Stress-testing the spell checker
The most commonly misspelt word in the English language is "definitely" which is often written as "definately". You would think that spell checkers would improve our awareness of spelling, but according to a poll of 5,000 people, "Technology is contributing to our inability to spell."
The other words which make up the top ten of most commonly misspelt words are: Sacrilegious; Indict; Manoeuvre; Bureaucracy; Broccoli; Phlegm; Prejudice; Consensus; and Unnecessary. How tempting it is to try to string those together into one coherent sentence.
Meanwhile, if sporting clichés leave you feeling as sick as a parrot, you might be interested to know that Setanta Sports conducted a survey to find which overworked phrases used by sports commentators are the most irritating. The winner was "At the end of the day", closely followed by "On paper", "A game of two halves", "This game needs a goal" and "There are no easy games in international football".
24th June 2009