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Debates n Discussions > Serious question about the spelling of a word

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message 1: by [deleted user] (last edited Aug 28, 2016 04:59AM) (new)

Hello friends. I have a question that I would like as many people as possible to answer.

The word is dilemma

Now, my question is..

Do any of you remember this word ever being spelled as 'Dilemna'? With a silent 'n' after one m, instead of double m?

I vividly and clearly remember learning this word spelled as 'dilemna' with the 'n' silent. But lately I've been shocked to discover that it's ALWAYS been spelled as dilemma and NEVER was 'dilemna'!

So do any of you remember learning it as dilemna instead of dilemma? I hope the maximum number of people answer this.

I'm not alone in this strange phenomenon

http://dilemna.info


message 2: by [deleted user] (new)

Hmm... my mother and sister also always knew it as 'dilemma'. It seems like I'm the only one in my family who remembers it being dilemna.

Now I don't know why this is but apparently a lot of people remember it being dilemna, not dilemma.

So maybe I'm from a different universe than the 'dilemma' people :P http://dilemna.info/alternate-univers... lol...

whatever the real reason is.. it's pretty strange. I've been feeling like I'm in the x-files ever since I discovered that it's always been considered dilemma... what the hell


message 3: by Zarshal (new)

Zarshal Saeed (zarshalsaeed) | 814 comments Nope, never heard of any 'dilemna'. It's always been 'dilemma' for me. Are you sure it was 'dilemna'?


message 4: by Zarshal (new)

Zarshal Saeed (zarshalsaeed) | 814 comments Check some ancient dictionary if you can get hands on one. Problem solved.


message 5: by Tribal (new)

Tribal Demagogue | 77 comments Always remember it as Dilemma, and never with a silent N. One possible explanation for a group of people remembering it differently could be some form of dyslexia. The double "M's" were probably confused as M and N due to their immediate proximity and also due to the font used in certain texts, which made it seem like they're blended. For example, the word "minimum", when written in joined writing confuses the mind and it's difficult to distinguish the m's from n's and u. Anyway, that's my theory. It's freaky though. Another less plausible theory is that a group of all powerful linguistics are wiping our memories of an aesthetic flaw in their original version of grammar. Some of the humans, however, are immune to the telepathic scramblers invented to address such a situation. You're part of the resistance in that case, Asad. The fate of exposing linguistic imperfection rests with you now.


message 6: by Sara (new)

Sara Saif | 630 comments Dilemma.


message 7: by [deleted user] (last edited Aug 28, 2016 10:26AM) (new)

Zarshall, I just checked 3 dictionaries in our library. 2 oxfords and 1 collins, printed in 1991, 1995 and 2006 respectively. All 3 say it's 'dilemma'. I clearly remember learning it as 'dilemna' in childhood and later on as an adult. I don't know when exactly it changed to dilemma.

Tribal.. that's a creative theory. But as for your explanation, it can't be that. Like, I had to make an extra effort to memorize it because it's spelling was different from how it sounded. I had to consciously memorize it with the silent n. DilemNa. I recall it vividly because it was a hard word to learn to spell because it was spelled differently from how it sounded. So confusing the m with n doesn't make sense in this case.

And from this page http://dilemna.info and the many other pages linked there, many people of all age groups all over the world remember learning it as dilemna since childhood. It's only changed for them recently, while the majority of people always remembered it as dilemma.

I asked friends on facebook and about 15 people responded. 14 said it was always dilemma and that they had never heard of the n spelling. Only one guy said that he remembered it as being dilemna and he was as confused as I was as to why every source online and offline now says it's always been dilemma and never dilemna.

I don't have any explanation for it. I just know this is something I can't deny. I was extremely skeptical of the mandela effect... but now after this dilemna thing and a few other things that I have zero doubts about.. I can't help wondering.... Many-worlds interpretation - parallel realities, linguistic mind controllers , whatever it is.. something has happened (or is happening).


message 8: by Tribal (new)

Tribal Demagogue | 77 comments Came across Mandela Effect and it reminded me of this. Google it, its crazy.


message 9: by Komal (new)

Komal (k0k0) | 219 comments The Mandela Effect. I was just about to suggest that.

Interesting, though; remembering a word differently than it is.


message 10: by Osama (new)

Osama (0042) | 257 comments I think people being forgetful and fallible is a much more satisfactory and simple explanation than parallel universes or whatever kooky stuff the Mandela effect people are peddling.


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