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However, I do have one major problem. I see it almost every time I visit. Why are there so many people who can’t spell “definitely”?
For once and for all, it’s “definitely” with an “I” not an “A”. Never, ever, ever “definately”. Definitely.
Engine, can an automatic correction be programmed before I turn purple and explode?
Pedants of the world, unite!
It's not just WebmasterWorld though...
[google.com...]
Independant (independent) is the other one you see a lot.
What we lack in spelling though, we make up for in knowledge. Yeah, definately we do :)
[edited by: trillianjedi at 11:00 am (utc) on Aug. 14, 2006]
We all have our bugbears and we have to learn to live with them. ;)
Engine, can an automatic correction be programmed before I turn purple and explode?
Yes, but then they'd never learn.
Looks like Canadians are more likely to spell it incorrectly.
Canadians spell many words differently than Americans:
check -- cheque
honor -- honour
and many more.
We just get confused :-)
By the way just noticed this is my 2000th post since I joined in 2002. :-)
It's been a great 4 years and I can thank WW for much of my success with my sites - thanks
[edited by: Tropical_Island at 12:11 pm (utc) on Aug. 14, 2006]
And "walla," too (or "touchay," if you prefer).
"definitely" has 280,000,000 entries
"definately" has 30,800,000
You get much the same levels with "accommodation", "accomodation" and even "acomodation" and "acommodation"
As long people understand and search engine use "are you looking for:"
its good enough for normal visitors.
I definately don't care if people can't spell definately. Is your blood boiling yet?
Continually.
I see a lot of "adds" or "add" for "advert" here and there.
How can the abbreviation have more "d"s than the real word?
How about the use of an apostrophe in plurals? Sends me into spasms.
Just found this: [apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk...]
There are hilarious examples of the abused apostrophe in Eat, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.
How can people get there sights so high on a search engine?
Sadly, your irony will be wasted on many readers ;)
Made me laugh
Canadians spell many words differently than Americans
Actually it's Americans who spell many words differently. Canadians tend to use British English, which is the correct form since we had it first ;)
It was the Americans who could not spell.
Aluminum ... Aarghg!
In Australia we try to use the Cambridge spellings (ise, not ize) as opposed to the Oxford spellings (ize, not ise), but when our major newspapers use "color", "labor" and certain other US variants, but not "aluminum" or "tire" (tyre), it gets confusing.
The English language took two separate paths when the Pilgrim fathers landed in north America. The American writer, Bill Bryson, addresses this subject in his excellent book, "Made in America".
"Why did the Americans save such good old English words as skedaddle and chitterlings and chore, but not fortnight or heath? Why did they keep the irregular British pronunciations in words like colonel and hearth, but go down our own way in with lieutenant and schedule and clerk? Why in short is American English the way it is?"
My own theory is that this has nothing to do with differences in the cultures of America or the UK per se. At the time of the colonisation (colonization) communication between the two nations was primitive so, then as now, language continued to evolve but it did so separately, at least until the introduction of modern media and communications in the 20th century, Since then it has begun to once again merge into a single language. It is not uncommon to see people from the UK using American spelling and who cares? We know what they mean!
When I'm in the UK, it's immediately clear from just 5 minutes of telly watching that collective nouns go with plural verb forms there, rather than the US habit of using singular verbs. I hear things like "Parliament are considering..." and "Microsoft are releasing..." without exception.
Goggle.
Skyscrapper.
Adsence.
Loose (in the context "I loose my mind when I see this typo").
Seriously, how can anybody spell Google wrong?!
