Which Words Do You Struggle With In Terms of Either Spelling Or Pronunciation? (8/25/24)

[Marc]

Do you find certain words hard to spell or pronounce? Which ones pose the biggest challenge for you?

[Lark]

I really love the word "grey" spelled exactly that way and it breaks my heart a little every time someone edits it to be "gray" instead.

Also "moustache."

[Robert]

Not a question of words per se but surnames. No matter the nationality, whenever I'm spelling out a surname for a blogpost, I will have to spell it out letter by letter, rather than once glance and remembering to write it down.

[Hugh]

I am ok most of the time but pronunciation of words I learnt from books can catch me out, for example I always wanted dilettante to have 3 syllables. Elegiac used to catch me out too, and when I was younger the spelling of separate. Then there are the ones created by incorrect modern usages e.g. miniscule for minuscule...

[Lee]

I can never spell bourgeoisie correctly. Thank goodness for autocorrect.

[Nadine in California]

Hugh wrote: "... I always wanted dilettante to have 3 syllables. ..."

Hugh - you need to move to the US, where it does (sensibly) have 3 syllables.

[Kyle]

privilege.
i always want to put a D near the end, or i mix up the vowels. this is the word that always defeats me

[victoria]

Lark—completely agree re: grey!!

[Hugh]

Grey is by far the more common spelling in British English, but there are plenty of place names containing Gray (and the latter is a more common surname), so the debate has clearly been around for a long time, probably ever since spelling was standardised (or standardized)!

[Lark]

victoria wrote: "Lark—completely agree re: grey!!"

Good to know I have company! It’s a weirdly strong preference in my word-sensibility. Like people who can’t stand coffee with cream in it and must drink it black.

[Janet]

For me, it’s primer ( rhymes with “trimmer”) vs. primer ( rhymes with “rhymer”). My mother taught me that primer — meaning an elementary text - is pronounced like primer/ trimmer and primer —meaning a first coat of paint is pronounced like primer/rhymer.

That said , I mostly hear primer/rhymer from others when they are referring both to an elementary text and to a first coat of paint, so I’m thinking that this word’s pronunciation is changing. And maybe it’s a generational thing…