Is there a word you just can’t remember how to spell? My word is “occasionally.” I can never remember if it’s one c and a double s or one s and a double c. Thank goodness for spell checkers. I’m not alone in misspelling an occasional word. In honor of the national spelling bee (which is today, June 1) Google put together a map of misspelled words, based on Google searches.
ICYMI – here’s our map of the most misspelled words in America #spellingbee
(corrected legend) pic.twitter.com/2w56NpDgGK
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) May 30, 2017
If you don’t want to stare at the map, here’s a list:
Alabama: Pneumonia
Alaska: Schedule
Arizona: Tomorrow
Arkansas: Chihuahua
California: Beautiful
Colorado: Tomorrow
Connecticut: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Delaware: Hallelujah
District of Columbia: Ninety
Florida: Receipt
Georgia: Gray
Hawaii: People
Idaho: Quote
Illinois: Appreciate
Indiana: Hallelujah
Iowa: Vacuum
Kansas: Diamond
Kentucky: Beautiful
Louisiana: Giraffe
Maine: Pneumonia
Maryland: Special
Massachusetts: License
Michigan: Pneumonia
Minnesota: Beautiful
Mississippi: Nanny
Missouri: Maintenance
Montana: Surprise
Nebraska: Suspicious
Nevada: Available
New Hampshire: Diarrhea
New Jersey: Twelve
New Mexico: Banana
New York: Beautiful
North Carolina: Angel
North Dakota: Dilemma
Ohio: Beautiful
Oklahoma: Patient
Oregon: Pneumonia
Pennsylvania: Sauerkraut
Rhode Island: Liar
South Carolina: Chihuahua
South Dakota: College
Tennessee: Chaos
Texas: Maintenance
Utah: Disease
Vermont: Europe
Virginia: Delicious
Washington: Sense
West Virginia: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Wisconsin: Wisconsin (Not an error; they really can’t spell their own state name.)
Wyoming: Priority
In today’s age of automatic spell checkers, there are few excuses for misspellings. Spell checkers won’t catch homonyms (like their, there, and they’re) but they should catch most genuine misspellings.
English is a funny language because there are so many rules that are broken all the time and letter combinations that are pronounced differently. Like David Burge explained in this genius tweet:
Yes, English can be weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) May 1, 2015
Or this
I before E except after C, unless you are running a feisty heist on a weird beige foreign neighbor.
(I couldn’t identify the original source for this one, but found numerous variations.)
Is there a word you just can’t get right every time?
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.