I am a spell-check snob. I think you ought to learn how to spell without the help of a red squiggly line on a computer screen. What if you had to handwrite a ransom note one day?
In this spirit, as we begin the holidays and our turn toward 2022, 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 are the same as 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 some- times spell this word with one r.
Twelfth – I still can’t figure out why that dang f is in there.
Lightning – Another word 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.
Pronunciation – This word starts with the verb pronounce; then, in its transition to a noun, an o mysteriously disappears from the middle. O, where art thou?
Pharaoh – This word is so hard to spell that the owners of the 2015 Kentucky Derby winner, American Pharoah, accidentally got it wrong in the horse’s legal documents.
Admittedly, few English words put an a and o together in that order.
Finally, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa – No they’re not spelled Channukkah, Xmas and Kwaanza.
Happy New Year!
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@carnegieliteracy.org or (859) 254-4175.