Chattogram/Chittagong
I learn a new official spelling. Well, newish. Not that new, really.
Archive for Spelling/Orthography
rôle
I just started reading a Poe book which is the third book I’ve picked up in the past week that spells role as rôle. Given the publication dates and authors of the books in question, it’s been unclear to me whether the use of the circumflex was (a) British, (b) old-fashioned, or (c) both. So […]
lallygag (and lollygag)
Two spelling with but a single meaning, but sometimes lots of points.
Plausible typos
Some typos are more harder to detect than others. I’m currently reading the 1989 Mandarin Paperbacks edition of C. J. Cherryh’s novel Downbelow Station, which is rife with the sort of typos that a spellchecker won’t catch, because the erroneous word is also a valid English word. (Okay, “rife” is an exaggeration; I really only […]
eady
Yesterday's OED word of the day was 'orthography'.
Guaranty/Guarantee
Is the -y version overly pretentious? Because if it is, I should start using it.
Roman numerals in film sequel titles
Nice article at Slate on the rise and fall of Roman numerals in titles of film sequels, from The Godfather Part II (1974) to The Hangover Part II (2011). Among...
metumpsychosis (sic)
The other day, while doing some editing, I came across the word “psychopomp,” which obliquely reminded me of an incident from high school. Possibly earlier, but I think it was...
HUDLOOMS
Best spam subject line of the week: RE: BE CAREFUL OF THE HUDLOOMS I thought perhaps a HUDLOOM was a weaving device containing a Heads-Up Display. Or perhaps some kind...
Mama, momma, mom, etc
I was recently discussing various words for "mother," and it occurred to me that words/spellings like mama, momma, mom, ma, and mamma have different connotations to me. MW11 lists them...