Words that elude me

[terribleturnip]

I'm shamefully proud of my vocabulary. I'll admit it, spelling and grammar come easy to me. (Not that I don't abuse the latter at times, but I KNOW I'm breaking the rules.) And it's either an inherent gift or something that rubbed off during all of those years when, as a chubby, pimply-faced geek with no friends, I submerged myself in books.

Actually the pimply-face came later, I was already the kind of dorkchild who methodically read through all of the biographies in the children's section -- checking out an "A", a "B", a "C", on through the alphabet, then doubling back until I'd read them ALL. I'd read pretty much all of the books in the children's section -- at least any that weren't specifically boybooks -- baseball, car-related.

In any case, anything English language-wise always came easy to me -- except diagramming sentences or memorizing the NAMES of parts of speech.(That was always like taking apart a lizard to see how it works. I already know how it works and once you've dissected it, it's not really a working lizard anymore...)



I cannot spell them without conscious thought and even then...

Desperate: I've just, in recent years, managed to get a handle on this one, only by remembering how Desperado is spelled, which I only remember because I had a Carpenters album with that song on it. I loved them at the time, am ashamed now and that helps me remember that it's not "Desparate".

Vacuum: If I don't really think about it, it will get two "c"s instead of one. I mean, it's got two "u"s, which is already ridiculous, why not double up on the "c" as well?

Surprise: Perhaps I can blame this one on my New England diction, but it's pronounced Sah-prise in my head and that extra "r" will only show up with Word gives me the wiggly red line.

Rhythm: Not only do I not have any, I can't spell it, either. Everytime I need to spell it, I HAVE to look it up. I can look at the correct spelling, look away from the page and spell it "rythym" or "rhythm" or....augh! I have to look at the correct spelling and go letter by letter to replicate it. Even now, I secretly want to hit spell check because the way I've typed it at the beginning of the paragraph, looks WRONG.

Comments

[queenmaggie.livejournal.com]

chortle: you've duplicated my childhood! Except I chose books in their dewey-decimal numeric order... reading through the library till done.

[redsteve.livejournal.com]

This might be a problem for people who read a lot as children. I had the same general dorky upbringing. Other than Schoolhouse Rock terms, I am very hazy on the parts of speech (other than what I had to learn in Latin class) but I know what SOUNDS correct. I also can't spell anything out loud to save my life (fortunately, it hasn't come to that); I have to write it down and see if it LOOKS right.

[terribleturnip.livejournal.com]

When I spell out loud I have to do it very, very slowly, because I'm actually writing the letters out in the air in front of me...

[mistressfetch.livejournal.com]

but. but. but. you KNOW how to spell INFIDEL :) *snark*

[thatliardiego.livejournal.com]

It goes together with "heathen" and "philistine."

[pyrateatlarge.livejournal.com]

albeit

pronounced allbite or all be it ?

[chellebelle74.livejournal.com]

Option #2 is the winner. So sayeth the English major.

FWIW

[skivee.livejournal.com]

In my head "surprise" is always spelled with a z at the end.
It has also been proved that: extemporaneous. boggling, ANGRILY, SHRIEKING, astute, gullibility are all words that are beyond my ability to properly process.

Re: FWIW

[terribleturnip.livejournal.com]

Oh, "shrieking" NEVER looks right!

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

I was riding my bike down the freeway one day (wow- over twenty years ago now...) and saw the common sign, "Right lane MUST turn right." I missed two exits thinking, Is that really how "must" is spelled? It just looked so weird...