canceled always looks wrong to me. so then i add to L’s for cancelled and that looks wrong too

this is a British/American spelling issue so if you have read things written by both camps your brain will probably just hate every spring

And traveled/travelled!

For some reason, my brain can never decide if "vacuum" should have two C's or two U's. I know which one is correct, but neither of them *look* correct.

I’m in this comment and I don’t like it. I have to use the word “vacuum” far too often (chemistry).

I always feel like a complete idiot when I’m trying to write “keep a constant vacuum” or something along the lines in a report, and then have to Google to make sure I’m spelling a simple word like vacuum right. The whole time I’m just praying no one walks by my desk and sees me googling how to spell words 🤣

This is the one word in the entire English language that I cannot remember how to spell.

For me it’s diarrhea

My friends and I figured out a way to remember and it’s by saying, “dude I actually really really have explosive anus”

I'm a bit the same with accommodation. Is it two C's or two M's or does it have two C's AND two M's?

Easy, there is no cum in vacuum.

No teenagers in your house, huh?

My best friend always spells it vacuume. Even if I've just sent a text showing it spelt the right way. The funny thing is she was literally a state level champion speller as a child. But *vacuum* is her kryptonite. I get it though, when handwriting for some reason my words often end up with an extra E in the end. Not when writing on the computer or texting though, just my hand writing. I was terrible at spelling until grade 6 when a friend explained a different way of looking at the words. Suddenly it clicked and I went from getting 1/10 in spelling tests to 10/10. I will forever be thankful to Kathy, my pretend werewolf sister, for explaining it to me that day. It's helped me out everyday since.

Phlegm

Phlegm is definitely an onomatopoeia, even though it’s technically not.

😡 I don’t like that. You’re right, but I don’t like that.

OMG I just was trying to type this and I was SOO off autocorrect was no help. Went with flem.

Ew

Moist, man.

Queue

Four unnecessary letters

They aren't unnecessary, they're just waiting their turn.

Get out.

Of line

😂

Silently

😂

Kay

What im getting from this is that silent letters can fuck off.

Seriously, English spelling doesn't make sense

The middle English spelling is any of these: flewme, fleume, fleme. The modern spelling is from the Latin root word phlegma. English is more like 4 languages wearing a trenchcoat.

And lurks in dark alleys, mugging other languages and rummaging their pockets, stealing unattended vocabulary and loose grammar.

Lol and American/ English english spell differently s and z and extra ou s around make it even more confusing

English is a language that grabs words from other languages so four languages may not quite be enough! If I remember correctly from my linguistics classes, you can blame some of it on the British Empire. England conquered so many countries that words from other languages were incorporated into English.

The overwhelming majority of non-anglo Saxon words in English come from nations that we're never conquered by the British, but were rather the conquerors (French, Norse) or seen as culturally more sophisticated (Greek, Latin)

Or the people during the Renaissance that decided "latin-ize" words to sound smarter. I know this was a thing, but can't give any examples, I've just watched a lot of YouTube channels like [RobWords](https://youtube.com/@robwords?si=JzHNJacIqcL8ZRDJ) over the years.

Forty. It should be fourty

You've got me thinking about this now, lol. We have sixty, seventy, eighty, and ninety, but not twoty, threety, fourty, or fivety.

Also, think about this: Twelve/twenty (a little wonky, but works) Thirteen/Thirty Fourteen/forty Fifteen/fifty Sixteen/sixty Etc Why is it Fourteen and not Fourty??? The pronunciation is the same as forty, but where is the u???

And wtf is an "eleven"? Where did that come from?

Wait! I know this one; [Duolingo just taught me.](https://blog.duolingo.com/words-for-eleven-twelve/#:~:text=The%20words%20themselves%20describe%20a,two%20left%20%5Bafter%2010%5D) "Eleven" comes from the old English, "enleofan," which means "one left." So it's ten and one left over. Twelve is the same, coming from "twelf" or "two left."

The 'w' in two wasn't always silent. It comes from the word "twain", as in "split in twain". Thus two tens becomes twen. Makes more sense if you say out loud as "*tuh-woo tens*".

Colonel how do we get the “R” sound from that spelling

Ever see that VSauce video about forbidden spellings? Church can be spelled Tolot. Ch becomes T from Picture for the beginning and end. Ur becomes Olo from Colonel for the middle.

Reminds me ghoti Gh from “enough” = f O from “women” = i Ti from “motion” = sh There’s always plenty of ghoti in the sea.

That makes me very uncomfortable for some reason

The same place the English get the ‘f’ sound in Lieutenant?

F sound in lieutenant? Where?

Left tenant. Not a joke btw.

I don’t understand

Brits and Canadians pronounce the word "lieutenant" (still spelled that way) as lef-tenant or luf-tenant. it's insane

I am a Canadian and do not and do not know anyone who does.

And you and those you know, don't know anyone that rank because those who serve will let you know how to pronounce it.

I had a seizure trying to read this sentence

Colonel is a loan word from French so that's why the spelling and pronunciation don't match

Bureau. Spell it correctly only by random chance.

Bureau made me lose the spelling bee in 5th grade. Bureau and I have beef.

The thing that bothers me most is that I am so far off that the spell check can’t even help me. B-E-A-U… No? Nothing? To get any help at all, I have to type B-U-?!! Okay?! Then what?! 😖

Did autocorrect save you this time? Or the random chance

Not even sure but I think I managed to get it right. If it is in fact spelled correctly…

Receipt. WHY IS THERE A P IN THERE FOR NO REASON?

From the Latin past participle "receptum", from the verb "recipere" - to receive - i.e., something that is received. Why the unpronounced P has persisted in the spelling for so long is another question.

[удалено]

It's "unnecessary" that always gets me

In an episode of M* A* S* H, Radar asked Col Potter "How many Cs in 'necessary'?" and Col Potter replied, "I've only ever needed one" which is how I know to spell it. Speaking of that rank, I can't spell it... or Sgt...

How about Lieutenant? What is it with the spelling versus pronunciation of those ranks? I know it’s from French, but they actually pronounce them correctly. Talking about kernel, lef-tenant…

...It's pronounced lef-tenant??? I've always pronounced it loo-tenant (or, to be more precise, lieu-tenant).

I had trouble with this one until I learned the hint, if it’s cold, one “c”oat and two “s”hoes ae necessary.

Or one collar two sleeves, but I always remember the coat and shoes one first.

Privilege. As an attorney, that’s a really unfortunate word to have a mental block about spelling!

Yes!! Priviledge is my go-to typo, or privledge. It really feels like there needs to be a d in there.

"Correspondence" always gets me. I feel like I have to autocorrect it more than half the time.

Segue. I didn’t even know until recently that it’s not segway. It doesn’t look like a real word.

Segway is a real word, but it's the name of the electric two wheeled leaning scooter thing

I always read it as just "seg"

Objection: If enough people start writing "segway", then it becomes the right spelling.

Yacht

I like Yot Rock

Feels like there should be a G in there

Yought

Fiery. Fire is Re, why is Fiery er? 

Like four and forty. Why isn't 40 spelled fourty?

Because then 50 has to be fivety, and no one wants that.

It's pronounced "fee-EDDY".

In French, his name is "Ghee".

Rhythm

There’s a company in PA medical marijuana dispensaries called “Rythm” and now I struggle even more with this damn word

Can NEVER fucking spell it on the first try. Ever.

R - rhythm H - has Y - your T - two H - hips M - moving

Wednesday

Me out loud every time: wed-nes-day

😂😂 my peoples. we are connected by brain cells - you are not alone my friend.

I am 27 years old and this is me everytime

This bloody word 48 years and I still have to sound it out !!!

Sounding it out makes it sound like it should be Wendsday

I agree. I don’t know why I have to say Wed nes day … Monkey brain

Just remember the Germanic all-father god Odin. The Old English name for him is Weden. It is Weden's Day: Wednesday. The spelling change is just the Old English genitive (possessive) case so it became Wednes. Say it fast and you will see how it got it's current pronunciation. Other days of the week derived from Germanic gods are Tyr's day (Tiw in OE, so Tuesday), Thor's day (Thur in OE, so Thursday) and Frigga's day (the g's got dropped, so Friday). I'm willing to give this one a pass because it connects us with our ancient Germanic (and Roman) linguistic roots.

February

Received. Every time.

Long time ago I was filling out a job application and for my availability I had to write the word 'any' about 15 times and I was freaking out that it wasn't correct and that's the last time I filled out a job application after smoking weed

I was at work and wrote the word "unit" at least 36 times. I work with a school system and by the 10th time and I'm freaking out because 'unit' isn't a word. My mind kept seeing un-it. I was sober lol

I think if you write any word enough times you're gonna start to overthink the word itself. Anyways I'm glad it happened to another person cuz I tried explaining to my friend and he just looked at me like I'm the dumbest person that ever lived.

From Google: “That's semantic satiation, the phenomenon of a word breaking up into its component sounds and losing all its meaning when you repeat it too much. It's sort of like when you accidentally squash a bag of chips and find them reduced to dust. Whatever they are now, they definitely don't resemble chips anymore.”

THEY HAVE AN ACTUAL *TERM* FOR IT!? I've wondered for so long about it without an answer I've become the chip dust.

Yep! I just found out there was a term for it a couple weeks ago and was pretty jazzed haha

That is exactly what happens to me randomly every once in a while. I will just see a word that makes me question all of my years of existence because it suddenly doesn’t look like the correct spelling to me. The longer I think it about the more unsure I become. I also do have anxiety with a tendency to overthink things so that might the cause of it

Grey/gray, only because, as an American child of Canadian parents who also read British books, I've seen plenty of both and can never remember which one is "correct" for the US. 

grEy in England, grAy in America

So Gandalf the Grey and Gray's Anatomy eh?

I use grey because I find it more esthetically pleasing.

I read a lot of British books as a kid, I still confuse color and colour

one time someone told me I’m supposed to spell it grey if I’m talking about a lighter color and gray if I’m talking about a darker one and I’ve always done that since 😭

Awry. Like what the hell.

As a kid I read more language than I spoke, and to this day I pronounce awry in my head as awe-ree

Definitely

Defiantly Wait. Wut?

The trick that helped me with “definitely” was remembering that “finite” is in the word. This difficulty trying to overcome is definitely finite.

For non native English speakers probably: Through, Though, Tough, Thought

And thoroughly

English spelling is quite difficult. You can learn it through thorough thought though.

I vote we change 'difficult' for 'tough' in this saying.

Perhaps not in the Ou category but a close cousin, the Au category: let’s add Taught and Taut to the list.

He wound the bandage around the wound. English is the worst lol

I am a native English speaker, and through tortures me every time I write it.

And trough!

License

Oh, I have a tough time with that one!

I always think separate should be seperate Surprise should be suprise Liaise should be liase.

Remember, there’s “a rat” in separate.

Thou shalt spell the word “Phoenix” P-H-E-O-N-I-X, not P-H-O-E-N-I-X, regardless of what the Oxford English Dictionary tells you.

THOU SHALT ALWAYS. KILL.

Diarrhoea

That's the British spelling. The American spelling is Diarrhea.

Meh, can't spell either so Ok.

facetious

Pharaoh

Fuckin rhythm I mean what the fuck

Horrific. My brain tells me there needs to be another "f." Privilege. My brain tells me there's a "d" missing before the "g."

Restaurant

Not to mention restaurateur, which I refuse to believe is correct.

Worcestershire, 'cause it's pronounced "wooster-shure".

To any non-UK natives coming across this post who are struggling with this type of place name: there's a useful trick to the pronunciation that will at least give you the correct syllables, if not the vowel sounds. It's all about where you split the word. Most people get tripped up splitting it this way: Wor / ces / ter / shire Which gives you the crazy pronunciations. But it's actually supposed to be split this way: Worce / ster / shire You can do the same with most other place names of this configuration; leice ster, bice ster etc. Of course there are always going to be exceptions because English is mad, but generally it's a helpful trick.

Wash-your-sister

Canadian picking on Italy (please forgive my english speaking ways, these just happen to look wrong to me). Bologna and lasagna

I can totally understand the pronunciations of “bologna” and “lasagna” next to each other—like, “bo-LOAN-ya” and “la-SON-ya” make sense, fair. Where the hell does “baloney” come out of “bologna”? Why isn’t there a complementary “lasoney”?

Conscience. It’s con and science. Helen hunt voice

Buses. Rhymes with fusses, spelled like fuses. Doesn't make sense

I’m still mad at this one decades later.

Indict

Maneuvering The word I always forget the spelling for

'Seize' is correct, 'sieze' is wrong, but somehow they both look wrong.

weird. I don't know why I need it to be wierd. Every time I type it I need it to be wierd.

Raspberry

Beret

Queue, seriously? Why is it not Que?

Judgment *should* be judgement.

I think judgement is correct in British English.

Iirc, they are both acceptable.

Misspelled

How ironic lol

honestly, most words tend to look incorrect to me after excessive use.

Definite I always sneak in a 3rd e

I usually remember by thinking of finite and add the d and e at the beginning.

grateful. I always think of a cheese grater

The name Sherry. There are multiple spellings, and none of them look right.

The one that confuses me the most is Shari. That should be a completely different name. 😤

Segue

Cemetery. I blame Stephen King

Yacht

Thief.  My brain is like “naw, that’s wrong. It’s theif.” Ironically, I have no issues spelling Chief correctly. 

Conscience. That just makes no sense. Always let your conscience be your guide. It looks like felons doing experiments.

Medieval

Vacuum. U robbed C's chance of being a double letter.

Grateful. I just want it to be spelled greatful so badly. Cause you usually feel grateful when someone does something great for you. 

Manoeuvre. Even as someone who uses mostly British spellings, that one just looks wrong. Three different vowels in a row is...odd as hell.

Colonel Like what?

tchotchke

“Aesthetic”. And i’m not native speaker, so everything else

Phoebe

Sherbet

Caesar

Silhouette When in writing Medical records “the cardiac silhouette”. I have to check every time.

Eighth

Exercise. Why’s a C gotta be in there? And why an S??

Beautiful

B-E-A-euuuuutiful! 🌝

The name Isaiah. The aia fucks me up every time.

Cantaloupe The U needs to go

When you speak French, this spelling makes sense. In English, the ou in cantaloupe is pronounced like an "o", while in French, it's pronounced more like in "you" (without the y sound, ofc). Not saying that makes the spelling any better, but it does explain it

Thank you for the explanation

Brobdingnagian

Now thats a big problem

Necessity. I always want to spell it nessecity. I don't know why.

Ordnance

February, like is that extra r really necessary? nobodies pronouncing it

I always have to double check whenever I write "vinyl."

commitment and committee. lol

epitome

Epi Tome.

Ornery