While British and American English are extremely similar, some words have spellings that are easier to sound out in the U.S., thanks to the efforts of Noah Webster. His philosophy was that spelling should be streamlined as much as possible (dropping extra letters from words such as “travelled” and “colour”) and reflect pronunciation (turning “defence” into “defense”). However, phonetic rules don’t always apply, and sounding out some words may lead to misspellings. Then there are words that are tricky to remember no matter how skilled you were in grade-school spelling bees. Below are some common misspelled words — read on to learn a few tips on how to remember to spell them correctly (without spell-check).
Idiosyncrasy
Most of the word “idiosyncrasy” follows recognizable patterns — except for that “-sy” ending. Following the rules of “sounding it out,” we may think of words with similar sounds, such as “democracy.” Both “-cy” and “-sy” endings create the same sound in a word, which can lead to spelling mishaps, and this is where knowing the root of the word can help. At the root of "democracy" are the Greek words demos ("common people") and kratos ("strength"). But "idiosyncrasy" has a different root. The word, which means “a mode of behavior or way of thought peculiar to an individual,” breaks down to: idios ("one’s own"), syn ("together"), and krasis ("mixture").
Sacrilegious
“Sacrilegious” has a similar pronunciation to “religious,” and they are even used in similar contexts, but there's a key difference in how they're spelled. Again tracing back to the etymological roots, in Latin, sacrilegus means “stealer of sacred things.” “Religious” comes from the Latin word for “respect for what is sacred,” religionem. Keeping the word “religious” in mind may help, if only to remind you that sacrilegious flips the vowels around at the beginning of the word.
Accommodate
Vowels are often the cause of spelling mixups, but consonants, especially doubled, also make it tricky. Take “accommodate” — reasonable phonetic variations in spelling could include “acommodate” or “accomoddate.” If you’re stuck on the correct spelling, remember to double the first two consonants and you’ll be successful (another word with multiple double consonants).
Villain
English words such as “statistician” and “pediatrician” use the suffix “-ian” to mean “pertaining to.” A reader can deduce that “statistician” means “pertaining to statistics.” With the word “villain,” it’s tempting to swap the “i” and the “a” to use the familiar “-ian” pattern, but that rule doesn't apply here. “Villain” is a unique word, from the French vilain (originally meaning "peasant" or "commoner").
Nauseous
Knowing Latin suffixes can often help to catch a spelling mistake before spell-check. “Nauseous” is made of two components: The Greek naus means “ship” and the Latin suffix “-ous” translates to “having to do with.” "Nauseous," therefore, breaks down to “having to do with nausea.” Understanding the separate parts can help remind you that “nauseous” has two “u’s”.
Judgment
Is it “judgement” or “judgment”? This one gives the speller a little freedom — the jury is out on the definitive spelling of this word. While both spellings have been in use since the late 1700s, “judgment” is the most commonly used spelling in the U.S., probably thanks to Noah Webster, again.
Featured image credit: psphotograph/ iStock