Austrailia (but not New Zeeland)

[larryhatch]

My site has lots of maps worldwide, and I check the keywords people use.
So far the score is about 60%/40% spelling Australia correctly. The surprise is that virtually all
mis-spellings of Australia are identical, 'Austrailia'.
Never Australia, never Arstralia, always Austrailia. This made me curious.

Then it dawned on me. Think of how a native Australian pronounces the name of his native land.
Sure enough, it sounds more like 'Austrailia' than the proper spelling!
I'm beginning to suspect that these 'typos' (I love that slippery term) come from Down-Under!

Don't get me wrong, I always liked those guys. Heck the Governor of this state can't even pronounce
California properly .. 'Collie-fornia' .. but I'd guess he spells it right. -Larry

[bloke in a box]

lol, interesting thought process there. :)

[lgn1]

I spell it 'down-under' :)

[TheDoctor]

When I did my Masters, we students were encourgaed to swap papers with one another. I discovered that an American had spelt "due to" as "do to" - well, that's how he pronounced it.

Even more curious, though, is a common typo that I make. What you have to understand is that I come from Lincolnshire (England) where the word "by" is pronounced "be". Now, while my accent is noticeably not a London accent, it isn't that strong - not, say, compared to my grandfather's - and I'll swear I say "by", but I'm always typing "be" when I mean "by".

I suppose lack of breeding will always reveal itself. :)