with being hit with a viola, which could also be rather painful

[BJMoose]

Harumph! Harumph!

[SweetPea]

Neither one of my children can spell worth a damn. I blame it on the "phonetic spelling" they were introduced to upon starting school. They were encouraged to spell words any way they wanted to as long as it "sounded right". If you pronounced the word "mitten", then acceptable spellings would include mitn, mittn, mitin, etc. As long as all the sounds were there, no spelling was counted wrong. Of course, that was only true in the younger grades, but I truly believe that set them up for a lifetime of poor spelling. It's not uncommon at all for me to see my 17 year old writing "rediculous". Drives me clear up the wall.

[Taur]

If prolly be all the folly
I'ma beat 'em with mah brolly
While I'm sucking on my lolly.
[Who loves ya, baby?]



Maybe it's just that kids never used to communicate in writing so much, so soon, or it's in addition to the phonetic spelling trend?

[Mirhanda]

I've noticed an increase in people spelling "pronunciation" as "pronounciation" and it's not even pronounced differently from "pronunciation."

I blame Daffy Duck for starting the spelling "rediculous" for "ridiculous." He always tended to really stretch out that first syllable. "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEdiculous!"

I don't even know what's going on with the confusion of "then" and "than." That's only seemed to crop up quite recently and it's bizarre to me. I can't imagine how they can be confused.

[Sybarite]

The strange pronunciations I keep hearing - esculator, perculator, exspecially, hammurger.

[Taur]

Dint for didn't especially grates on my nerves.

Syb, I haven't heard 'hammurger' before, and I'm thankful for that.

[Islander]

I think ur all l8 2 the party. Langwige iz changin & u cant stop it.

[Martini Enfield]

Originally Posted by Islander

I think ur all l8 2 the party. Langwige iz changin & u cant stop it.

Sure you can. It just requires a concentrated effort from educators and the media to say "Sorry, your txtspeak is not an accepted variant of English, but thanks for playing. Try again when you can communicate in the approved form."

[Sybarite]

Originally Posted by Board Taurus

Dint for didn't especially grates on my nerves.

Syb, I haven't heard 'hammurger' before, and I'm thankful for that.

Listen carefully - it's probably around you, too. And "Emmonton" for "Edmonton." Enunciating is haaaa-aaaard!

As an aside, my husband says my accent is that I enunciate words more clearly than your average folks, and my mom does the same thing. Interesting.

[Zeener Diode]

I'm personally rebelliant of the non-hyphenated words.

to-Day
to-Morrow

[Inner Stickler]

Originally Posted by Martini Enfield

Sure you can. It just requires a concentrated effort from educators and the media to say "Sorry, your txtspeak is not an accepted variant of English, but thanks for playing. Try again when you can communicate in the approved form."

*bursts into laughter*

Accepted variant of English? Please stop, it hurts to laugh this much.

[tunaman]

The one I hate is "bumber", as in the part of your car that's supposed to absorb impacts. Most people call it a "bumper", but somewhere in the US, it's apparently an acceptable spelling.

[Chacoguy]

If you "ax" me a question, I will bury an ax in your fucking skull.

Where did the extra 'r' come from in warsh? "I've gotta warsh my hair." That 'r' came out of the word "libary".

[Islander]

Originally Posted by Chacoguy

If you "ax" me a question, I will bury an ax in your fucking skull.

Where did the extra 'r' come from in warsh? "I've gotta warsh my hair." That 'r' came out of the word "libary".

Or maybe they lifted it from "Feb-yoo-erry."

I hate back-formations. You know: orient -->orientation <-- orientate.

Or converse --> conversation <-- conversating.

[wring]

Originally Posted by Chacoguy

If you "ax" me a question, .

will it be on the testes?

[Martini Enfield]

Originally Posted by Chacoguy

If you "ax" me a question, I will bury an ax in your fucking skull.

Where did the extra 'r' come from in warsh? "I've gotta warsh my hair." That 'r' came out of the word "libary".

Shouldn't "Axe" have an "e" in it?

[Chacoguy]

My spellcheck says no; of course, it also rejects the word "spellcheck".

[Inner Stickler]

The old english form of the word ask is acsain. At some point during the evolution of English, enough speakers flipped the hard c and the s sound around to create ask. Food for thought.

(Did you know bird used to be spelled brid? Crazy, I tell you.)

[Baldwin]

A few mnemonic tricks I use:

Liaison. The a is acting as a liaison between the two i's.

Discreet. The two e's are whispering together -- discreetly.

Discrete. The two e's are separated into discrete units.

And, the past tense of the verb "to lead" is spelled led, not lead. Pretty much every day I look at anything online, I see that somebody has managed to misspell that three-letter word.

[Sybarite]

My mnemonic - conscience is science with a con in front of it. Doesn't help much if you can't spell science, though, I suppose.

[Dazzling White Diamonds]

Originally Posted by wring

will it be on the testes?

My grandson says test-ehs as the plural for the word test. Well, he did until I told him what he was saying sounded like "testes" and what testes were.

[tunaman]

Just saw another one in another thread - "draw" for drawer, as in "I keep my keys in my desk draw".