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Simpler Spelling
Word of the Day
Archive of Discussions
October-December 2013

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Munday, December 16, 2013:  "ebonnics" for "Ebonics"

This term, for dialectal black American speech, is not much heard today, but still exists in literature. It derives from "ebony". The spelling is not, however, completely clear because it has a single-N, which permits readers to say a long-O before it. To guide them to the proper short-O, we need merely double the N.

We also don't need a capital-E on this term. We don't capitalize "dialect" or "slang", so shouldn't capitalize this word for a particular dialect or slang: "ebonnics".
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My thanks to "smithb..." for this suggestion.

Sunday, December 15, 2013:  "dameener" for "demeanor"

As I pointed out December 11th in the argumentation about the word "yeast", EA is very ambiguous. For the long-E sound here, EE would be much clearer.

DE- is also unclear, often, if not even usually being pronounced with a long-E ("define", "delay", "deny"). Here, the vowel is a schwa, which is most commonly written A ("Dakota", "abundant", "America"). Let's use that.

Moreover, -OR is sometimes misperceived as having the AU-sound as in the ordinary word "or", tho you can see from "word" that there are other pronunciations. Here, the pronunciation is the same as the far more common spelling -ER. Let's use that to prevent a misreading with an AU-sound: "dameener".

Saturday, December 14, 2013:  "choia"  for "cholla"

The spelling of this type of treelike cactus makes perfect sense in American Spanish, but no sense at all in English. The LL represents a Y-sound. In context, -OIA, as in "paranoia" and "sequoia", which have an implied Y-sound, would be a much clearer way to spell it: "choia".

Friday, December 13, 2013:  "broun/y" for "brown/ie"

This Food Friday, let's fix the spelling of both a color and a small, moist, usually chocolate cake with nuts. OW is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced with the OU-sound ("down", "town", "frown"), other times as long-O ("own", "grown", "blown"). OU would be much clearer.

-IE is also ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced long-I, other times as long-E ("pie", "preppie", "hogtie", "hippie"). -Y is not completely consistent, but is usually pronounced long-E (or short-I in "clipped" British accents). In one-syllable words and words ending in -FY, however, long-I is the usual pronunciation. "Brownie" is in neither of those classes of word, so -Y would be clearer for a long-E sound than the present -IE: "broun" and "brouny".
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My thanks to "Power..." for this suggestion.

Thursday, December 12, 2013:  "addij" for "adage"

There are three things wrong with today's traditional spelling. First, a single-D leaves unclear the sound of the initial-A ("adore", "adagio", "adapt"). Here, that A is pronounced as short-A, not schwa. To show that, we should double the D after it.

Second -AGE should be pronounced like the word of the same spelling, "age", with a long-A.

Third, -GE is an absurd way to spell an ordinary J-sound, which should be written with J.

Putting this all together, we get: "addij".

Wensday, December 11, 2013:  "yeest" for "yeast"

EA is ambiguous ("knead", "bread", "area", "Sean", and, most tellingly, "yea" are pronounced need, bred, ái.ree.ya, shaun, and yae). Here, the sound is a simple long-E, which is most simply spelled EE. Let's write that: "yeest".

Tuesday, December 10, 2013:  "vermichelly" for "vermicelli"

The present spelling, "vermicelli", makes perfect sense in Italian, but none in English. We don't write a CH-sound with CI, but with CH. So let's make that substitution.

Second, a final-I in English is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced as long-I ("alkali", "stimuli", "hippopotami"), other times as long-E ("broccoli", "chili", and "confetti"). There are two common ways to spell a long-E at the end of a word, -Y and -EE. Altho -Y is commonly used for adverbs, it does appear on many nouns ("agony", "deputy",  "peony"). -EE also sometimes takes the word's stress ("payee", "addressee", "guarantee"), but not always ("employee", "banshee", "coffee"), so might mislead new readers, esp. in countries where Italian food is not commonplace. Still, since -Y is shorter and more likely to be guessed by people who hear today's word said, -Y seems the better choice: "vermichelly".

Munday, December 9, 2013:  "telemmetry" for "telemetry"

This word needs a double-M for two things, first, to show plainly that the second-E in the word is short, and second, to indicate which of the word's four syllables takes the stress (the one before the double consonant): "telemmetry".

Sunday, December 8, 2013:  "summersault" for "somersault"

SOMER should rhyme with "homer" and "misnomer". In this word, it does not. Rather, the sound is as in "bummer", "strummer", and of course "summer". So let's write it that way: "summersault".
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My thanks to "Dogs..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, December 7, 2013:  "roze" and "rozett"  for "rose" and "rosette"

The sound of the S in today's words is not S, but Z, so should be written with a Z. And we don't need ETTE to show that the longer word's stress falls on the second syllable. ETT is enuf: "roze" and "rozett".

Friday, December 6, 2013:  "fezzant" for "pheasant"

This Food Friday, let us reform one of the silliest spellings in all of English. The first problem is the PH for an F-sound. That is indefensible. Why do we put up with such idiocy?

The second problem is that EA is used to represent a short-E sound. Why? We know that people have serious problems with such spellings, from the frequent misreading of words like "read" and "lead", where they are supposed to be "read" as sounding like red and led. "Lead" is even sometimes written where people intend the sense of "led". So let's get rid of the EA.

To show a short-E in this word, we can drop the A and leave just the E. But there is only one consonant after it, which, insanely, is the wrong consonant, an S that stands in for a Z. We have a letter for that sound: Z. Why would we not use it?

Of course, in today's word we would need a double-Z to show that the E before it is short.

Putting this all together, we get: "fezzant".
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My thanks to "Clap..." for this suggestion.

Thursday, December 5, 2013:  "magnettic" for "magnetic"

We have here, again, a single consonant that should be doubled. Compare "veto" and, most persuasively, "magneto": "magnettic".
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My thanks to "garden..." for this suggestion.

Wensday, December 4, 2013:  "lissit" for "licit"

A single consonant ordinarily does not mark the preceding vowel short. The reader might thus expect this word to be pronounced líe.sit. It is actually pronounced with a short-I, lís.it. To show that, we would need to double the consonant after it, but here, the wrong consonant appears. The sound is S, but the consonant is C. A double-C before an I (as here) would be pronounced like a K-S sequence ("accident", "occident", "succinct"). We thus need to change the C to S, then double that: "lissit".

Tuesday, December 3, 2013:  "kleptomanea/c" for "kleptomania/c"

Why would we use an I for a long-E sound? We shouldn't: "kleptomanea" and "kleptomaneac".

Munday, December 2, 2013:  "jerreattrics" for "geriatics"

There are four things wrong with the current spelling. First, it employs a G for the J-sound. Each of G and J has its own distinctive sound. There is no reason to mix and match them. Rather, where the sound is G (as in "get", "gear", and "gecko"), we should write G. Where it is J, as in "germane", "gesture", and today's word, we should write J.

Second, a single-R leaves unclear the sound of the E before it. Is it long? Is it short? It's short, tho many people have been misled by the spelling into thinking it long.

Third, IA is a bad spelling for what is supposed to be a long-E, short-A sequence. Rather, it suggests a sequence of long-I, followed by short-A or schwa ("diameter", "dial", "vial"). To show a sequence of long-E, then short-A, EA would be much better ("theatrics").

One issue remains. In a four-syllable word, the stress (on the third syllable) should ideally be indicated, which we can do easily by doubling the T.

Putting this all together, we get: "jerreattrics".

Sunday, December 1, 2013:  "fortuitus" for "fortuitous"

OU should stand for the OU-sound, but here represents only a schwa, which before S at the end of a word is better written as just US ("abacus", "focus", "genius"): "fortuitus".

Saturday, November 30, 2013:  "eevzdrop"  for "eavesdrop"

EA is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced long-E (in the verb to "lead"), other times as short-E (in the noun "lead"), other times as two syllables ("area"), and even as the AU sound in the name "Sean". Here, the sound is long-E, which is most clearly and simply written EE. Let's write that. Once we do so, we won't need an E after the V, because the long-E sound will be indicated within the spelling before the V.

The S in today's word represents not an S-sound (unvoiced, or voiceless), but the Z-sound (voiced). If the sound is Z, let's write Z: "eevzdrop".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Friday, November 29, 2013:  "delliquess/ent" for "deliquesce/nt"

This pair of unusual scientific words (for melting away) has a SCE where people have the right to expect SS. Both words also need a second-L to show that the DE at the start contains not a long-E  (as many readerrs might expect, from words like "defer", "delay", and "determine") but a short-E sound: "delliquess" and "delliquessent".

Thursday, November 28, 2013:  "chesbord" for "chessboard"

We can save two letters here by dropping the needless second-S and A. In the separate word "chess", a second-S serves to show that "ches", which it would be without a second-S, is not the plural of "che". But in the compound word, that is not necessary, because no one would assume that "ches" in the first element is plural. In the second element, OA is said no differenty, before an R, than would O-alone, so we don't need the A: "chesbord".

Wensday, November 27, 2013:  "biheemoth" for "behemoth"

The present unclear spelling has produced a minority spelling-pronunciation, bée.ya.matth. Once we spell the word clearly, that spelling-pronunciation should go away: "biheemoth".

Tuesday, November 26, 2013:  "ainchent" for "ancient"

Altho some dictionaries show a pronunciation of áen.shant, that is puristic and pretentious. Most speakers of English actually say a CH-sound, as in "church", here. Besides, CIE does not spell the SH-sound any more than it does the CH-sound. We need to write either SH or CH, and CH is more like what the great preponderance of speakers say, so let's write that.

To show a long-A sound before the two-letter consonant cluster CH, we need more than AN, which powerfully suggests a short-A. To show a long-A, we would need to write AY, AI, or AE. AY is best suited to the end of a word. It is found earlier ("daytime", "crayfish", "layman") but not at the very beginning of a word, at least not with a long-A sound ("aye", "ayatollah", "Aymara"). AE has various pronunciations apart from long-A, such as long-E in "algae", the AI-sound as in "aerate", short-E as in "aesthetic", etc. So AI is the best choice: "ainchent".
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My thanks to "Dogger..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Munday, November 25, 2013:  "veegan" for "vegan"

The four-letter string VEGA is most commonly associated with the placename "Las Vegas", where it has a long-A sound. Here, the sound is long-E. To show that, we need merely double the E: "veegan".

Sunday, November 24, 2013:  "tapewerm" for "tapeworm"

OR is ordinarily pronounced with an AU-sound. But here, it represents the sound most commonly written ER. Let's use that: "tapewerm".
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My thanks to "Caste..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, November 23, 2013:  "simmean" and "prosimmean" for "simian" and "prosimian"

A single-M in these words leaves unclear the sound of the I before it. Is it long? Is it short? It's short. To make that clear, we should double the M.

The second-I in these words represents not a long-I, not a short-I, but a long-E sound. We have a letter for that sound — E: "simmean" and "prosimmean."

Friday, November 22, 2013:  "rokett" for "roquette"

This Food Friday word has a QU for a simple K-sound, whereas QU is most commonly said as tho written KW. Let's just drop the QU and write a K. At the end of the word, we don't need -ETTE to show stress there. TT by itself should suffice: "rokett".

Thursday, November 21, 2013:  "peedmont" for "piedmont"

"Pied" is a word, as in the Pied Piper, pronounced with a long-I. Here, the sound is long-E, which is best shown by EE: "peedmont".

Wensday, November 20, 2013:  "orjy" and "orjeastic" for "orgy"* and "orgiastic"

Why is there a G in these words, when the sound is J? If the sound is J, we should write J. In the adjective, an I stands in for an E-sound. We have an E. Let's use it: "orjy" and "orjeastic".
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* Today's words refer not just to sexual revelry but also to overindulgence of various kinds, so are OK to use in this project, which is directed in large part to students.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013:  "mangganeez" for "manganese"

There are two things wrong with the present spelling. First, NG is ambiguous ("singer", "finger", "ingredient", "ingest"). Here, the sound is a combination of the ordinary NG-sound plus a ("hard"-)G. To show that, we should double the G.

Second, -ESE should be pronounced with an S-sound, but is actually said (by almost everybody) as a Z-sound. The few people who use an S-sound do so because they see an S, so think the sound should be S. It should not, and if we change the spelling to show a Z, they will come to understand that the sound is supposed to be Z. And since the two E's in the present -ESE ending represent a long-E sound, we should move them together, and put the Z at the very end of the word: "mangganeez".

Munday, November 18, 2013:  "leep" for "leap"

EA should be reserved for words in which it represents two adjoining vowel sounds ("area", "nausea", "theater"). Here, it represents only the single sound, long-E. That is much better written EE: "leep".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Sunday, November 17, 2013:  "ilissit" for "illicit"

Today's word has a double consonant and single consonant in the wrong places. The L-sound starts the second syllable. It does not end the first, so we don't need to double the L. The C, however, does end its syllable, which contains a short vowel. So a double consonant should be there. That consonant, however, should not be C, because that would be pronounced like KS before the I that follows ("accident", "occipital", "vaccinate"). The sound is actually S, so let's use S, but we will need two of them to show that the preceding I-sound is short: "ilissit".

Saturday, November 16, 2013:  "hek" for "heck"

We don't need two consonants, CK, to represent a K-sound at the end of a word (compare "amok", "bleak", "kayak"). K by itself will do very nicely: "hek".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Friday, November 15, 2013:  "gurd" and "gurt" for "gird" and "girt"

IR is ambiguous, sometimes taking the sound of long-E, as in "irritable". Here, the sound is that which is most commonly written ER ("tern"), OR ("minor"), AR ("library"), or UR ("urge") — that is, practically any way but with an I. Of all those other ways, UR seems the clearest: "gurd" and "gurt".
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My thanks to "JEA..." for this suggestion.

Thursday, November 14, 2013:  "fiz" for "fizz"

We don't need a double consonant at the end of a word. We don't write "thiss", "thatt", or "fezz", so don't need to write two Z's here: "fiz".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Wensday, November 13, 2013:  "ethal" for "ethyl"

Why would we pronounce Y, midword, as a schwa? A much more reasonable spelling of schwa would be A, E, or even I. The most common spelling for schwa is A, so let's use that: "ethal".

Tuesday, November 12, 2013:  "dagerrotype" for "daguerreotype"

There are two problems with today's word. First, G does not need a U to show it takes its own, unique G-sound. Compare "dagger". We don't write "dagguer". Indeed, we would expect to say "dagguer" with a W-sound for the U. That's not the sound in "daguerreotype".

Second, there is an E-O sequence, which should be said as a long-E followed by an O-sound, long or short. Instead, we are to ignore the E as tho it isn't even there. So let's get rid of it, so it really isn't there: "dagerrotype".

Munday, November 11, 2013:  "cercle" for "circle"

lR is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced as EE ("irritate"), sometimes as short-I ("iridescent"), and sometimes as the sound most commonly written ER ("better") but also as UR ("urn") and AR ("friar"). Here, the sound is the one most commonly written ER, so let's use that: "cercle".
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My thanks to "Red..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Sunday, November 10, 2013:  "brail" for "Braille" and "braille"

Altho today's word is spelled as it is because it is the name of the inventor of the system of raised dots in written materials for the blind, that's irrelevant to the spelling of the sounds we have to deal with. The final-E does not represent a second syllable, as it does in "finale" or "abalone", but is silent, so we don't need it. We also don't need a capital-B for an ordinary word: "brail".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, November 9, 2013:  "anattomy" and "annatommical" for "anatomy" and "anatomical"

This pair of related words are pronounced quite differently, so the spelling should be quite different to show that. In the noun, "anatomy", the first-A is a schwa, but the second is a full short-A. The way to show a short-A before a T sound is to double the T.

In the adjective, the initial-A is a full short-A, and the second-A is a schwa. To show the short-A, we should double the consonant after it, the N. Similarly, the O here is a full short-O, as distinct from the schwa in "anatomy". To show that, we should double the M: "anattomy" and "annatommical".

Friday, November 8, 2013:  "weerdo" for "weirdo"

EI is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced as long-I, other times as long-E, as in the two pronunciations of "either" and "neither". Even before R, there are two pronunciations, long-E, as in  "weir" and "Madeira" (wine), and flat-A (the AI sound in "airmail"), as in "heir" and "their". If the sound is long-E, we should write that in the clearest fashion, EE: "weerdo".

Thursday, November 7, 2013:  "vybrant" for "vibrant"

A two-letter consonant cluster like BR should mark the prior vowel short, but in today's word, it is actually long-I. To show that, we should change the I to Y: "vybrant".

Wensday, November 6, 2013:  "timpanum" for "tympanum" and "timpanum"

There are two current spellings of today's word (the Latin term for eardrum). Naturally, the more sensible is the alternate spelling, whereas the less sensible is standard. Let's make the more sensible spelling the only correct spelling: "timpanum".
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Most people may see this word as taking stress on the second syllable, which would require a spelling of "timpannum". But the stress actually falls on the first syllable, so "timpanum" suffices.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013:  "solissit" for "solicit"

A single-C leaves unclear the sound of the preceding-I, which could be long. It is actually short. The way we customarily show a short vowel is by doubling the consonant after it, but the consonant here is C, and CC before an I would sound like KS, as it does in "accident", "occident", and "vaccinate". The sound here, however, is a simple-S. To show that, we need to use the letter S, but two of them to show that the I just before is short: "solissit".

Munday, November 4, 2013:  "rockanroal" for "rock 'n' roll" and "rock-and-roll"

A lot of people do not know how to spell this phrase. Does the middle part have a single apostrophe? before the N? after it? In that the apostrophe stands in for a missing letter, there should, formally, be two apostrophes, on either side of the N. But what saving is there if we put two apostrophes in for two missing letters?

The alternate spelling writes out all three words, joined by hyphens. That seems cumbersome, so the shortened form "rock" has largely replaced the longer.

If, however, people want to use the long form, they should be able to spell it with confidence, and preferably with both a little saving in letters and more clarity as to sound.

We can close up the phrase; reinstate the A of the second element of the present phrase, "and"; but drop the D entirely, without need of an apostrophe. In the third element, OLL should be pronounced with a short-O, as in "doll", "follow",  and "lollipop".  That is not the sound here, which is a long-O. Midword, long-O is better written OA ("coal", "goal", and "shoal"). Let's use that: "rockanroal".
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My thanks to "Wilddog..." for suggesting reform of today's word (or phrase), tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Sunday, November 3, 2013:  "pitch/er" for "pitch/er"

We don't need three letters to represent the CH-sound, but do quite nicely with just CH in words parallel to today's like "rich", "which", and "sandwich", so don't need a T here: "pich" and "picher".
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My thanks to "Tom..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, November 2, 2013:  "oozo" for "ouzo"

OU should be reserved for the OU-sound. Here, the sound is long-U with no initial Y-glide, which is often written OO. Let's use that here: "oozo".

Friday, November 1, 2013:  "mazer" for "maser"

We have today another of those annoying words in which a Z-sound is written with a misleading S. If the sound is Z, we should write Z: "mazer".
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My thanks to "garden..." for this suggestion.

Thursday, October 31, 2013:  "leese" for "lease"

As with yesterday's word ("hear" to "heer"), there is an ambiguous EA in today's word, and again, the simplest way to show the long-E sound unambiguously midword is EE. There remains the issue of whether we should change the S to C, because in words like "ease" and "please", the S is foolishly pronounced Z. The fault is not in the S, which should always be pronounced S, and is so pronounced in words like "cease" and "crease". The words where the sound is Z should be reformed to show a Z. It is not for us to change a perfectly good S to C, if the sound of the C is S!: "leese".
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My thanks to "space..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Thursday, October 30, 2013:  "heer" for "hear"

EA is ambiguous ("heart", "ad nauseam", "area": hort, aad náu.zee.yam, ái.ree.ya) . The sound of the EA in today's word is a simple long-E, which, midword, is most clearly shown by EE: "heer".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013:  "gild/er" for "guild/er"

These two words use G as it should be used, to represent the sound that only G represents. But both add an absolutely unnecessary and misleading U (compare "ambiguous", "anguish", and "consanguinity": aam.bíg.yue.was, áang.gwish, kòn.saan(g).gwín.i.tee). Let's drop the U.

"Gild" is already an alternate spelling for "guild", so we need merely make it the only spelling. There is already a word "gild" meaning to cover with gold, but since "gild" is already an alternate spelling for "guild", we are not suggesting anything radical here in advocating that the alternate spelling for "guild" become the standard spelling: "gild" and "gilder".

Munday, October 28, 2013:  "foohl" for "fool"

OO is ambiguous, having both a long sound (as in "food" and "stooge"), and a short sound (as in "good" and "wool"). In the word "ooh", an H makes plain that long-O is intended. Let's write that here: "foohl".
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My thanks to both "space..." and "garden..." for this suggestion.

Sunday, October 27, 2013:  "ontractt" for "entr'acte"

This bizarre spelling for a word from French* has an apostrophe midword and a needless silent-E at the end. That E does not, as many final-E's do, indicate that the vowel ahead of one or more consonants just before it is long ("pace", "bathe", "change"). It does suggest that the word's stress falls on the second syllable, but at the cost of confusing the issue of the prior vowel's sound, and even the risk of being seen as representing a third syllable to itself ("abalone", "psyche", "catastrophe"). To show that the stress falls on the second syllable, and at the same time indicate that the word has only two syllables, not three, we can simply double the T.

In addition to problems in the second syllable, the first syllable has a problem of its own: the sound of the initial-E is not an E-sound at all but a short-O. Let's write O: "ontractt".
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American Heritage Dictionary: "1.a. The interval between two acts of a theatrical performance. b. Another performance, as of music or dance, provided between two acts of a theatrical performance."

Saturday, October 26, 2013:  "dessimate" for "decimate"

The prefix DE is commonly said with a long-E ("decide", "defame", "detest"). Here, the sound of the E is short. To show that, we would ordinarily double the following consonant. But here, the consonant is C, and CC before an I would be pronounced as KS (as in "succinct", "vaccinate", and "cappuccino"). So we need to change the C to S and double that: "dessimate".

Friday, October 25, 2013:  "chouw" for "chow"

This Food Friday, let's fix a slang word for food itself! OW is ambiguous. In "show", which differs by only one letter from today's word, the vowel sound is long-O. In "now", however, the vowel is the OU-sound. To indicate that, we can add a U before the W: "chouw".

Thursday, October 24, 2013:  "burjen" for "burgeon" and "bourgeon"

There are two spellings for today's word, but neither is quite right. "Bourgeon" is preposterous, in leading the reader to think there is either a long-U or an OU-sound in the first syllable, when the sound is that of ER in "ermine" or UR in "surgery". Since there is a UR in both present spellings, that seems the more reasonable choice.

The second syllable is also irrationally spelled, in looking as tho it is said in two syllables, the first being a long-E and the second having a short-O. In actuality, the E is there only to show that the G is "soft", the J-sound. It does not end a short syllable of its own. If the sound is J, let's write J.

Further, the ON has only a schwa sound, not a full short-O. So O is not the best choice for the vowel in that syllable. The other present vowel, E, is the best choice, since "burgeon" rhymes with "burden: "burjen".

Wensday, October 23, 2013:  "agriculcher" for "agriculture"

T does not spell the CH-sound, as in "church". CH does. The second problem with today's word is that URE should be pronounced with a long-U ("lure", "assure", "brochure"), but here has the sound most commonly written ER ("better") but also UR ("urgent"). ER might be guessed more readily, but since the present spelling has UR, let's stick with that: "agriculchur".

Tuesday, October 22, 2013:  "whialst" for "whilst"

This is a British version of "while". But whereas "while" indicates that the I is long with a final-E, this word has no such cue, so the reader could easily see the I as short. It is not.

The long-I sound cannot occur in the same syllable as a following-L. Rather, there must be a small schwa sound between the long-I and the L, as in "dial", "trial", and "vial". Let's use that pattern here: "whialst".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Munday, October 21, 2013:  "vissinij" for "vicinage"

Let's fix four small problems with this word that is presently used mainly in law to denote the area covered by a particular local court.

First, the single-C leaves unclear the sound of the preceding-I. Is it long? Is it short? It's short, so we need to show that. We cannot, however, simply double the following consonant, as we often can, to do so, because that consonant is C, and CC would be pronounced as in "accident", with a K-sound followed by an S-sound. The sound is, instead, a simple S-sound, which we can show and still signal that the prior-I is short, by writing a double-S.

The second problem is that AGE should be pronounced with a long-A, but is actually pronounced with a schwa so close to a short-I that it might better be written with an I.

The third problem is that the G does not represent G's own, unique sound, as in "good grief", but the sound of J. We have a letter for that sound: J. Let's write J.

The fourth problem with the current spelling is that the final-E not just suggests that the A before the G should be pronounced long, but also that -E could represent a long-E sound in a fourth syllable; but there is no fourth syllable.

Putting this all together, we get: "vissinij".

Sunday, October 20, 2013:  "taillite for "taillight"

This is simple. The first element in today's compound word is fine. The second, however, has a preposterous silent-GH. It contains a long-I sound, which can be shown clearly and efficiently by replacing the IGHT with ITE: "taillite".
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My thanks to "FireW..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, October 19, 2013:  "solv" for "solve"

Why is there an E at the end of this word? It is not pronounced in a syllable to itself (sól.vee or sól.vae), nor does it alter the sound of the vowel in the first (and only) syllable, which is short-O whether there is an E at the end or not. Let's just drop it, OK?: "solv".
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My thanks to "Wurdplay..." for this suggestion.

Friday, October 18, 2013:  "rotissery" for "rotisserie"

This Food Friday, let's make a minor change to reduce possible confusion as regards the sound of the last syllable, which contains a long-E sound ("quality", "psychology"), not long-I ("fie", "magpie"). Altho -Y is not completely unambiguous, a long-I sound in a word of more than one syllable that ends in -Y is rather rare. And -Y saves a letter over -IE. So, let's use that: "rotissery".

Thursday, October 17, 2013:  "paschur" and "paschurij" for "pasture" and "pasturage"

T does not spell the CH-sound (as in "church"). CH does. And AGE should have a long-A sound, as in the word "age" itself, "stage", and "rampage". Here, the sound is a schwa so close to a short-I that it might as well be written with an I.

Moreover, we certainly don't need an E at the end of either of these related words. Indeed, a final-E would mislead the reader into pronouncing the last syllable with a long vowel, whereas neither of them has a long vowel sound: "paschur" and "paschurij".

Wensday, October 16, 2013:  "obee" for "obi"

The spelling of this word from Japanese is indefensibly absurd. Japanese is not written in the roman alphabet, nor any alphabet, for that matter. So there is no justification for writing this word* in a non-English fashion. We don't have to go thru a European way of writing, but can and should jump directly from Japanese to English. The sound is óe.bee, which in traditional English should be written: "obee".
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* American Heritage Dictionary:  "A wide sash fastened in the back with a large flat bow, worn by women in Japan as a part of the traditional dress."

Tuesday, October 15, 2013:  "mathamattics" and "mathamattical" for "mathematics" and "mathematical"

Two things in these related words warrant reform. First, ATHE is ambiguous; compare "bathe" and "lathe", in which the E is not the vowel of a second syllable but the continuation of the first syllable. In fact, some people skip the actual second syllable, and start the second syllable with the second-M ('math-matics'). To show that the second syllable starts right after the TH and comprises only a schwa sound, we should change the E to A.

Second, a single-T at the end of the third syllable renders unclear the sound of the A before it. Is it long? Is it short? It's short, which we can show unambiguously by doubling the T: "mathamattics" and "mathamattical".
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My thanks to "smithb..." for this suggestion.

Munday, October 14, 2013:  "labeum", "labea", and "labeal"   for "labium", "labia", and "labial"

These words from biology (for various lip-like structures) all have an I for a long-E sound. Why? Let's replace the I with E in all three: "labeum", "labea" (the plural), and "labeal" (the adjective).

Sunday, October 13, 2013:  "immitate" for "imitate"

Two things will be clearer if we double the M. First, the fact that the I before it is short will be made plain. Second, the reader will be cued to the fact that the word's stress falls on the first syllable: "immitate".

Saturday, October 12, 2013:  "hoohp" for "hoop"

OOP is ambiguous. There are two OO sounds, long as in "blooper" and short as in one pronunciation of both "hoopla" and "whoops", which makes plain that OO without more cannot be clear. If we add H after it, however, we can cue the reader to supply the long-OO sound (which is a long-U without an initial Y-glide): "hoohp".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Friday, October 11, 2013:  "gwovva" for "guava"

This Food Friday, let's clear up two ambiguities in one short word. The letter sequence GUA occurs in words like "guard", "guaranty", and "guarantor", in which the vowel U is silent. It is not silent here, but represents the sound of the consonant W. If the sound if W, why would we write U?

Second, the single-V leaves unclear the sound of the A before it. Is it long, as in "vena cava", or short, as in "at"? Actually, it's neither, but a "broad"-A, the same sound as short-O. So let's write an O, and double the V after it to show that the O-sound is short: "gwovva".
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My thanks to "Firewall..." for this suggestion.

Thursday, October 10, 2013:  "feer" for "fear"

EA is ambiguous ("clear", "creation", "area", "Sean"). Here, the sound is long-E, which is better written EE: "feer".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Wensday, October 9, 2013:  "econnomy" and "econommic" for "economy" and "economic"

As with yesterday's word, we can clarify where the primary stress in today's words falls. Here, we need only double the consonant after the stressed syllable (which is different in the two related words), which will also serve to make plain that the O before the doubled letter is a full short vowel rather than a schwa: "econnomy" and "econommic".
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My thanks to "space..." for "economy".

Tuesday, October 8, 2013:  "deterr" for "deter"

Showing unusual syllabic stress, tho not a usual function of traditional English spelling, is sometimes done. For instance, stress on the last syllable is sometimes indicated by endings like -ETTE ("kitchenette") and -ESSE ("largesse"). Here, a word that is parallel in form to the last name of the captain of the New York Yankees, Derek Jeter, is pronounced differently, with the stress on the second syllable rather than first. To show that, we could add -RE ("deterre"), but a second-R alone would do just as well and save a letter: "deterr".

Munday, October 7, 2013:  "ceffalothorax" for "cephalothorax"

There is only one problem in this five-syllable word, the preposterous and inefficient PH for a simple F-sound. What is F for, if not to express the F-sound? In today's word, the F-sound falls immediately after a short-E, so should be doubled to show that the E is short: "ceffalothorax".

Sunday, October 6, 2013:  "bevverij" for "beverage"

AGE should be pronounced with a long-A, as in the word "age" itself, "stage" and "rampage". Here, however, it is said with a schwa so close to short-I that it might as well be written with an I.

The first-E in today's word is short, so we would do better to double the consonant after it, the V, to show that.

The last issue in today's word is that a J-sound is written ambiguously and inefficiently as GE. We have a letter J to represent that sound unambiguously and efficiently. Why wouldn't we use it?: "bevverij".
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My thanks to "garden..." for this suggestion. Note: some people do not pronounce the E in the middle syllable. They can as easily ignore the E retained in the offered reformed spelling as in the traditional spelling.

Saturday, October 5, 2013:  "aplaud" and "aplauz" for "applaud" and "applause"

There should not be a double-P in either of today's words, because that would signal the reader to say a full short-A, as in "at", whereas the sound is actually a schwa, as in "apart", "aplomb", and "apologize". So let's drop the second-P.

In "applause" we have the additional problem of SE being used to represent a Z-sound. S and Z are not the same. S is the voiceless pair to voiced Z. They should not be mixed and matched. SE is also unclear, as indicated by the two pronunciations of "close". SE should always be pronounced with an S-sound, never with a Z-sound. If the sound is Z, let's write a Z. And once we do, we don't need a final-E: "aplaud" and "aplauz".

Friday, October 4, 2013:  "whenevver" for "whenever"

As in yesterday's four-syllable word, all the vowels in today's three-syllable word are short, but since all the consonants are single, there's no way for the reader to know that. If we double the V, we at once mark the E that precedes it as short and suggest that the word's stress falls on that syllable too, which makes unlikely that the other syllables have a long-E, so everything is clarified: "whenevver".
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My thanks to "space..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Thursday, October 3, 2013:  "vicinnity" for "vicinity"

This four-syllable word has only short vowels, but none of them is marked by a double consonant afterward, so how is the reader to know? If we double the N, we at once show that the I before it is short and that the syllable before it is stressed, which makes more likely that the other I's are short too: "vicinnity".

Wensday, October 2, 2013:  "toohl" for "tool"

OO is ambiguous. "Wool", which a sight-rhyme for "tool", has a different vowel sound, the short-OO. "Tool" contains the long-OO, but how is anyone, esp. outside the old-line English-speaking countries, to know that? If we insert an H after the OO, that should be read as indicating that we have here the long-OO, as in "ooh": "toohl".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013:  "sollitair" for "solitaire"

A single-L leaves unclear the sound of the O before it, which could be long, but is actually short. To show that, we can double the L. That would not be completely unambiguous, given words like "poll" and "roll", but it is more likely to be read with a short-O than would this word with a single-L, given words like "follow" and "collagen".

There's a second little problem in today's word, a needless final-E. AI, the vowel sound before the R, is invariable, so the final-E does not here, as it does in some other words, mark the sound before a preceding consonant as long ("take", "here", "spoke"). Nor is today's word stressed on the last syllable, which is another possible use for a silent final-E. This final-E is completely superfluous, so let's just drop it, OK?: "sollitair".

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