I am a SpellCheck snob. I think you ought to learn how to spell without referring to red squiggly lines on the computer. What if you had to hand write a ransom note someday?
In this spirit, I am resolving to learn how to spell - finally - the following treacherous words:
Memento: I often try to spell it momento because a memento is something you keep to remind you of a certain moment. But memento - something you remember - is correct.
Broccoli: Half the time, I spell this with one c and two l's. Perhaps it would help me to recall the last four letters mirror the last four in E. coli, a nasty bacterium occasionally found in broccoli.
Vacuum: It sucks, but I often spell this with two c's.
Weird: It's strange, but with this word, I never know whether the e comes before the i or vice versa.
Embarrass: I'm red-faced that I sometimes spell this word with one r.
Twelfth: I still can't figure out why that dang f is in there.
Lightning: On the topic of words with four straight consonants (see twelfth), lightning refers to the meteorological phenomenon that is followed by thunder. Lightening, on the other hand - with that e in the middle - is the opposite of darkening.
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is executive director at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www.carnegieliteracy.org) and author of FatherLoss and VoiceMale. The Carnegie Center
offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Neil at neil@carnegiecenterlex.org or (859) 254-4175.