Stretchable Words and the Dynamics of Mistypings and Misspellings

Loooooooooooooooook, if you like, at this study that explores stretchable words:

“Hahahahaha, Duuuuude, Yeeessss!: A Two-Parameter Characterization of Stretchable Words and the Dynamics of Mistypings and Misspellings,” Tyler J. Gray, Christopher M. Danforth, and Peter Sheridan Dodds, PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 5, 2020, e0232938.

This graphic from the study perhaps makes clear the main thesis:

The authors, at the University of Vermont, explain:

Stretched words like ‘heellllp’ or ‘heyyyyy’ are a regular feature of spoken language, often used to emphasize or exaggerate the underlying meaning of the root word…. In this paper, we examine the frequency distributions of ‘stretchable words’ found in roughly 100 billion tweets authored over an 8 year period. We introduce two central parameters, ‘balance’ and ‘stretch’, that capture their main characteristics, and explore their dynamics by creating visual tools we call ‘balance plots’ and ‘spelling trees’.