Ot - Misspelled Word Challenge

QuikSand · 08-12-2003, 12:53 PM

Okay, since we've squeezed all the blood we can out of the stone that is "good grammar and spelling," I thought it would be interesting to turn this into a puzzle.

The challenge: Find a misspelling of a certain word that appears on the internet as the highest share of the times that the word is used.

Here is how we will measure this: partially objective, partially subjective.

-Pick a correctly-spelled word and an incorrect form of that word, which is clearly an attempt to spell that word.

-Use Google to see how many hits the word gets, and how many the misspelling gets.

-To be eligible, your correctly-spelled word must yield at least 1,000 hits -- we don't want this to turn into a battle using absurdly obscure words

-Your score = (hits for the misspelling)/[(hits for the word)+(hits for the misspelling)]

Example:
"turn" = 31,400,000 hits
"trun" = 41,400 hits
Score for "trun" = 41,400/31,441,400 = 0.13%

Yes, I am aware that this calculation ignores other potential misspellings... but I get to make the rules. So there.

In judging whether a given misspelling is "clearly" an attempt to type another word, I will use a "reasonable person" standard. If a reasonable person, in my judgment, would agree that it was clearly an attempt to spell your word, it counts. (Let's try not to make this a contest exclusively about this issue)

My general thinking is that the shorter the words, the more likely that you'll have trouble in this regard. But I don't yet have any sense of what type of words might win this contest - a rare, hard-to-spell word? Or a common word with an easy misspelling?

Enjoy.

korme · 08-12-2003, 12:57 PM

correct: wienerschnitzel - 10,600 hits
misspelling: weinerschnitzel - 1,990 hits
score - 1,990 / 12,590 = 16%

fixed the error

QuikSand · 08-12-2003, 12:58 PM

That's pretty good... it comes out to 16% actually, not 0.16% - very strong.

Best I got initially has been "sacreligious" getting 9.6%.

cuervo72 · 08-12-2003, 12:59 PM

definately - 720,000
definitely - 6,750,000

9.64%

korme · 08-12-2003, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by QuikSand
That's pretty good... it comes out to 16% actually, not 0.16% - very strong.

Best I got initially has been "sacreligious" getting 9.6%.

How I came up with wienerschnitzel as my first word is beyond me.

korme · 08-12-2003, 01:03 PM

correct: misspell - 34,700 hits
misspelling: mispell - 3,620 hits
score - 3,620 / 38,320 = 9.45%

cuervo72 · 08-12-2003, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shorty3281
correct: misspell - 34,700 hits
misspelling: mispell - 3,620 hits
score - 3,620 / 38,320 = 9.45%

I just looked that one up too

Marmel · 08-12-2003, 01:04 PM

Quiksand 938
Quicksand 139,000

0.67%

cthomer5000 · 08-12-2003, 01:12 PM

correct: supersede - 266,000 hits
incorect: supercede - 75,000

28.19%

edit: just to note (not correct) the fact that I actually misspelled incorrect while typing it.

Fritz · 08-12-2003, 01:19 PM

correct: Jell-O 85,100
incorrect: Jello 361,000

I hate math

mrsimperless · 08-12-2003, 01:20 PM

just - 147,000,000
jsut - 93,200

.06%

Very low, but this is by far my most misspelled word - usually in IMs. If it's a post I can correct it.

On second thought, this is more of a typo than a misspelling.

mrsimperless · 08-12-2003, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fritz
correct: Jell-O 85,100
incorrect: Jello 361,000

I hate math

DOLA

80.92%

mrsimperless · 08-12-2003, 01:24 PM

DD

Here we go... not sure if it will be counted, but it was my best effort.

Correct: gangster - 679,000
Misspelled: gangsta - 415,000

37.93%

Airhog · 08-12-2003, 01:24 PM

anoint 5,700
annoint 3,530

3,530/5,700=.6192 or 61.92 percent

cuervo72 · 08-12-2003, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cthomer5000
correct: supersede - 266,000 hits
incorect: supercede - 75,000

28.19%

edit: just to note (not correct) the fact that I actually misspelled incorrect while typing it.

I would submit that for it to be regarded as misspelled, Google itself should offer up "Did you mean alternative".

mrsimperless · 08-12-2003, 01:26 PM

Ewwww, horrible math by me! Correcting all posts above...

QuikSand · 08-12-2003, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Airhog
anoint 5,700
annoint 3,530

3,530/5,700=.6192 or 61.92 percent

We'll score that as 38.2% - but still darned good. I wouldn't have guessed.

Bee · 08-12-2003, 01:29 PM

correct: Anrhydeddu 530
incorrect:Handydandy 412

I know, it doesn't meet the 1000 rule ...

cuervo72 · 08-12-2003, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by QuikSand
We'll score that as 38.2% - but still darned good. I wouldn't have guessed.

Um, I'm getting 102,000 for 'anoint'.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...=Google+Search

QuikSand · 08-12-2003, 01:33 PM

Hmmm... "gangsta" and "Jell-o" both ring hollow to me.

My inclination is to eliminate proper words, including trademarks. Jell-o is very clever... but I think outside the original intent.

But a deliberate misspelling seems to have its own meaning - I have to think someone writing the word "gangsta" has a different thing in mind than someone who is just making an error when trying to write "gangster."

mrsimperless · 08-12-2003, 01:33 PM

traveling - 4,660,000
travelling - 3,230,000

40.94%

QuikSand · 08-12-2003, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mrsimperless
traveling - 4,660,000
travelling - 3,230,000

40.94%

I think these two are listed as acceptable variants.

cuervo72 · 08-12-2003, 01:37 PM

Doesn't win, but I found it interesting that Google knew it was misspelled:

Zaxon - 1,290 (some of these look to be a company's name)
Zaxxon - 17,400

Fritz · 08-12-2003, 01:38 PM

Quicksand 140,000
Quiksand 950

which tells you that google does not look here or they would have 10,000 more hits.

---

Now back off my Jell-O

Fritz · 08-12-2003, 01:39 PM

web page 4,620,000
webpage 3,980,000 (no such word, as I have been told)

QuikSand · 08-12-2003, 01:39 PM

liquefy - 30,300
liquify - 30,000
49.7%

...but M-W online also lists "liquify" as a variant. Drat.

Airhog · 08-12-2003, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cuervo72
Um, I'm getting 102,000 for 'anoint'.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...=Google+Search

that is so wierd, when I first searched it I got 5000, but now im getting 100,00

nevermind, I saw my mistake

Hammer755 · 08-12-2003, 01:44 PM

Quiksand - 950
Kickstand - 47,700

QuikSand · 08-12-2003, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Airhog
Also, am I not doing the math right?

score = misspelled / (correct + misspelled)

Airhog · 08-12-2003, 01:53 PM

a lot = 5,600,000
alot = 2,460,000

2,460,000 / 8,060,000 = .3052 or 30.52%

Grego · 08-12-2003, 02:05 PM

how about

dumb 2,430,000
dum 793,000

25%

cuervo72 · 08-12-2003, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by QuikSand
score = misspelled / (correct + misspelled)

Whoops.

VPI97 · 08-12-2003, 04:07 PM

Correct: acapella - 73,800
Incorrect: accapella - 30,700

29.37%

Dutch · 08-13-2003, 03:29 AM

"Usama bin Laden" 36,800
"Osama bin Laden" 799,000

2,171%

QuikSand · 08-13-2003, 06:54 AM

Is Usama/Osama a spelling issue, or a matter if imperfect transliteration? (I've always assumed the latter) Proper words just don't make a good fir for this, of course.

ShagVT · 08-13-2003, 08:17 AM

Separate: 16,800,000
Seperate: 830,000

Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be ... only 4.7%.

ShagVT · 08-13-2003, 08:18 AM

Dola.

It's too bad we can't do a check for improper use of there/their/they're, which I think has to be #1 all time.

VPI97 · 08-13-2003, 08:27 AM

correct: coolly - 135,000
incorrect: cooly - 54,700

28.8%

VPI97 · 08-13-2003, 08:42 AM

correct: dumbbell - 109,000
incorrect: dumbell - 38,700

26.2%

Mustang · 08-13-2003, 08:56 AM

hmm.. not as good as I thought on these.

regardless - 6,080,000
irregardless - 34,900

february - 32,700,00
febuary - 134,000

congratulations - 2,860,000
congradulations - 39,900

All Right - 1,770,000
Alright - 1,610,000 (although, guess some will say alright is all right but... oh well. Aight'?)

VPI97 · 08-13-2003, 09:00 AM

correct: dalmatian - 163,000
incorrect: dalmation - 63,700

28.1%

I can't seem to break 30%...

EagleFan · 08-13-2003, 09:13 AM

Favre: 284,000
Farve: 186,000

39.6%

Mustang · 08-13-2003, 12:38 PM

2/3 - 8,830,000
1/2 - 9,390,000

Sorry.. couldn't resist

nilodor · 08-13-2003, 02:58 PM

Correct- solder - 622000
Incorrect- sauder - 130000

17.3%

Mustang · 08-13-2003, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by nilodor
Correct- solder - 622000
Incorrect- sauder - 130000

17.3%

Off because Sauder is a furniture company...

Maple Leafs · 08-13-2003, 04:22 PM

Correct: Leafs (441,000)
Incorrect: Leaves (9,490,000)

95.5% ... I win!

(What? It is? Really? Oh. Never mind.)

Samdari · 08-14-2003, 10:28 AM

QS - please come up with a metric to rate how far off the spelling is.

For example, here are the google scores of one I found today.

acceptable 8,130,000
exceptable 4690

A paltry 0.06% - not 6% or .06, but 0.06% or 5.7*10^-4

And I imagine many of those incorrect were typos or misspellings for expectable. But, there is one guy (teen, I hope) on the SWG boards comlaining that the first patch introduced unexceptable changes.

I would put this up in any contest for quality of misspelling rather than mere quantity.

RendeR · 08-14-2003, 11:29 AM

very interesting quest/game posting =)

Solecismic · 08-14-2003, 02:19 PM

solecistic 286
Solecismic 1920

87.0%

m&m 459,000
eminem 2,310,000

83.4%
Intentional misspellings and puns don't count, I know.

Celeval · 08-14-2003, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Samdari
But, there is one guy (teen, I hope) on the SWG boards comlaining that the first patch introduced unexceptable changes.

Comlaining: 488
Complaining: 1,280,000

Score: .04%

Ah well.

Kevin

08-12-2003, 12:57 PM	#2
korme Go Reds Join Date: May 2001 Location: Bloodbuzz Ohio	correct: wienerschnitzel - 10,600 hits misspelling: weinerschnitzel - 1,990 hits score - 1,990 / 12,590 = 16% fixed the error Last edited by korme : 08-12-2003 at 12:59 PM.

08-12-2003, 12:59 PM	#4
cuervo72 Head Coach Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Maryland	definately - 720,000 definitely - 6,750,000 9.64% __________________ null Last edited by cuervo72 : 08-12-2003 at 02:07 PM.

08-12-2003, 01:04 PM	#8
Marmel Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Manchester, CT	Quiksand 938 Quicksand 139,000 0.67% __________________ 81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions."

08-12-2003, 01:19 PM	#10
Fritz Lethargic Hooligan Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing	correct: Jell-O 85,100 incorrect: Jello 361,000 I hate math __________________ donkey, donkey, walk a little faster

08-12-2003, 01:20 PM	#11
mrsimperless College Prospect Join Date: Apr 2003	just - 147,000,000 jsut - 93,200 .06% Very low, but this is by far my most misspelled word - usually in IMs. If it's a post I can correct it. On second thought, this is more of a typo than a misspelling. __________________ "All I know is that smart women are hot. Susan Polgar beat me in 24 moves in a simultaneous exhbition. I slept with the scoresheet under my pillow." Off some dude's web site.

08-12-2003, 12:58 PM	#3
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	That's pretty good... it comes out to 16% actually, not 0.16% - very strong. Best I got initially has been "sacreligious" getting 9.6%.

08-12-2003, 01:03 PM	#6
korme Go Reds Join Date: May 2001 Location: Bloodbuzz Ohio	correct: misspell - 34,700 hits misspelling: mispell - 3,620 hits score - 3,620 / 38,320 = 9.45%

08-12-2003, 01:24 PM	#13
mrsimperless College Prospect Join Date: Apr 2003	DD Here we go... not sure if it will be counted, but it was my best effort. Correct: gangster - 679,000 Misspelled: gangsta - 415,000 37.93% __________________ "All I know is that smart women are hot. Susan Polgar beat me in 24 moves in a simultaneous exhbition. I slept with the scoresheet under my pillow." Off some dude's web site. Last edited by mrsimperless : 08-12-2003 at 01:27 PM.

08-12-2003, 01:24 PM	#14
Airhog Captain Obvious Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Norman, Oklahoma	anoint 5,700 annoint 3,530 3,530/5,700=.6192 or 61.92 percent __________________ Thread Killer extraordinaire Yay! its football season once again! Last edited by Airhog : 08-12-2003 at 01:25 PM.

08-12-2003, 01:26 PM	#16
mrsimperless College Prospect Join Date: Apr 2003	Ewwww, horrible math by me! Correcting all posts above... __________________ "All I know is that smart women are hot. Susan Polgar beat me in 24 moves in a simultaneous exhbition. I slept with the scoresheet under my pillow." Off some dude's web site.

08-12-2003, 01:29 PM	#18
Bee Pro Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Fairfax, VA	correct: Anrhydeddu 530 incorrect:Handydandy 412 I know, it doesn't meet the 1000 rule ...

08-12-2003, 01:33 PM	#20
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Hmmm... "gangsta" and "Jell-o" both ring hollow to me. My inclination is to eliminate proper words, including trademarks. Jell-o is very clever... but I think outside the original intent. But a deliberate misspelling seems to have its own meaning - I have to think someone writing the word "gangsta" has a different thing in mind than someone who is just making an error when trying to write "gangster."

08-12-2003, 01:37 PM	#23
cuervo72 Head Coach Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Maryland	Doesn't win, but I found it interesting that Google knew it was misspelled: Zaxon - 1,290 (some of these look to be a company's name) Zaxxon - 17,400 __________________ null

08-12-2003, 01:38 PM	#24
Fritz Lethargic Hooligan Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing	Quicksand 140,000 Quiksand 950 which tells you that google does not look here or they would have 10,000 more hits. --- Now back off my Jell-O __________________ donkey, donkey, walk a little faster

08-12-2003, 01:39 PM	#25
Fritz Lethargic Hooligan Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing	web page 4,620,000 webpage 3,980,000 (no such word, as I have been told) __________________ donkey, donkey, walk a little faster

08-12-2003, 01:44 PM	#28
Hammer755 High School Varsity Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Houston, TX	Quiksand - 950 Kickstand - 47,700 __________________ I failed Signature 101 class.

08-12-2003, 01:53 PM	#30
Airhog Captain Obvious Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Norman, Oklahoma	a lot = 5,600,000 alot = 2,460,000 2,460,000 / 8,060,000 = .3052 or 30.52% __________________ Thread Killer extraordinaire Yay! its football season once again!

08-12-2003, 02:05 PM	#31
Grego Mascot Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Ohio	how about dumb 2,430,000 dum 793,000 25%

08-12-2003, 04:07 PM	#33
VPI97 Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Kennesaw, GA	Correct: acapella - 73,800 Incorrect: accapella - 30,700 29.37% __________________ CT & Jivin - "Surprisingly Entertaining"

08-13-2003, 03:29 AM	#34
Dutch "Dutch" Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Tampa, FL	"Usama bin Laden" 36,800 "Osama bin Laden" 799,000 2,171%

08-13-2003, 06:54 AM	#35
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Is Usama/Osama a spelling issue, or a matter if imperfect transliteration? (I've always assumed the latter) Proper words just don't make a good fir for this, of course.

08-13-2003, 08:17 AM	#36
ShagVT H.S. Freshman Team Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Charlotte, NC	Separate: 16,800,000 Seperate: 830,000 Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be ... only 4.7%.

08-13-2003, 08:18 AM	#37
ShagVT H.S. Freshman Team Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Charlotte, NC	Dola. It's too bad we can't do a check for improper use of there/their/they're, which I think has to be #1 all time.

08-13-2003, 08:27 AM	#38
VPI97 Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Kennesaw, GA	correct: coolly - 135,000 incorrect: cooly - 54,700 28.8% __________________ CT & Jivin - "Surprisingly Entertaining"

08-13-2003, 08:42 AM	#39
VPI97 Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Kennesaw, GA	correct: dumbbell - 109,000 incorrect: dumbell - 38,700 26.2% __________________ CT & Jivin - "Surprisingly Entertaining"

08-13-2003, 08:56 AM	#40
Mustang Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Wisconsin	hmm.. not as good as I thought on these. regardless - 6,080,000 irregardless - 34,900 february - 32,700,00 febuary - 134,000 congratulations - 2,860,000 congradulations - 39,900 All Right - 1,770,000 Alright - 1,610,000 (although, guess some will say alright is all right but... oh well. Aight'?) __________________ You, you will regret what you have done this day. I will make you regret ever being born. Your going to wish you never left your mothers womb, where it was warm and safe... and wet. i am going to show you pain you never knew existed, you are going to see a whole new spectrum of pain, like a Rainboooow. But! This rainbow is not just like any other rainbow, its...

08-13-2003, 09:00 AM	#41
VPI97 Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Kennesaw, GA	correct: dalmatian - 163,000 incorrect: dalmation - 63,700 28.1% I can't seem to break 30%... __________________ CT & Jivin - "Surprisingly Entertaining"

08-13-2003, 09:13 AM	#42
EagleFan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Mays Landing, NJ USA	Favre: 284,000 Farve: 186,000 39.6% __________________ The EagleFan YouTube Channel - Reactions Soarin' & Scratchin' YouTube Channel - We react to music, videos, TV, we talk, we are planning some field trips Soarin' & Soothin' - Meditation, Relaxation, and Sleep Aid; mental health is important

08-13-2003, 12:38 PM	#43
Mustang Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Wisconsin	2/3 - 8,830,000 1/2 - 9,390,000 Sorry.. couldn't resist __________________ You, you will regret what you have done this day. I will make you regret ever being born. Your going to wish you never left your mothers womb, where it was warm and safe... and wet. i am going to show you pain you never knew existed, you are going to see a whole new spectrum of pain, like a Rainboooow. But! This rainbow is not just like any other rainbow, its...

08-13-2003, 02:58 PM	#44
nilodor College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: calgary, AB	Correct- solder - 622000 Incorrect- sauder - 130000 17.3%

08-13-2003, 04:22 PM	#46
Maple Leafs Coordinator Join Date: Jan 2002	Correct: Leafs (441,000) Incorrect: Leaves (9,490,000) 95.5% ... I win! (What? It is? Really? Oh. Never mind.)

08-14-2003, 10:28 AM	#47
Samdari Roster Filler Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Cicero	QS - please come up with a metric to rate how far off the spelling is. For example, here are the google scores of one I found today. acceptable 8,130,000 exceptable 4690 A paltry 0.06% - not 6% or .06, but 0.06% or 5.7*10^-4 And I imagine many of those incorrect were typos or misspellings for expectable. But, there is one guy (teen, I hope) on the SWG boards comlaining that the first patch introduced unexceptable changes. I would put this up in any contest for quality of misspelling rather than mere quantity. __________________ http://www.nateandellie.net Now featuring twice the babies for the same low price!

08-14-2003, 11:29 AM	#48
RendeR Coordinator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Buffalo, NY	very interesting quest/game posting =) __________________ http://wotlabs.net/s...8/signature.png http://wotlabs.net/sig_dark/na/banichi18/signature.png

08-14-2003, 02:19 PM	#49
Solecismic Solecismic Software Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Canton, OH	solecistic 286 Solecismic 1920 87.0% m&m 459,000 eminem 2,310,000 83.4% Intentional misspellings and puns don't count, I know.

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