Flabbergasted at "flabberghasted"

Hello,

I have recently found an online dictionary. Here is the link:

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/f.htm

I was just browsing through it when I noticed that the word "flabbergasted" was spelt as "flabberghasted". I was really astonished, since, as far as I'm aware, the version without an "h" is the correct spelling. However, the latter one seems to be logical, too, because this word might be related to "aghast".

Well, what do you think?

BTW, how often do you use this word?
I do use it sometimes, however, I've noticed that my age group (I'm 22) do not really use it. (It's just MY observation, so I might be wrong.) This word seems to be generation-specific, used mostly by middle-aged people. Youngsters say "gobsmacked" instead (in Britain - I don't know about the States), leastways in informal situations. Am I right in thinking so?

Both http://m-w.com/ and Cambridge http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ list "flabbergasted" as the only possible spelling.

<<BTW, how often do you use this word?>>

I'm familiar with "flabbergasted", but I'm not sure if I've ever actually used it in conversation. As for "gobsmacked", I think that's only used in Britain. (Cambridge lists it as "UK informal".) I think in vernacular American English, it'd be much more common to just use something like "speechless".

It's just the difference between British spelling and American spelling. In American English they do away with unecessary letters in some words.

Like Brits will spell humor (American), humour (British), with the extra 'u'. Or say, color (American), colour (British).

For the same reason we love contractions, I suppose....

Over here on the other side of the puddle, younger speakers would probably use a word like stunned instead, but flabberg(h)asted is perfectly acceptable, as well as speechless, etc. Gobsmaked, I reckon, would be quite unintelligible to most of us over here.

*gobsmacked.

Probably because we don't use the word "gob" very much for the mouth. A gob is sort of like a blob, and we would interpret smacked to mean smacking the lips.

<<It's just the difference between British spelling and American spelling.>>

No it isn't. I just said that the Cambridge online dictionary (which is British) lists "flabbergasted" as the only possible spelling. "Flabberghasted" isn't correct in any dialect.

Google results show that "flabbergasted" is hugely preferred in both dialects:

[realize flabbergasted] = 294,000 hits
[realize flabberghasted] = 700 hits

[realise flabbergasted] = 66,500 hits
[realise flabberghasted] = 1,240 hits

<<Over here on the other side of the puddle, younger speakers would probably use a word like stunned instead, but flabberg(h)asted is perfectly acceptable, as well as speechless, etc. Gobsmaked, I reckon, would be quite unintelligible to most of us over here>>

It hasn't always been widespread in the UK, either. It is originally a northern dialect word, but it's common throughout Britain from the 80s/90s, I reckon.

I use it. I've never really paid attention to whether or not anyone else uses it. And the H just looks like a typo to me.

The h makes it look right to me...

I'm wondering what it's doing in a slang dictionary, too. It's not slang.

If someone used flabbergasted, I wouldn't notice it as being odd, although I never use it myself. I would use something more like "really surprised" (not as excited is it?). As for gobsmaked, I wasn't entirely sure what it meant until a minute ago.

Is it an old thread revival again? :-)

My ghasted has never been so flabbered.

gobsmaCked is a correction spelling.