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Simpler Spelling
Word of the Day
Archive of Discussions
January-March 2014

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Munday, March 31, 2014:  "jeode", "jeoddic", and "jeodal" for "geode", "geoddic", and "geodal"

This trio of related words from geology and gemology has a G where there should be a J. All the G's must go.

The second issue is in the adjective "geodic", which has a stressed short-O that we need to show by doubling the following-D: "jeode", "jeoddic", and "jeodal".
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My thanks to "braeden..." for this suggestion.

Sunday, March 30, 2014:  "furtiv"  for "furtive"

IVE should be pronounced with a long-I ("dive", "strive", "deprive"), but the I here is short. To show that, we need merely drop the final-E: "furtiv".

Saturday, March 29, 2014:  "evenchual" for "eventual"

T does not spell the CH-sound, as in "church". CH does: "evenchual".

Friday, March 28, 2014:  "derijible" for "dirigible"

Today's word has three I's, pronounced in two different ways. The two that sound alike, as proper short-I's, are in the second and third syllables. We can leave those. But the first, as followed by an R, takes the ER-sound of "dereby", "derelict", and "derivation". Let's change that I to E.

The second problem is that we have, again, a G that represents a J-sound. All such occurrences should be changed to J: "derijible".
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Note: In the alternate pronunciation der.íj.i.bòol, the I before the J-sound is stressed, so we would ordinarily be well advised to double the J to show that. But since this is an alternate pronunciation, not the primary, we can leave a single-J.

Thursday, March 27, 2014:  "caj" for "cadge"

This unusual word for "get by begging" has a dopy and needlessly long spelling. There are only three speech sounds in this word. There need be only three letters. DGE is a preposterous and inefficient way to write a simple J-sound. G should always convey only a G-sound, the sound unique to that letter and found in words like "geese", "get", and "gecko". It should never be used for the J-sound. J should be used to show that sound: "caj".

Wensday, March 26, 2014:  "beest" for "beast"

EA is a very bad spelling for a simple long-E sound, in that EA can be pronounced at least 6 different ways. If the sound is, as here, long-E, midword, EE is the best way to show that: "beest".

Tuesday, March 25, 2014:  "acompliss" for "accomplice"

There are two problems with today's word. First, the two C's tell the reader that the vowel before them is short, but it's not. It's a schwa, not a short-A as in "accurate", "access", or "accelerate". Schwa at the beginning of a word is commonly shown by an A followed by a single consonant ("ajar", "afar", "alarm"). So let's drop the second-C.

At the end of the word we have ICE, which should have a long-I sound, as in the word "ice" itself, "spice", and "splice". Here, however, it represents a short-I sound followed by an S-sound. We can't show that with CE at the end but must use SS.

Putting these little changes together, we get: "acompliss".

Munday, March 24, 2014:  "volcannic" for "volcanic"

I heard today's adjective mispronounced with a long-A, as in the noun "volcano" from which it derives, by an announcer on the Chinese-run U.S. television network ICN, in a broadcast from Communist China. I listen to a lot of TV from many countries, so get a sense of what spellings confuse readers. People outside the English-speaking world do not know when vowels change from the noun to the adjective, without guidance from the spelling. Here, we need merely double the N to tell everyone that the A is short: "volcannic".

Sunday, March 23, 2014:  "euraneum"  for "uranium"

There are two minor problems in today's word, one toward the end and one at the beginning. At the end, an I stands in for a long-E sound. Why would we write an I if the sound is E? Let's just use an E.

At the very beginning of the word, we have a U whose sound will probably be read correctly by people raised in an English-speaking country, but might not be at all clear to people elsewhere. Since English has to be used by people in over 100 countries outside the old-line English-speaking countries, we should strive for maximal clarity and thus show that the sound here is a long-U with an initial Y-glide (as in "pure"), nor the sound of UR in "urgent". The way to show that is by placing either a Y or an E before the UR. Y wouldn't quite work. It would show that there is an initial Y-glide, but would not show clearly that the U is long. EU, however, would indicate the correct sound: "euraneum".

Saturday, March 22, 2014:  "tammarisk" for "tamarisk"

This name of a  number of members of a genus of shrubs and small trees has an interesting sidelite. The Latin name of the genus is Tamarix, which makes the English name seem to contain an unintentional transposition, like Ebonics' "ax" for "ask". In any case, the only problem with the present spelling is that a single-M leaves unclear whether the A before it is long or short. It's short, so we should double the M to show that: "tammarisk".

Friday, March 21, 2014:  "selvij" for "selvage" and "selvedge"

We can simplify two bad spellings for one word* today. The first syllable of both is fine. But the second syllable of both is wrong. AGE should be pronounced with a long-A, as in the word "age" itself, "page", and "engage". In actuality, the sound here is a schwa so close to short-I that we might as well write it with an I. But after the I, what? DGE is a preposterous way to write a simple J-sound. Let's use J: "selvij".
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* American Heritage Dictionary: "1.a. The edge of a fabric that is woven so that it will not fray or ravel. b. An ornamental fringe at either end of an oriental rug. 2. The edge plate of a lock that has a slot for a bolt."

Thursday, March 20, 2014:  "rellativ/ly" for "relative/ly"

There are two problems with today's two words.

(1) RE is a common prefix, ordinarily pronounced with a long-E. Here, however, the E is short. So we should double the L to show that.

(2) IVE should be pronounced with a long-I, as in "five", "jive", and "alive". Here, however, the I is short. To show that, we need merely drop the E after the V: "rellativ" and "rellativly".

Wensday, March 19, 2014:  "fotograf", "fotograffic", "fotoggrafy", and "fotoggrafer" for "photograph", "photographic", "photography", and "photographer"

We have, in this quartet of closely related words, 8 occurrences of the moronic and ambiguous spelling PH for a simple F-sound. (In words like "uphill" and "uphold", the PH does not represent an F-sound at all, but what you would expect, a P-sound followed by an H-sound.) All of the crazy PH's here need to be eliminated, in favor of a single- or double-F, as appropriate.

In "photograph", we need only single-F's. In "photographic", however, we need a double-F to show that the A is short.

In "photography" and "photographer", we need a double-G rather than double-F. Once we make these subsitutions, all these words are much clearer and more intelligently written: "fotograf", "fotograffic", "fotoggrafy" and "fotoggrafer".

Tuesday, March 18, 2014:  "nurollojy" for "neurology"

EU should be read as a long-U with an initial Y-glide, as in "pure" (a consonantal-Y being, in essence, a very briefly articulated long-E sound). In "neurology", by far most people do not pronounce an initial Y-glide, so we should eliminate the E. People who wish to say a Y-glide are of course free to do so, but the spelling should not suggest to the great majority of people, who do not use it, that there is something wrong with the way they speak.

Further, a single-L permits a long-O before it, whereas the O is actually short. Doubling the L will at once show that the O is short and cue the reader to place the word's stress on the second of this word's four syllables.

The last of this word's three problems is that it contains a G, but no G-sound, also called "hard"-G — that is, the sound, unique to G and expressed by no other letter in English, that is heard in words like "give", "gear", and "argyle". Here, the sound is J. If that is the sound, we should write J.

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

Munday, March 17, 2014:  "moddifi" for "modify"

A single-M leaves unclear the sound of the O before it, which might be long, as in "modem", "modish", and "modality", but here is short. To show that, we should double the D.

The second issue in today's word is the sound of the Y at the end of the word. Most Y's in final position are pronounced long-E (or, in "clipped" British accents, short-I), but here the sound is long-I. Altho there are -FY endings in which the sound is long-I ("de", "qualify", "quantify") not all such endings are pronounced differently from what the reader might expect. Words like "beefy", "daffy", and "goofy" have the long-E sound that a reader, especially outside the historic English-speaking countries, might expect.

Altho it is not possible to make perfectly plain that the sound here is long-I, replacing the -Y with -I (as in "alibi", "cacti", and "stimuli") would be clearer: "moddifi".

Sunday, March 16, 2014:  "lejjislate", "lejjislation", and "lejjislachur"  for "legislate", "legislation",  and "legislature"

The single-G in today's closely related words leaves unclear whether the E before it is long or short. It's short. We can indicate that more clearly by doubling the consonant after it.

However, the consonant here is wrong, a G that stands in for a J-sound. If the sound is J, let's write J. And if the vowel before that J-sound is short, let's do what we often do to show that, double the consonant right after it. So JJ it should be.

In the third word today we have another problem, a T that is supposed to be read as a CH-sound as in "church". T does not spell the CH-sound. CH does. So let's substitute CH for the T.

The last problem in today's words is that the -URE in the third word should be read with a long-U ("allure", "assure", "endure"), but actually has a short-U. To show that, we need merely drop the final-E: "lejjislate", "lejjislation", and "lejjislachur".

Saturday, March 15, 2014:  "insomnea" and "insomneac" for "insomnia/c"

IA is a very poor choice for writing the sound sequence long-E followed by schwa. IA is much more sensibly reserved for places where the I represents a long-I, as in "dial", "niacin", and "defiant".

To show the sound sequence long-E followed by schwa, we can simply write EA, as in "rhea", "area", and "theater". (And please, people, do not EVER pronounce "theater" in two syllables. It has three.)

In the second word, the sound sequence is long-E followed by short-A. That too would be better written as EA, as in "react", "deactivate", and "theatrical", which makes today's duo: "insomnea" and "insomneac".

Friday, March 14, 2014:  "hellyon" for "hellion"

Today's word contains the four-letter sequence LION, which as a very familiar and early-learned word to itself is pronounced with a long-I followed by a schwa. That is not the sound here. Rather, the I here is pronounced as tho a consonantal-Y. If the sound is Y, why would we not write a Y?: "hellyon".

Thursday, March 13, 2014:  "glisserol" for "glycerol"

Y, midword, should be pronounced as a long-I ("hybrid", "dynamo", "pyrite"). In today's word, however, it represents a short-I, which is much more sensibly written with an I followed by a double consonant. Here, however, the following consonant is C, and doubling that would produce CC, which before an E would be seen as representing the KS sound sequence in "accent", "eccentric", and "succeed", whereas the sound is actually a simple-S. So let's replace the C with S, and double that. The remainder of today's word is fine: "glisserol".

Wensday, March 12, 2014:  "flajjelate" for "flagellate"

Why would we ever use G to represent a J-sound? We have a letter for that sound: J. Let's use that. In this location, after a short-A sound, we should double the J to show that the A is short.

The traditional spelling of today's word has a double-L where it doesn't need one. Quite the contrary, the double-L suggests to the reader that the second syllable ends in the L sound, and is stressed, whereas the second syllable actually ends in a schwa sound, and the L-sound starts the third syllable. And it is the first syllable, not the second, that is stressed. So let's make up for the letter we added, a second-J, by dropping an unnecessary and misleading second-L. Now everything makes sense: "flajjelate".

Tuesday, March 11, 2014:  "emmulate" for "emulate"

An initial-E followed by a single consonant would ordinarily be seen as representing a long-E sound, or, in "clipped" British accents, a short-I ("emancipation", "emerge", "emaciated"). That is not the sound here, which is a short-E. To show that, we need merely double the following-M: "emmulate".

Munday, March 10, 2014:  "disfunction/al" for "dysfunction/al" and "disfunction/al"

There are two accepted spellings for today's words, one with an unexpected Y and the other with the I a listener would expect ("disinfect", "distinct", "disingenuous"). Let's forbid the form with a Y, and permit only the one with an I in that location: "disfunction" and "disfunctional".

Sunday, March 9, 2014:  "capassity" for "capacity"

We have here, again, a word of several syllables that has only single consonants, which at once do not show the quality (long, short, or schwa) of the preceding vowels and do not indicate where the stress in this four-syllable word falls. The reader, esp. outside the old-line English-speaking countries, could well see this word as being pronounced káe.pa.sìt.ee or káap.a.sìt.ee, tho it is actually pronounced ka.páa.si.tèe. To show that, we need to mark the second-A as short and show that the word's stress falls on that syllable.

Ordinarily, we could do that simply by doubling the consonant after that A, but here, the consonant is C, and CC would be seen, before the I that follows it, as having a KS-sound, as in "accident" or "vaccinate". The actual sound is only S, not also K. To show that and show as well that the preceding-A is short, we need to replace the C after the A with S, and double that. Now everything becomes clear: "capassity".

Saturday, March 8, 2014:  "bereev" for "bereave"

EA is highly ambiguous. "Beard", "bread", "break", "beatify", "habeas (corpus)", and "bear" are pronounced beerd, bred, braek, bee.yáa.ti.fìe, háe.bee.as (káur.pas), and bair.

Here, the sound is a simple long-E, which would be much more clearly written with an EE. If we do write it with EE, we surely don't need a third-E after the V!: "bereev".

Friday, March 7, 2014:  "anommaly" for "anomaly"

Three single consonants in this four-syllable word at once leave the sound of the vowels before them unclear — are they long? are they short? how about a schwa? — and leave unclear as well where the word's stress falls. The first vowel  sound is a schwa, and A before a single consonant is a perfect spelling for that. The second vowel, however, is short-O, which we can show plainly by doubling the M after it. The third vowel is another schwa, and, again, an A followed by a single consonant is a perfect spelling for that sound in this location too, especially after a stressed syllable, which the double-M also suggests: "anommaly".

Thursday, March 6, 2014:  "verchuoso" for "virtuoso"

T does not spell the CH-sound as in "church". CH-does. And IR often represents a long-E sound ("irritate", "virulent", and "souvenir"), but here it represents an ER-sound, which is much better shown by ER: "verchuoso".

Wensday, March 5, 2014:  "eutillitarean" for "utilitarian"

There are three U-sounds that the U at the beginning of today's word could represent: short (as in "utter"), long but without an initial Y-glide (rare, but as in "Upanishad"), and long with an initial Y-glide. Altho people who grow up in an English-speaking country may know to apply the right sound, long-U with initial Y-glide, we must always bear in mind that English is now this entire planet's auxiliary language, so should be as clear as possible for everyone, even in communities that speak languages like Spanish, where U does not take an initial Y-glide. So let's write EU to show the proper English sound.

The second issue in today's word is that all the consonants in the present spelling are single, which provides no guidance as to the quality of the vowels before them, nor as to where the syllabic stresses in this six-syllable word fall.

There are two stresses. The primary falls on the fourth syllable, but there is a secondary stress on the second syllable, which we can show by doubling the L. That will also show that the I before it is short.

The primary stress falls on an A that does not take A's short sound (as in "at"), but a sound heard mainly before an R. There are two sounds commonly heard where the letter sequence AR occurs: AR as in "mar", "lark", and "afar", and AR as in "fare", "scare", and "wary". The sound here is the second, which is sometimes written AI (as in "fair", "stairs", and "airmail"). We can make that plainer by changing the I after the R to E, which also makes better sense in representing the sound of what is now written IA, which should generally be reserved to occurrences where it represents long-I (such as in "giant", "defiant", and "compliance").

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

Tuesday, February 25, 2014:  "innovativ" for "innovative"

IVE should be pronounced with a long-I ("jive", "strive", "wives"), but the sound here is short-I. To show that, we need merely drop the E: "innovativ".

Munday, February 24, 2014:  "hepparin" for "heparin"

This scientific word* has a short-E in the first syllable, but the reader cannot know that because the following consonant is single. To show clearly that the sound is short-E, not long, we need merely double the P: "hepparin".
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* American Heritage Dictionary: "A complex organic acid found especially in lung and liver tissue and having the ability to prevent the clotting of blood, used in the treatment of thrombosis."

Sunday, February 23, 2014:  "gun/pouder" for "gunpowder"

There's nothing wrong with the first of the two elements of this compound word, but the second has an ambiguous OW, which could be pronounced as a long-O or an OU-sound. If the pronunciation is OU, it should be written OU, as it is in "louder" and "prouder": "gunpouder" and "pouder".
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My thanks to "Mario..." for this suggestion.

Saturday, February 22, 2014:  "frinj" for "fringe"

GE is a dopy and inefficient way to write a simple J-sound: "frinj".

Friday, February 21, 2014:  "elabborit" (adjective) and "elabborate" (verb) for "elaborate"

There are two related words in the one spelling "elaborate". The adjective is pronounced with a schwa in the last syllable that is so close to a short-I that we might as well write it with an I. The verb, however, is pronounced with a long-A, so the -ATE ending is appropriate. Both have a short-A in the second syllable, which a single-B following does not show clearly. If we double the B, however, that will be clear. So today's simpler spellings are: "elabborit" (adjective) and "elabborate" (verb).

Thursday, February 20, 2014:  "dich" for "ditch"

We don't need a T in words like "rich", "which", and "sandwich". We don't need a T in this word either: "dich".

Wensday, February 19, 2014:  "cabbaray" for "cabaret"

A revival of the musical Cabaret has opened on Broadway, which makes this an appropriate time to fix the spelling of this word. In French, its language of origin, the pronunciation may be apparent, but in English it is not. In English, the first-A is short, the second-A is a schwa, the E is pronounced as a long-A, and the -T is completely silent.

If it's not pronounced, a consonant should not be present. To show a short-A in English, we should double the following consonant, here, the B. The second-A, given its location in the middle of the word, will be understood by most native speakers of English to be said as a schwa, so that's OK. But the last syllable needs to be changed to show its pronunciation clearly. If we put that all together, we get the very clear: "cabbaray".

Tuesday, February 18, 2014:  "bewich" for "bewitch"

We don't need a T in words like "rich" and "which". We don't need it here either: "bewich".

Munday, February 17, 2014:  "apaul" for "appall" and "appal"

There are two spellings for today's word, both wrong. A double-P should mark the prior vowel, the A, as a full short-A. In actuality, it is a schwa, not short-A at all. To show that, we need only drop the second-P.

The second problem area is the ALL or AL at the end. AL could be read as having a short-A, as in the nickname "Al" for "Alan", "Alfred", and "Albert". It is actually to be pronounced as in "already", that is, with an AU-sound. ALL could also be pronounced with a short-A, as in "allegory". Neither AL nor ALL can be made clear in traditional English spelling. The vowel before the L-sound is actually the AU-sound, as in "haul", "aura", and "pause". If that is the sound, why don't we just write it as AU?: "apaul".

Sunday, February 16, 2014:  "tribbulation" for "tribulation"

Yet again, we have here a case in which a vowel before a single consonant, the B, could be read as long, whereas it is actually short. In this word, "trib-" is especially unclear, in that it could be read as being related to "tribe" and "tribal", both of which have a long-I. We can break that mental link and show the correct pronunciation, with a short-I, simply by doubling the B: "tribbulation".

Saturday, February 15, 2014:  "seddativ" for "sedative"

Here again we have a case of a single consonant, a D, leaving it possible for a reader to see the preceding-E as long, when it's actually short. We need to double the D to mark the preceding-E as short.

The other problem with this word is that the IVE at the end should be pronounced with a long-I, whereas the I is actually short. To show that, we need merely drop the final-E, which will also save us a letter, which is all to the good: "seddativ".

Friday, February 14, 2014:  "ravvel" and "unravvel" for "ravel" and "unravel"

The single-V leaves unclear whether the A before it in these two words  (which, curiously, mean exactly the same thing!) is long or short. Since it is short in both, we should double the V in both: "ravvel" and "unravvel".

Thursday, February 13, 2014:  "flem", "flemmy", and "flegmattic/al" for "phlegm", "phlegmy, and "phlegmatic/al"

The spelling PH for an ordinary F-sound is insupportable and should be abolished in all words. So let's replace the PH in all these related words.

Further, the G is silent in "phlegm" and "phlegmy", so should be removed from those two words.

The G is said in "phlegmatic" and "plegmatical", so that's OK, but the A could be seen as long in that only a single-T follows it. It's short, so we should double the T.

Putting this all together, we get: "flem", "flemmy", "flegmattic", and "flegmattical".

Wensday, February 12, 2014:  "oblije" for "oblige"

Why would we write a J-sound with G?: "oblije".

Tuesday, February 11, 2014:  "nobillity" for "nobility"

There are four consonants in this four-syllable word, which gives the reader not a single cue as to which syllable takes the stress nor which of the vowels are long or short. If we can pin the stress to one syllable, the sounds in the others become clearer.

Here, the second syllable take the stress. To show that, and at the same time show as well that the preceding-I is short, we should double the L. That one change makes the rest of the word pretty clear. The O is long, because it is followed by a single-B. The I before the T is short, because it immediately follows a stressed syllable. And the -Y takes a long-E sound (or, in "clipped" British dialects, a short-I sound) because that is the usual sound of Y at the end of a word of more than one syllable: "nobillity".

Munday, February 10, 2014:  "mygrane" for "migraine"

The reader should be able to rely upon the two-letter consonant cluster GR as marking the preceding-I as short, but in fact it is long. To show that, we need a different spelling of the vowel in itself, so the reader does not look beyond the vowel to what follows to see whether it is long or short. We could write "mie[grain]" or "my[grain]". Y is shorter, and perhaps clearer.

The second part of the word, "grain", misleads the reader as to the word's sense, as tho it has something to do with grain. It does not. We can write the same sound in a different way, as will break that incorrect mental linkage, with -ANE rather than -AIN. Let's: "mygrane".

Sunday, February 9, 2013:  "loj" and "lojjing/s" for "lodge" and "lodging/s"

DGE and DG are preposterous, inefficient ways to spell a simple J-sound. In "lodge", we can simply replace the DGE with J. In "lodging" and "lodgings", we need to replace the DG with JJ to show that the preceding-O is short: "loj", "lodging", and "lodgings".

Saturday, February 8, 2014:  "in/clemment" for "in/clement"

A series of three major snowstorms in one week, across a wide swath of the United States, makes today's first word, "inclement", seem entirely appropriate for today. We must not, however, fix that word without also fixing its pair, "clement". The same problem appears in both, namely, that the short-E in the first syllable needs a double-M after it to show that it is short: "inclemment" and "clemment".

Friday, February 7, 2014:  "hospiss" for "hospice"

The ending of today's word is "spice", which as a word to itself is pronounced with a long-I. Here, the I is short. To show that, we need to get rid of the misleading -CE and replace it with -SS: "hospiss".

Thursday, February 6, 2014:  "grannular" and "grannule" for "granular" and "granule"

As with yesterday's word, "fabulous", a single consonant leaves unclear the sound of the preceding-A in both of today's words. This is particularly relevant here, in that both words refer to "grains", which has a long-A. To show that the A here is short, we need merely double the N: "grannular" and "grannule".

Wensday, February 5, 2014:  "fabbulus" for "fabulous"

The single-B leaves unclear whether the preceding-A is long or short. It's short. To show that, we need merely double the B.

A second problem with this word is that is contains an OU but no OU-sound. There's a quick and simple fix for that too: just drop the O: "fabbulus".

Tuesday, February 4, 2014:  "evapporate" for "evaporate"

A single-P leads the reader to see "vapor" in today's word as being pronounced exactly like that word to itself, with a long-A. Here, the sound is short-A. To show that, we should double the following-P: "evapporate".

Munday, February 3, 2014:  "durj" for "dirge"

IR is often pronounced with a long-E ("irritable", "emir", "conspiracy"). That's not the sound here, which is the one most commonly written ER but also sometimes UR. Here, UR seems more appropriate.

The other problem today is that GE is a dopy way to write a simple J-sound. We should always write a J-sound as J: "durj".

Sunday, February 2, 2013:  "cattakizm" for "catechism"

Let's fix four problems with this word.

(1) ATE should be pronounced with a long-A, as in the word "ate" itself, "fate", and "stated". In today's word, the A is short. To show that, we need to double the following-T.

(2) The E does not really represent a short-E, which a two-letter consonant cluster after it (CH) would indicate, but a schwa, which is much better shown by A.

(3) The CH does not represent the English CH-sound (as in "church"), but an ordinary K-sound. We have a letter K. Let's use it. And

(4) The S represents not an S-sound but a Z-sound. We have a letter Z. Why would we write a Z-sound with S?

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

Saturday, February 1, 2014:  "bateest" for "batiste"

Today's name of a fine fabric is written sensibly for French, its language of origin, but not at all sensibly for English, into which it has been borrowed.  Nowadays, English is being learned by hundreds of millions of people in places, like China, where almost no one has ever studied French. It is important that English be readable easily by people who have absolutely no knowledge of French.

In English, "batiste" might be read as three syllables (ba.tís.tee; compare "adobe" and "recipe"), or two syllables, the second stressed (ba.tíst). In actuality, however, it is pronounced in two syllables, but the vowel of the second syllable is long-E, not short-I. Let's write it so people who read only English will know how to say it: "bateest".

Friday, January 31, 2014:  "apeel" for "appeal"

There are two things wrong with the traditional spelling of today's word. First, a double-P tells the reader that the vowel before it (here, an A) is short. But it is actually a schwa, not short-A at all. To show that clearly, we need merely drop one of the P's, which will also save us a letter, which is all to the good.

Second, EA is highly ambiguous ("read", for instance, can be pronounced both reed and red; and EA can as well be pronounced in two syllables, with or without one of them being stressed: "rhea", "area"). In today's word, the sound is a simple long-E, which is much better shown by EE: "apeel".
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My thanks to "Shoe..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Thursday, January 30, 2014:  "velossity" for "velocity"

The present spelling looks as tho it should be pronounced vèl.oe.sít.ee, as tho it refers to a city specially suited to bicycles (compare "velodrome"). In actuality, however, it is another word for "speed".

The second syllable is stressed, and the O is short. To show that, we would ordinarily double the following consonant, here, a C. But CC would take an entirely different sound, not S but the sound sequence K+S, as in "accident" and "succinct". To show an S-sound after a stressed vowel, we need to change the C to S, then double that S: "velossity".

Wensday, January 29, 2014:  "trillojy" for "trilogy"

The prefix "tri-" is ordinarily pronounced with a long-I ("triangle", "tripartite", "trifecta"). In today's word, the sound is short, so we need to double the following-L.

The second problem with today's word is that a G stands in for a J-sound, which is altogether improper. We should write a J if the sound is J: "trillojy".

Tuesday, January 28, 2014:  "sibbilant" for "sibilant"

A single-B leaves unclear whether the preceding-I is long or short. It's short. Let's show that plainly, by doubling the B: "sibbilant".

Munday, January 27, 2014:  "reevyue" and "rivyue" for "review" and "revue"

IEW is a preposterous way to spell the sound of a long-U with initial Y-glide. IE should be pronounced as long-I, not long-U, and a W at the end should be pronounced as a W-glide, rounding the back end of the sound as it does with a long-O or long-U.

UE is a good, if imperfect, way to spell a long-U, lacking only an indication as to whether there is or is not an initial Y-glide. That is, in "cue", there is a Y-glide; in "clue", there is not. This causes confusion in words like "avenue", where some people do say a Y-sound but others do not. We cannot tell people that they must use or refuse a Y-glide in words where usage differs, but here, everyone says a Y-glide. So let's write a Y so everyone, including new learners of English, be they in English-speaking countries or out, will know to do so.

In "review", the prefix RE- means what it is taken to mean, "again" (that is, to view again), and has a pronunciation with a long-E sound (except in "clipped" British accents).

In the theatrical presentation "revue", there is no such sense to the RE-, so it doesn't have to be spelled RE-. It can take the spelling RI-, which in any case more closely matches the sound in that sense.

The final-E on both words is not strictly necessary to convey the speech sounds, but it may be seen as helpful in telling readers to stress the final syllable, so let's leave it: "reevyue" and "rivyue".
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My thanks to "Firewall..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Sunday, January 26, 2014:  "potasseum" for "potassium"

Why would we spell a long-E sound with an I?: "potasseum".

Saturday, January 25, 2014:  "maitron" for "matron"

TR, a two-letter consonant cluster, should mark the preceding vowel as short, but here, it's long. To show that, we need to write the long-A in the spelling of the vowel itself, not via what follows. We could write AE ("maetron"), AY ("maytron"), or AI ("maitron") to do that. Of those spellings, the most common to show a long-A midword is AI, so let's write that: "maitron".

Friday, January 24, 2014:  "lejjerdemain" for "legerdemain"

Why would we write a J-sound with G? The form of the word with a G suggests to many readers that it is to be pronounced in the French fashion, làe.zhae.doo.máann (where the double-N indicates nasalization of the preceding vowel). Actually, however, the G is pronounced as a regular English J, and the last syllable is pronounced just like the ordinary English word "main", with a long-A.

If we substitute a J for the G, we break the mental connection to French. But since the preceding-E is short, we need to double the J. The rest of the word then flows fine just as it has always been: "lejjerdemain".

Thursday, January 23, 2014:  "implaccable" for "implacable"

"Implacable" is related to "placate", in which by far most people use a long-A sound before the C. To show that here the (first) A is said short by almost everyone not misled by its present form into a spelling-pronunciation with a long-A, we need merely double the C: "implaccable".

Wensday, January 22, 2014:  "hermettic/al/ly" for "hermetic/al/ly"

A single-T in these three related words leaves unclear whether the E before it is long or short. It's short, so we should double the T to show that: "hermettic", "hermettical" (uncommon), and "hermettically".

Tuesday, January 21, 2014:  "jesticculate" for "gesticulate"

G has its own, unique sound, that no other letter represents (as in "gosh", "golly", and "grotesque"). Why would we use G to represent a J-sound? We have an entirely different letter for that sound, J. Let's use it.

The other problem in today's word is that the C should be doubled, at once to show that the I before it cannot be pronounced long and to cue the reader where in this four-syllable word to place the stress (on the second syllable): "jesticulate".

Munday, January 20, 2014:  "friggit" for "frigate"

The present spelling should be pronounced fríe.gaet, like a combination of "Friday" and "gate". That is nothing like its actual sound, which has a short-I in both syllables. To show that pronunciation, we should simply write: "friggit".

Sunday, January 19, 2014:  "exonnerate" for "exonerate"

A single-N leaves unclear the sound of the O before it. Is it long? Is it short? It's short, and we can show that clearly simply by doubling the N: "exonnerate".

Saturday, January 18, 2014:  "destin" and "predestin" for "destine" and "predestine"

Why is there an E at the end of these words? In such a location, a "silent-E" should cue the reader to pronounce the prior vowel long ("fine", "incline", "Palestine"), but in both of today's words, the I is short, so the E is misleading. Let's just drop it, OK?: "destin" and "predestin".

Friday, January 17, 2014:  "chouder" for "chowder"

This Food Friday, let's fix the name of a popular soup. OW is ambiguous, sometimes being pronounced as long-O ("know", "stow", "grow") and equally commonly as the OU-sound ("now", "plow", "scow"). The pronunciation in today's word is the one in "louder" and "prouder", so let's spell it that way: "chouder".
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My thanks to "Boath..." for this suggestion.

Thursday, January 16, 2014:  "balalyka" for "balalaika"

Why would we spell a long-I sound with AI? Compare "paid", "aim", "despair". AI should never be used to represent a long-I. We have two spellings that would fit the sound in today's word, an I before a single consonant ("balalika") or Y before a single consonant ("balalyka"). Some people might not see -IKA as requiring a long-I, but everybody would see -YKA as doing so. That makes it the better choice here: "balalyka".

Wensday, January 15, 2014:  "afforizm" for "aphorism"

The spelling PH for a simple F-sound is, how shall we say?, just plain stupid — indefensibly so, esp. given that there are words in which adjoining P and H retain their separate sounds ("uphill", "uphold", "upheaval"). So the PH must go, in favor of F. Since the A before the F-sound is short, we need to double the F to show that.

The second problem with today's word is that the S represents not the S-sound, an unvoiced sibilant, but the Z-sound, a voiced sibilant. Why would we write a Z-sound with anything but Z?: "afforizm".

Tuesday, January 14, 2014:  "whur" for "whirr"

-IR is often pronounced with a long-E, as in "irritable". Here, however, the sound is the one most commonly written ER (as in "ermine"), but also as UR ("urgent"), and AR ("library"), as well as, in a few words, OR ("worth") and IR ("bird"). The other spellings are, perhaps, defensible, because the vowel sound is actually more a schwa (the unstressed, neutral sound that is by far the most frequent vowel sound in English), but IR is far better reserved for the long-E sound of "irritation". So let's replace the IR here with one of those other spellings.

Best here would be UR, in part because "wher" would look like a typo for "where" and "whor" like a typo for "whore", while "whar" would be read as rhyming with "are": "whur".

Munday, January 13, 2014:  "verry" for "very"

A single-R leaves unclear whether the E before it is long or short. It's short. To show that clearly, we should double the R, on the model of "berry" and "ferry": "verry".

Sunday, January 12, 2014:  "treo" for "trio"

Why would we write a long-E sound with an I?: "treo".

Saturday, January 11, 2014:  "sydle" for "sidle"

In the word "side", the I is plainly long, as shown by the E after the D. But in "sidle", there are two consonants between the I and E, and that makes a big difference. Ordinarily, two consonants in a row would mark the preceding vowel short, so "sidle" would be pronounced with a short-I, síd.ool. It's not, but with a long-I, síe.dool. To show that, we need to write the long-I sound differently, within itself, not dependent upon an -E at the end of the word and past two intervening consonants. -Y- would do: "sydle".

Friday, January 10, 2014:  "reppitition" and "ripettitiv" for "repetition" and "repetitive"

The prefix RE- is most commonly pronounced with a long-E. Not here. In the first word, the RE- does not stand alone at the end of its own syllable, but combines with the following-P to form a syllable with a short-E. To show that more plainly, we should double the P.

In the second word, the E after the initial-R is shortened not to a short-E but to a short-I sound. To show that, we need merely replace that E with I. The syllabic stress of the overall word also shifts from the first to the third syllable. To show that, and that the second-E (which in "repetition" is pronounced like short-I), is instead a full short-E! So let's write: "reppitition" and "ripettitive".

Thursday, January 9, 2014:  "pitty" and "pitteus" for "pity" and "piteous"

A single-T in both these words leaves it possible for someone, esp. a new reader or learner of English in a non-English-speaking country, to read the preceding-I as long. It's actually short, which would be much clearer if we double the T.

The second word has a second problem, an OU that does not represent the OU-sound. If we drop the O, what remains will be clearer: "pitty" and "pitteus".
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My thanks to "Music..." for "pitty".

Wensday, January 8, 2014:  "majjesty" for "majesty"

We have here again the common problem of a single consonant's leaving unclear whether the preceding vowel is long or short. A reader would be justified in assuming that the preceding vowel is long. But here, as so often, it's short, so we should double the consonant, here a J. The mere fact that it is a J is no reason not to double it: "majjesty".
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My thanks to "garden..." for this suggestion.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014:  "lozzenj" for "lozenge"

There are two problems with today's word. First is the problem of a single consonant followed by an E, which permits the reader to see the prior vowel as long, when it's actually short. That is fixed easily, by doubling the consonant, which here is a Z.

The second problem is that the GE at the end of the word could be read as taking G's own, unique sound (as in "get", "gear", and "gecko"), followed by another syllable spelled by E-alone (as in "guacamole", "psyche", and "hyperbole"). That's not the sound here. Rather, it is a simple J-sound. We have a J. Let's use it: "lozzenj".

Munday, January 6, 2014:  "Juli" for "July"

-Y is most commonly pronounced as a long-E (or, in "clipped" British accents, short-I). Neither of those sounds is right. The sound is actually long-I, which is better shown by -I, as in "cacti", "alkali", and "hippopotami".

The other issue with this word is the U. Should we leave it, or substitute OO, to show that the sound of the second syllable is short-OO, as in "looking good". Alas, OO is ambiguous, having a long sound, as in "food" and "kook", more than just a short sound. So there is no advantage to changing the equally ambiguous U: "Juli".
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My thanks to "space..." for suggesting reform of today's word, tho I chose a slitely different solution.

Sunday, January 5, 2014:  "infereor" for "inferior"

The I here represents not an I-sound, either long or short, but a long-E. Why would we spell a long-E sound with an I?: "infereor".

Saturday, January 4, 2014:  "homminid"  for "hominid"

This word refers to the family of primates of which Homo sapiens (modern man) is the only living member. As you can see from Homo sapiens, an O before a single-M can easily be read as long, whereas in today's word, it is short. We need a second-M to show that: "homminid".

Friday, January 3, 2014:  "ginnee" for "guinea"

There are three things wrong with today's word. First, there is a silent-U, which could easily be taken as a spoken sound, like W, after a G (compare "guacamole", "guar", and "guava"). In this word, however, it does not take a W-sound or, for that matter, any sound at all, so it should not be present.

Once we remove the U, we are left with the G and I adjacent, which is fine. Altho many occurrences of GI are pronounced as tho the G were a J, that is something we need to correct everywhere. There are words where GI is pronounced with a regular G-sound ("give", "girl", and "begin"). There should be multitudinous others, and the change has to start somewhere. This is as good a place as any to start.

Second, there is only one N, which leaves unclear whether the I before it is long or short. It's short, so we need a second-N to show that.

Third, the EA at the end of the word could be pronounced in two syllables ("area", "panacea", "trachea"). That is not the sound here, which is a simple long-E (or, in "clipped" British accents, short-I), which at the end of a word is most commonly writtten -Y. But there is already a word "ginny" (pronounced jín.ee, the adjectival form of the alcoholic beverage gin), so we should use -EE instead: "ginnee".

Thursday, January 2, 2014:  "facchual" for "factual"

T does not spell the CH-sound as in "church". CH does: "facchual".
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My thanks to "space..." for this suggestion.

Wensday, January 1, 2014:  "egnog" for "eggnog"

The "nog" part of today's word doesn't need a second-G. Neither does the "egg" part: "egnog".

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