29 Words That People Are Convinced Should Be Spelled Another Way
Matt Stopera
·1-min read
Here's a fun one.
A person wearing headphones speaks into a red microphone during a radio broadcast
Merriam-Webster, the dictionary, asked people to share a word they wish could be spelled differently.
Merriam-Webster tweet asks which word you'd change the spelling of. Ends with "With great power comes great responsibility."
For me, it's not a word, it's a name. His name:
Person in a cowboy hat and tan leather jacket energetically gestures, surrounded by others in casual attire at a sports event
I'll never get it right!
Anyway, here's what people said:
1."Collectible" to "collectable"
Tweet by user "crucker" saying, "make it collectable, like ABLE to be collected." Dated Feb 19, 2025
2."Diarrhea" should be spelled "diarea" and "queue" should be spelled "que"
Tweet humorously suggests removing extra letters in words "diarrhea" and "queue" for simplicity
3."Mnemonic" to "kneemonic"
Tweet by @miggi: "mnemonic to kneemonick", posted on Feb 19, 2025, with 7,322 views
4."Restaurant" to "resteraunt"
Tweet by Joseph Ray humorously misspelling "restaurant" as "resteraunt."
5."Pterodactyl" should be spelled "terodactyl"
Tweet by @he_negash: "getting rid of the p in pterodactyl." 3,724 views
6.The word "inconvenience"
Tweet suggesting the word "inconvenience" should be spelled more conveniently, posted on February 19, 2025
7."Depot"
A tweet by Merriam-Webster asks which word's spelling you would change, followed by a "great responsibility" quote
8."Though" to "tho"
Tweet exchange: User suggests "Tho" as a spelling change in response to Merriam-Webster's prompt on which word to change
9."Grateful" to "greatful"
Tweet by Allison Devereaux: "Grateful to greatful" with 22 views on February 19, 2025, at 6:04 PM
10."Draught" to "draft"
A tweet from @ckfraser reads: "draught will just be draft."
11."Vacuum" to "vacume"
Tweet by @robin_tibochi humorously suggesting to change "vacuum" to "vacume."
12."Label" to "lable"
Tweet by Zekey's Mom jokingly spells "label" as "lable" to rhyme with "table."
13."February" to "Febuary"
Screenshot of a tweet by FinalUpdates highlighting the common misspellings of February and Wednesday
14."Grey/gray"
Tweet by @SharingALaugh: "Grey/gray - make it one way." Timestamp: 2:15 PM, Feb 19, 2025. 150 views
15."Rhythm" to "rithum" or "rithumb"
Tweet from Truth Matters account: "Rhythm. To Rithumb. Or Rithum." with timestamp and 9 views
16."Separate" to "seperate"
Tweet by Amy Barnes: "separate to / seperate" with timestamp and view count
17."Segue" to "segway"
Tweet humorously discusses pronunciation mishaps: "segue" pronounced "se-gway" and "epitome" mispronounced as "e-pi-tomb."
18."Lisp"
Tweet by user Guantru: "'Lisp' always seemed a bit mean to people who lisp." Dated Feb 19, 2025, with 695 views
19.Swap "desert" and "dessert"
Tweet by Greg Kopycinski asks, "Can I swap desert and dessert?" with 777 views, dated Feb 19, 2025
20."Colonel"
Tweet by user: "colonel. why, just why?" with 591 views. Timestamp: 2:28 PM, Feb 19, 2025
21.Get rid of the "p" in pneumonia
Tweet by @c_kiruStrategy: "Pneumonia. The 'P' is useless, so..." followed by a thinking face emoji
22.Get rid of the "p" in receipt
A tweet questioning the need for the letter "p" in the word "receipt," suggesting "reciet" would be fine
23.The extra "a" in "aardvark"
Tweet by Simon Timony: "Aardvark. Being first in the dictionary has gotten to its head and I think it needs to be humbled a notch."
24."Phlegm"
Tweet by Robin N: "Phlegm could most certainly be a candidate." Dated February 19, 2025, with 1,762 views
25."Aggravate" to "aggrevate"
Tweet by David Showalter: "aggravate to aggrevate," posted on Feb 20, 2025, with 117 views
26."You" to "U"
Tweet by Pete Finnegan: "you-->U. But it must be capitalized, like 'I'." 3,011 views
27."Salmon"
Screenshot of a tweet by Amorette Miller with a verified badge, stating "Salmon" followed by a laughing emoji
28."Definitely"
Tweet from Susannah Breslin: "definitely" with 1,625 views, posted at 3:03 PM on Feb 19, 2025
29.And lastly, the word "Worcestershire"
Tweet by Hani Hassan: "Worcestershire.. can we please just write it phonetically?" with a thoughtful emoji
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