xenainfla
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posted on July 26, 2001 05:03:38 AM
Spelling errors really stand out for me. While driving down the street one day, I happened to see a gentleman putting letters on a sign in front of a Massage Parlor. He wrote "Free Messages Today!" I couldn't stop laughing.
A few others that stand out:
Enterance for Entrance (saw this one on a sign company's door).
Collectable for Collectible
Sheridan for Sheraton (furniture style)
Porcelian for Porcelain
their for they're
they're for their
hear for here
here for hear
rember for remember
There are many more I have seen on Ebay, but I can't remember them all.
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sadie999
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posted on July 26, 2001 06:08:56 AM
I almost always leave the "n" out of environment and have to go back and correct it. I think it's because I don't hear it in my head when I think the word - I don't leave the "n" out of government.
I believe collectable and collectible are both correct, though the second spelling is more widely used.
The only way I can remember how to spell chihuahua is to say "chi - hooah - hooah" while I type it.
I did once see a "dear head" on eBay. It had darling antlers. 
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bootsnana
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posted on July 26, 2001 04:08:13 PM
Stusi: I am guilty of pronouncing the word forte as fortay. I am also guilty of correcting others who pronounced it as fort. You learn something new every day. Today I learned that not only was I wrong, but I'm also an arrogant snob. Thanks for the lesson!
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ZiLvY
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posted on July 26, 2001 04:12:39 PM
Yeah, but, Bootsnana, you are adorable too!!
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bunnicula
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posted on July 26, 2001 10:03:56 PM
Well, actually:
"usage In forte we have a word derived from French that in its "strong point" sense has no entirely satisfactory pronunciation. Usage writers have denigrated \'for-"tA\ and \'for-tE\ because they reflect the influence of the Italian-derived 2forte. Their recommended pronunciation \'fort\, however, does not exactly reflect French either: the French would write the word le fort and would rhyme it with English for. So you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose. All are standard, however. In British English \'fo-"tA\ and \'fot\ predominate; \'for-"tA\ and \for-'tA\ are probably the most frequent pronunciations in American English"
----Merriam Webster Dictionary
http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-for1.htm
"There are two words of the same spelling, one borrowed from French and the other from Italian. It used to be the case that the one from French that means a person's strong point was pronounced as one syllable (// in IPA). But the influence of the other word, which retained a stronger link to its original Italian pronunciation, is too strong and is winning. It is now thought acceptable in Britain to say the two words the same way (//), and the new edition of Chambers and the New Oxford English Dictionary both say so. This has reached the point where I have seen the word, in the sense of 'strong point', mistakenly spelled forté, presumably in imitation of café. The older pronunciation is still heard, however, and some people would consider the version in two syllables for the word meaning "strong point" to be wrong.
There was a discussion on alt.usage.english about this some time ago, from which I gather American usage is more conservative. But the Random House Webster's unabridged dictionary says: "A two-syllable pronunciation is increasingly heard, especially from younger educated speakers, perhaps owing to confusion with the musical term forte. Both the one- and two-syllable pronunciations of FORTE are now considered standard". So though there appears to be a transatlantic distinction on this one, it is slight, and decreasing."
Seems this is a word in transition!
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ZiLvY
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posted on July 26, 2001 10:15:01 PM
Thank you for that, Bunnicula. My husband and I were discussing this tonight and we both thought that it probably was a word in transition and would be acceptable as (forTA)
Language is a living, changing entity and it is fascinating to follow the nuances.
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bunnicula
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posted on July 26, 2001 10:32:21 PM
I agree. A lot of people aren't aware that English has gone through at least two major vowel shifts. One occured between the times of Chaucer & Shakespeare...the other in the late 1600's. Languages are in constant flux--especially one as plastic as English which so readily takes in parts of other languages.
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JMHO2
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posted on July 27, 2001 05:25:04 AM
Just reading AW is a trip. I found the following:
hastle (hassle)
biger (bigger)
includeing
useing
priceing
there (their)
wangon (wagon)
garentees
alturnatives
inless (unless)
These can't all be typos. I think we learned in 3rd grade to drop the e before ing. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
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bunnicula
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posted on July 28, 2001 08:08:24 AM
Weird. While reading another thread this a.m. I came across another common misspelling: the word weird, spelled wierd.
While the normal rule is "i before e, except after c", weird is one of the "exception" words that often trips folks up.
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uglimouse
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posted on July 28, 2001 04:59:42 PM
Increasingly, I see :
excellant
lightening for lightning
drug for dragged
pealing today,"the doll's hair is pealing off"
in tact
and the sloppy habit (I even catch myself doing it sometimes, so as not to appear 'snobbish') use of an adjective as an adverb, e.g. "drive careful, eat slow, sleep good" etc.
The dreaded 'your' and apostrophe misuse are up there with "shouldn't of done it" and " wouldn't of went.."
uglimouse
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Hjw
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posted on July 28, 2001 05:58:36 PM
It's helpful to remember that English is not the first language of many Ebay sellers and buyers. That may explain a lot of misspelled words and incorrect grammar.
Helen
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roadsmith
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posted on July 28, 2001 09:11:25 PM
UGLIMOUSE: Thank you! Thank you for mentioning "would of" etc.! I've started writing to authors when I see it in books. Patricia Cornwell's handlers wrote and told me she'd become aware of the problem but couldn't get it out of her latest book.
Could HAVE or could've (NOT could OF)
Would HAVE or would've ditto
Should HAVE or should've ditto
It's true that "of" and "ve" sound the same. Doesn't matter! Still wrong.
The worst is when a writer puts this error in the dialect of lower-class people, as though they would say "of" but the rest of the world wouldn't.
So. . . thanks.
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BlondeSense
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posted on July 29, 2001 01:28:32 AM
I was looking for those black and white Disney dogs on ebay.
Dalmation has 937 hits, and
Dalmatian has 702 hits. 
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Hjw
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posted on July 29, 2001 06:54:27 AM
BlondeSense
That a good point! If you are looking for an item on Ebay, it's a good idea to include misspelled listings.
Books by:
Hemmingway...457
Hemingway.....33
Helen
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toke
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posted on July 29, 2001 07:47:46 AM
Ack. I just discovered I've been misspelling candelabra forever... Always spelled it as you would candlestick...
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ZiLvY
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posted on July 29, 2001 08:23:17 AM
A couple of my favorites:
Currant for Current
Accept for Except
Wedgwood (Josiah)...3289...Current Hits
Wedgewood............911... " "
Hummel..............3398....." "
Hummell...............16....." "
Humel..................8....." "
I always go for the misspelled titles first, some good buy potential!
edited to use ...to separate data!
[ edited by ZiLvY on Jul 29, 2001 09:01 AM ]
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immykidsmom
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posted on July 31, 2001 07:15:08 AM
shakespear 86 (some of these are accurate spellings for a particular cd)
shakespeare 1,229
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savon1
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posted on July 31, 2001 08:46:24 AM
It may be because I'm not American and there are other ways to spell this...please correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it "Depth, Width, and HEIGHT????". Not heighth Also, I know that when I first came to America I thought it was funny how people said "normalcy" and I had never heard that word before. I always thought it was "normality". Oh, and while we are on the subject, I have an ex-husband who thought he was sooooo educated, and he pronounced "naievete" as NAYAVATE!!!
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hepburn
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posted on July 31, 2001 08:49:36 AM
Oooh..the HEIGHTH thing. I hate it when someone pronounces height with a TH on the end. Width and heighth.
Maketh me craythy.
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and25cents
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posted on July 31, 2001 10:22:39 AM
The sign outside my office window advertises the beauty parlor next door. It states that Men, Women and Childern are catered to.
When I pointed out the misspelling to the shop owner, she laughed and said that she had never noticed it, and no one had ever called it to her attention. It had been up for over three years.
I told her she should contact the company that made the sign, perhaps they would redo it. Two years later, they are still welcoming childern.
Speaking of children and spelling - my natural spelling abilities greatly diminished during pregnancy. I haven't been able to regain my previous skill level. I contribute this to "hormonal brain slushage". Has anyone else experienced similar? Does this handicap ever subside? My son is 20 months old, and I'm beginning to think it will never come back. This may be linked to the fact that I was over 40 when I had him. It's extremely frustrating.
Rosie.
Oh.. that reminds me of another grammar rule. Apostrophe “S” denotes possession - so which of the following is correct?:
The puppy could not get to it’s water dish.
She said that it’s extremely frustrating.
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pal
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posted on July 31, 2001 10:29:04 AM
The first one you would just spell its. The second sentence is correct because it means it is.
I have also lost my ability to spell since I had my kids. I think it is because I stopped working. I wasn't doing any writing etc. I also feel my brain has become a little mushy over the past 6 years I've been at home!
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angel4u
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posted on July 31, 2001 10:37:15 AM
This is a cool page...
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/index.html
[ edited by angel4u on Jul 31, 2001 11:50 AM ]
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and25cents
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posted on July 31, 2001 10:52:15 AM
Angel, this page looks like fun - when I accessed it I ran across (by first link) a plea from the author requesting that this address be used if given out
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/index.html.
then scroll down and hit the Errors link to get directly to the page you sent.
The other address by-passes the counter of "hits" to the page, and it's important to him to get as close a count as possible.
Many of us appreciate the importance of a counter, so let's accommodate if possible -
Lets?.. Let's?... I don't trust myself any longer
Rosie
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angel4u
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posted on July 31, 2001 11:51:23 AM
Thanks for the heads up, Rosie!
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mrpotatoheadd
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posted on July 31, 2001 12:16:00 PM
I drove past a McDonald's the other day which was adverising a Big Mac for .39˘ - I was tempted to go in, order one, toss a penny on the counter and tell them to keep the change.
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Hjw
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posted on July 31, 2001 01:11:28 PM
I Just noticed one in another thread.
The word, embarrassment was misspelled as embarassment.
Helen
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JMHO2
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posted on July 31, 2001 01:22:59 PM
Heighth is a southern term I think. It's very annoying.
Harrassment or Harassment?
Embarrassment or Embarassment?
Not many can spell either word. Two r's in embarrass and one r in harass.
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