You don鈥檛 need us to tell you that spelling words correctly is not always easy. For evidence, you only need to look at the word mispelled 鈥� and then look again because we just misspelled it!
But even when you get everything just right, sometimes things just feel off. There are certain words out there that鈥攅ven when all of the I鈥檚 are dotted and T鈥檚 are crossed鈥攋ust don鈥檛 look right. It might be a silent letter that we really think should speak up, or it could be just that the letter Q bothered to show up at all for once. Whatever it is, there are certain words that just look wrong even when spelled perfectly.
We asked via Twitter what words made our readers鈥� skin crawl despite being spelled exactly as they are supposed to. The words colonel, receipt, and choir were strong contenders but just managed to avoid our ire for the moment. If those words gave you goosebumps, you may need to brace yourself for this list. These egregious words really should reconsider how they present themselves.
We asked:
Maybe it鈥檚 the spelling. Perhaps it鈥檚 the pronunciation. It could even be the definition.
What is a word that just feels鈥� wrong?
鈥� Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom)
You answered:
1. We鈥檙e still not going to call it Hump Day and you can鈥檛 make us.
Wednesday. My brain jams when I see the spelling.
鈥� Cathryn Warren (@crwarren)
2. It really should be mandatory that the word moist is always accompanied by a series of disgusted emoji.聽
Moist. 馃あ馃あ馃あ馃あ馃あ
鈥� Michele (@prettyinpink668)
3. This word聽should have to go to the back of the line.
Queue. Enough said.
鈥� PackFan in MN (@VanHazinga)
聽4. We aren鈥檛 done yelling at the letter Q yet.
I have stared at the word ‘quiet’ today and genuinely started questioning everything like it just looked w e i r d
鈥� 饾惔饾憶饾憶饾憭-饾憖饾憥饾憻饾憱饾憭 {岽泋岽�8 瑟s 岽勧磸岽嵣瓷�!!!} 鉁樷伔 (@beomgyureum)
Cay and quay. Just why?
鈥� Josie & the 馃樃馃樅馃樈 (@LoveNJosie)
5. Fans of Wienerschnitzel can also relate.
kumquat – sounds like an insult but is really just an innocent fruit.
鈥� GREY 1769 (@GREY_1769)
6. This silent G needs to resign.
I don’t like the word “signage”. Maybe it’s the two Gs pronounced differently, or that you can usually just say “sign”.
鈥� Lindsay Britts (@lindsaystweets)
7. This word is playing some kind of trick on us, right?
Mischievous.
Sounds better when you pronounce it “miss-CHEE-vee-us”, which goes against its spelling, not “MISS-cheh-vus”.
鈥� Joey (for #DCstatehood) (@JoeySchmittPhD)
8. It’s all just a bunch of … well, you know!
Bologna…. I mean, c’mon!
鈥� Miss_Stefanie (@Miss__Stefanie)
9. You’re excused if you can’t spell these. Tell them we said so.
Consciousness.
I spell it incorrectly every time, eventually my phone even got confused.鈥� Brad (@RealBrad_Miller)
Hyperbole. I know how it’s pronounced but every time I read it, the voice in my head says hyper-bowl
鈥� State of Eimeargency (@_Cailin_Corcra_)
10. If only we had a word to describe how we feel about nonplussed听鈥�
Nonplussed. Hands down. How can one word go so wrong?
鈥� Robin Vercruse (@FuelingDebate)
11. A silent U is a good gauge that your spelling is all kinds of messed up.
Gauge. I don’t care what its etymology is, that U is a damn interloper.
鈥� Hannah Wallace (@HannahWallace)
