Word Spelling Difficulty Ratings

Question

There are references listing the most frequently misspelled English words, but is there something that tells how likely a particular word is to be misspelled? One question I'd like resolved is which is more likely to be misspelled, "lawyer" or "attorney"? Spelling-difficulty comparisons like these become important when someone is choosing a domain name, especially if the name is expected to be typed-in by people who don't hold English as their primary language.

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* Nehmo Sergheyev *
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Usenet · Accepted Answer

I don't know, but from what I saw, "lawyer" is much more often misspelled than "attorney".
Some samples: "lowyer", "layer" "lawer" "laywer".

I'm sure no pun is intended in any of the above spellings, just sheer ignorance.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]There are references listing the most frequently misspelled English words, but is there something that tells how likely a particular ... name, especially if the name is expected to be typed-in by people who don't hold English as their primary language.[/nq]
If you know a misspelling for a word, it's easy enough to run searches that show how often each turn up, compared to the regular use. But I don't know any resource that will tell you all the ways a word might be misspelled, let alone with figures showing proportions.

I turned up this site, which is at least related. A group identified about twenty frequently misspelled words on the Web (using absolute numbers, not relative):
http://www.waxy.org/archive/2003/04/03/typo pop.shtml

- transexual (2860k)
- didnt (1230k, via Matt)
- doesnt (1080k, via Evan)
- seperate (804k, via Bill)
- calender (727k, via Graham)
- definately (693k, via Shannon)
- recieve (667k, via Matt)
- offical (366k)
- managment (359k)
- goverment (317k)
- commerical (277k)
- Febuary (245k)
- enviroment (242k)
- occurence (186k)
- commision (167k)
- assocation (134k)
- Cincinatti (70k)
- milennium (32k)
Their first one, "transexual", is considered a variant of "transsexual" by Merriam-Webster (m-w.com).
I know that's not what you're looking for, but it's mildly interesting.

Best Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

You need first to distinguish positive from
negative causes. Most spelling mistakes
are negative, viz. failures to spell correctly
(as the writer wished to do.) These cannot
be analyzed in the way we could analyze
positive errors, viz. deliberately spelling wrongly.

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]There are references listing the most frequently misspelled English words, but is there something that tells how likely a particular ... especially if the name is expected to be typed-in by people who don't hold English as their primary language. [/nq]
In addition to the good advice you have already received from your two previous replies, I recommend that your domain name should avoid any word that is spelt differently in British and American English. Especially do not use words ending in or/our, such as humor/humour, and ize/ise (maximize/maximise). American and British dictionaries usually list both American and British spellings, so it is easy to check before you commit yourself to the domain name. Furthermore, do not use a word that has the same sound but different meanings, with different spellings. An example would be meter/metre in British English (but I believe that American English uses the spelling "meter" both for 100cm and for a measuring instrument). Another example would be buoy/boy, both in AmE and BrE.

Richard Chambers Leeds UK.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]There are references listing the most frequently misspelled English words, ... by people who don't hold English as their primary language.[/nq]
[nq:1]If you know a misspelling for a word, it's easy enough to run searches that show how often each turn ... considered a variant of "transsexual" by Merriam-Webster (m-w.com). I know that's not what you're looking for, but it's mildly interesting.[/nq]
Please add "occasionally", "Britain", and "naive" so I don't feel left out.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]There are references listing the most frequently misspelled English words, ... by people who don't hold English as their primary language.[/nq]
[nq:1]If you know a misspelling for a word, it's easy enough to run searches that show how often each turn ... considered a variant of "transsexual" by Merriam-Webster (m-w.com). I know that's not what you're looking for, but it's mildly interesting.[/nq]
"Calender" is not necessarily misspelt, of course. Albuquerque and Massachusetts give me trouble.
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" (Email Removed) Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]There are references listing the most frequently misspelled English words, but is there something that tells how likely a particular ... name, especially if the name is expected to be typed-in by people who don't hold English as their primary language.[/nq]
Good question. Not quite the same, but when I was at primary school I remember they gave us a reading-age test which was mainly just a list of words in ascending order of difficulty. So I dare say they has been plenty of research in this area; the question is, are the resulting word-lists available on the Web?
Adrian

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"Calender" is not necessarily misspelt, of course. Albuquerque and Massachusetts give me trouble.[/nq]
The two words that always make me reach for the dictionary, and which I shall never be able to learn, are "ancillary" and "auxiliary". Of course, I have looked them both up, once again, to make this posting.

Richard Chambers Leeds UK.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]There are references listing the most frequently misspelled English words, but is there something that tells how likely a particular word is to be misspelled?[/nq]
Divide the total number of times it's been misspelled by the total number of times it's been written, typed, constructed from a set of physical letters, brailled or whatever.
[nq:1]One question I'd like resolved is which is more likely to be misspelled, "lawyer" or "attorney"? Spelling-difficulty comparisons like these ... name, especially if the name is expected to be typed-in by people who don't hold English as their primary language.[/nq]
Why limit your choice to those two words?
From thesaurus.com:
lawyer => advocate, ambulance chaser, attorney, attorney-at-law, barrister, beagle, counsel, counsellor, counselor, defender, fixer, jurisprudent, jurist, legal adviser, legal eagle, legist, mouthpiece, pettifogger, pleader, practitioner, proctor, procurator, shyster, solicitor

attorney => advocate, ambulance chaser, barrister, beagle, beak, counsel, counselor, fixer, front, legal beagle, legal eagle, mouthpiece, mugger, patch, pettifogger, pleader, proxy, shyster, spieler, spouter, springer, squeal
Take your pick.
Stewart.

My e-mail is valid but not my primary mailbox, aside from its being the unfortunate victim of intensive mail-bombing at the moment. Please keep replies on the 'group where everyone may benefit.

Word Spelling Difficulty Ratings

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