Yesterday, Cartouche pointed out that "restaurateur" was misspelled on the OS Cover. This morning I learned that my high school English teacher, Dr. Elizabeth van Hamersveld, died. This post is dedicated to the memory of Dr. van Hamersveld. She taught me to love literature and writing.
Spelling Test
Each sentence below contains a commonly misspelled word. Choose the correct spelling. You will receive five points for each correct answer. A perfect score is 100. The answers appear in "Comments." Good luck!
1. Gary Justis' art (accomodates/accommodates) the modern world tastefully.
2. Juliet Waters sees Montreal as a (bellwether/bellweather) of urban planning.
3. Fingerlakeswanderer wrote about Section 60 at Arlington National (Cemetary/Cemetery).
4. Lea Lane has countless (collectables/collectibles) from her travels around the world.
5. There is a (concensus/consensus) that Dcvdickens' "Dr. Seuss post" is a masterpiece.
6. Shaggylocks' Coronet videos teach us to behave (conscienciously/conscientiously).
7. Did Floyd Elliot write "When Bigs Fly" in a state of (drunkeness/drunkenness)?
8. Sheldon once killed a carnivorous llama with a (dumbell/dumbbell).
9. Lisa Kern was (embarassed/embarrassed) by the vomiting incident at the restaurant.
10. 1IMom's poetry is (exhilarating/exhilerating).
11. O'Really?'s wit (excedes/exceeds) that of most mortals.
12. Monsieur Chariot was (harassed/harrassed) by Chloe in the Whole Foods store.
13. Cartouche is (indispensable/indispensible) to the spirit of community at OS.
14. Mr. Mustard always shows good (judgment/judgement).
15. Myriad has several (mementos/momentos) of her trip to Italy.
16. For Stellaa, politics is more than a (pastime/passtime).
17. Gracielou is (perseverant/perseverent) in her refusal to raise grandbabies.
18. Sally Swift's visit to France (preceded/preceeded) her visit to Italy.
19. (Sargeant/Sergeant) Mom wrote "Old Pictures and Wartime Memories."
20. No one will (supercede/supersede) Harry Homeless as connoisseur of Japanese culture.


Salon.com
Comments
I mean, dude.
;-)
Excelent peece, Stev. R
-r- for something i'm good at.
Now do one about misused words, as in "He flaunted the rules"...instead of "He flouted the rules"! Also..."cite" and "site"; "bated" and "baited". OUCH...these words are all used incorrectly more often than not.
I'm sorry to hear about your teacher.
Hope
(thumbified because I create words that look wrong but feel right in your naughty places.)
Rtaed aynawy.
Yekdeli, I already wrote about that two weeks ago. See "Eclectic seizures and ad homonyms, a love romp." Many of the eggcorns I featured are frequently on display by OS writers.
Steve, you do realize you broke a rule for singular possessive of a last name ending in the letter "s." Twice. Just pointing it out in a spirit of helpful nitpicking.
Raise a glass to Dr. van Hamersveld and to all of the great teachers we are lucky enough to encounter.
: )
Thankyou-Mister-Blevinsssss (in collective classroom accentato)
Uh-huh.
Thought so. You may be a good speller but I bet I just made you into a funny sounding talker.
i never did it wel
i am not stupit
my brian works differently
In truth, there is little orthodoxy left , despite what Gordon, our in house self proclaimed grammarian thinks.
I think it's time that we created a jobs program for copy editors. I admit I do not have a biological, intellectual or aesthetic inclination to pursue perfect grammar or spelling.
Hoard = (I hoard wealth)
Horde = (I hoard my horde's wealth)
Whored = (I whored for my horde's hoarded wealth)
(you'll thank me later)
I thought cemetary was an acceptable option. I thought about it when I wrote my mafia piece, which features a cemetary. Should mafia be capitalized? Capitol post, Mr. Blevins.
but I did notice that you didn't do that possessive s's that is required of names ending in s...
Sorry about your English teacher...I'm afraid to ask about my favorite ones.
R
I want to thank YOUR high school English teacher, too.
for the love of....
Lovely post, rated!
So that I don't sound like a smarty-pants, I was thrown by a number of these, and I consider myself a good speller!
I remember seeing a commercial once for a rerun of "Alien Resurrection" and the word "Exhilerating!" went across the TV screen. I totally freaked.
Here's a spelling/usage peeve of mine: The word "importantly" has come into common usage as a sentence modifier when actually the word "important" should be used, as in, "More imporant(ly), the case never went to trial."
And why do people say, "AN historic event"? We don't say, "AN history lesson." We should only use "an" when the "h" is silent, right?...as in, "she's an honor roll student." Makes me nuts, but again, common usage has made it acceptable.
Oh, and for years, I spelled "definitely" as "definately." Was simply a mental block.
Great post! Your teacher would be proud.
Spell check has actually helped me with a few of these that I used to always misspell but after having MS Word correct me so many times, I've finally learned the right way.
I printed it in my comments section today! So there!
Hope
Once again, nice post.
Enigmatic enui.
Sorry to have learned of your teacher's death.