ridiculous, not ''rediculous''

Wonderer   Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:43 pm GMT
I wonder why so lots of people misspell the word ''ridiculous'' and spell it ''rediculous''. Not a big deal, but that just makes me wonder.
Caspian   Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:18 pm GMT
Oh one of my friends does that, I didn't realise it was so common!
Uriel   Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:53 am GMT
Because that's probably how they also say it -- with a pronounced REE. Others who say it with a short I -- RIH -- are probably a lot less inclined to make that spelling mistake.
Wonderer   Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:04 pm GMT
Thanks Uriel, different pronunciations of the word are probably the reason. I'm only used to the pronunciation with a ''short I -- RIH --''.

I have also come across the use of ''definately''. One more annoying thing is the use of ''OF'' instead of ''HAVE''. For example, ''I would of bought it'' instead of ''I would have bought it''. This is really common among some American college students.
Caspian   Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:32 pm GMT
As with most words in British English - I don't know about American English - the unstressed syllables are just pronounced with the schwa sound - including the first syllable. I'll see how my friend pronounces it - the one who spells it wrongly.

I had to train myself how to spell 'definitely' correctly, and even now, when I'm writing the word, conscious thought goes into ensuring that I spell it with an 'i' rather than an 'a'. Perhaps it's because the brain muddles it with words like 'climate'.

This 'must of', 'should of' thing drives me absolutely crazy. Without wanting to appear at all harsh in any way, anybody who does this should be lined up against a wall and shot - my sister not excluded! The mistake originates from the fact that both 'of' and 'have' are both abbreviated to the same sound. However, you'd think that people would use common sense to work out that this makes no grammatical sense whatsoever!
Amabo   Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:07 pm GMT
"This 'must of', 'should of' thing drives me absolutely crazy."

It's a common spelling mistake.

Get used to it.
Uriel   Sun Feb 01, 2009 7:55 pm GMT
It's not just a spelling mistake, it's a word substitution!

I bet it has something to do with getting to confused with legitimate "of" phrases like "kind of" and "sort of".
Caspian   Sun Feb 01, 2009 8:18 pm GMT
<< It's a common spelling mistake.

Get used to it. >>

Why should I? It's their problem, to muster enough strength in their brain cells to learn not only how to spell very simple words correctly, but a little bit about the grammar of their own language. Perhaps 'get used to it' is what their teacher should have said to them a bit more often. Who cares how common it is? Common is the word - and not in the sense you mean.
Guest   Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:45 pm GMT
If more and more people write "definately" then definitely will be wrong and definately right.
Damian in Edinburgh   Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:43 pm GMT
Here in the UK "definately" is included in the list of the most commonly misspelled words, along with "seperate" (a very common error - I once saw it spelled that way in an OFFICIAL Council Tax* document I received from from the Edinburgh City Council regarding a new flat fairly close to the city centre (well, Stockbridge - not too far out from all the action...) I hope to be moving into in April for which I shall probably be paying in mortage until I'm about 250 years old in these more austere times - I'm thinking of asking for a rebate on account of the trauma I experienced over the spelling error emanating from our otherwise respected (ha! - joke) municipal leaders (well, it's us stupid muppets who vote them in I suppose...)

"Accomodation" and "accomodate", "privalege" (or variants of that mis-spelling), "necesary" are pretty high on the list, too.

Others include:

"Buisness" "installment" (that is OK in America but not here); "despirate";
"prescence"; "garantee" (or "garauntee"); "embarass" or "embarras"; "alledge" "recieve"; "tommorrow" (it's surprising how often you see that); "ommit" or "omitt"; "sieze"; "wierd" ...and even the word "mispell" itself.

And of course - the month we are now in - often made a pig's ear of - "Febrary" or "Februry" or "Febraury" or whatever - anything but February...easily the most misspelled of all the months of the calendar.

I can not remember ever having seen "rediculous" or having heard the word actually pronounced that way...not even by Glaswegians or Scousers.
Damian in Edinburgh   Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:51 pm GMT
*Council Tax - the UK name for the local taxes we all have to pay in order to provide for all the locally provided domestic services and the emergency and security services, including Police...Lothian and Borders Police in our case here in Edinburgh....an august body of men and women ....including my good mate Gavin....
Damian in Edinburgh   Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:54 pm GMT
For "provide" substitute "finance" in the second sentence above! We do the financing, they do the providing. There.....that's cleared that one up.
Damian still here   Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:56 pm GMT
And delete the "for" of course.....I'm crap at proofreading before posting this evening.
Caspian   Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:47 pm GMT
<< If more and more people write "definately" then definitely will be wrong and definately right. >>

Perhaps in America. It just shows how the governments and society cater for the pig ignorant, doesn't it.
Uriel   Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:35 am GMT
Hmmm... you need to work a little harder on your biting wit, Caspian. That was pretty weak.