Spelling mistakes, etc

I know the idea of correct spelling and such like strikes some people as a rather pedantic. Perhaps it is but my fear is that inattention to such minutiae is symptomatic of a deeper malaise. Here is an example from my recent reading.

The Story of Everything by Jared C Wilson published by Crossway, page 13. Just over halfway down there is a reference to a "stunning climatic scene" in a film. A "stunning climactic scene" surely. See here.

More controversially I was surprised to see in Grace Alone Salvation as a gift of God by Carl Trueman published by Zondervan, page 128, that Luther strived for many years to gain assurance. I would have thought the strong form strove the obvious word to prefer there but I may just be out of sync there.

PS We have plenty of typos on this blog, which I try to correct but these are mistakes (or not mistakes in the case of the second example) not typos.

(I was going to include here Martin Luther Renegade and Prophet by Lyndal Roper published by Bodley Head, page 346 . At the beginning of the section on Anabaptists comes a reference to "ideas of millenarian violence". I thought it should be millennarian (as in Millennialism) but apparently not.

Words often misspelled 05

Last one this as I'm not gripped by this series

Lightning

Miss out the "e" to lighten your load

Words often misspelled 04

Separate

I saw a report somewhere recently from 2010 that said that a study had found that "the word 'separate' is the most commonly misspelled one in the English language. The eight-letter description of people or objects which are set apart from each other came top due to the regular placing of an 'E' where the first 'A' sits. I am excellent at spelling but I do remember getting this wrong once.

A spokesman for OnePoll.com, which carried out the study among 3,500 Brits, said: "There seem to be some words which we always struggle to get down onto paper, and 'separate' is one of those which eludes us. A common mistake many make is writing a word the way it sounds which leaves us muddling up one letter with another and getting it wrong. Fortunately, computers' spell-check corrects wrongly spelt words for us, but that means we become lazy and never learn the correct spelling."

Words often misspelled 03

Playwright

It is so tempting to put playwrite but while a good pun it is a misspelling.

The word is like millwright or cartwright. The play is wrought by the writer.

Words often misspelled 02

Millennial

People may have little trouble with biennial or triennial or even centennial but once you get up to a thousand then millennial can defeat them. I once saw (around 2000) a "Millenium Dictionary" (sic). The spelling was wrong on the cover (in the way given) but okay inside.

Words often misspelled 01

Accommodation

Remember, this word is large enough to accommodate both a double "c" and a double "m."

Bee Season

Eleri and I sat down to watch the 2005 film Bees Season the other night on DVD. Based on a novel by Myla Goldberg, it didn't do too well at the box office, I believe. I think that is understandable given the subject matter, although it was not without merit.

Richard Gere is the central figure a Cabbalistic Jewish father who lectures in the university on the subject. His daughter a feels untalented and neglected by him but is eager to catch his attention. She eventually does this through her ability to win spelling bees. Her father sees her gift as a possible route into mystical union with God, and pushes her hard in that direction, while she simply wants his love. Meanwhile the older son, who has been closer to his father drifts away from him to the point of an open rift, provoked chiefly by his secret alliance with an attractive young girl who is a devotee of Hinduism. The fourth member of the family is the French former Catholic mother who lost her parents in a tragic accident, played by Juliette Binoche. She is the most mysterious of the four. It eventually becomes apparent that she is suffering some sort of mental breakdown. In her case the desire to please her husband and fulfil his mystic dream is a factor but instead of it drawing him to her as she hopes, it only repels him.

So, an enjoyable film for me, touching on spelling (I couldn't resist attempting every one of the many words given to be spelled) and religion. Quite what the film is saying is difficult to be sure but it is certainly intense and disturbing and to me a reminder that religion itself is divisive rather than a force for cohesion. Bad teaching will have a deleterious effect in the end.

Great for provoking discussion.

Spelling

I was sorting out my briefcase the other day and I found this item. When I think of the fact that W H Smith sell dictionaries it makes me wonder. I've seen them make this mistake before. It reminds me of that old joke - "Do you sell stationery?" "No, sometimes I swivel round and move my arms!". Double click to see it properly.