The 100 Most Mispronounced Words
There’s really no excuse for errors in marketing and sales copy, especially with all the tools we have today. Errors and mistakes in spelling and grammar are big credibility destroyers in communication.
Nettie Hartsock led me to this list of the 100 most mispronounced words in the English language (and yes, “mispronunciation” is among them). Yourdictionary.com states that pronouncing a word correctly usually can help you spell it correctly.
The site goes on to say that several common errors are the result of rapid speech, and advises us to take time speaking, correctly enunciating each word.
There’s nothing that screams inexperience or zero credibility to me like spelling or grammar errors in marketing copy  is it that way for you?
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March 7th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Marcia,
I totally agree with you on spelling errors in marketing copy. It drives me nuts. (Sadly, though I’ve also been banned from every restaurant in the Texas Hill Country because I’m always circling the mispelled words in the menus)
On the Web side (and more serious side) it seems that people don’t think it’s important to rigorously run their copy through a grammar and spell check. Unfortunately, there’s nothing worse than on first (web) impression someone coming to your site and having tons of spelling errrors in web copy or marketing collateral.
It’s sloppy and it takes so little effort to get the copy pristine and “best-Web face forward” for readers!
March 11th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Nettie,
You have more guts than I do — I always irritate my friends and family by pointing out every mistake in every sign, brochure, or menu I see, but I’ve never had the nerve to circle them and give them back!
April 6th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
One reason for bad spelling might be how it’s taught. I’ve asked friends kids about it (we have no kids) and they’ve told me that they were taught to spell by how it may sound - not phonetically as I was taught. Worry about correct spelling later. So frends instead of friends.
Ed
P.S. Since we are talking about spelling, did you re-read your comments to see if you misspelled anyhting? How come misspelled is not in my dictionary?
April 6th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Ed,
Looks like we all need to be careful. “Misspelled” should be in your dictionary, it’s in mine. But I do see that Nettie “mispelled” it in her comment above.
And you misspelled “anything,” reversing the “h” and the “t.” Sigh. It’s a constant battle, isn’t it?