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USA Today
4 days ago
- General
- USA Today
Which word does your state struggle to spell? This list definitely will tell you.
Which word does your state struggle to spell? This list definitely will tell you. Show Caption Hide Caption Chippewa Local speller Zach Yeager prepares for national bee Zach Yeager, a student at Chippewa Junior/Senior High School in Doylestown, is busy preparing for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Oddly, "misspell," a not-particularly easy word to spell, is not on a recently released list of words Americans most often misspell. But as the Scripps National Spelling Bee gets underway, a study by an online tool for Scrabble players and others who play word games, finds that Americans have a hard time spelling a host of other words. Using Google Trends search data from the start of the year through May 19 for "How do you spell ..." and "How to spell ...," analysts found that we definitely can't spell "definitely." We can't separate our impulse to misspell "separate" from search engine inquiries. And we somehow find it necessary to Google the spelling of "necessary." Those are the top three hard-to-spell words, respectively, according to WordUnscrambler's analysis. You won't believe what else is on the list. Or maybe you will. What does a Google analysis reveal about spelling miscues? At least two words with the challenging i-e combination made the list of most-misspelled words: "believe," which came in at No. 4, and "neighbor," at No. 7. There were 33,500 searches for "definitely," 30,000 for "separate" and 29,000 for "necessary." "Through" seems to be a troublesome word, with 28,000 searches. But maybe we can also take some solace in a polarized nation in some other words on the list: We may be complimenting one another a lot, because "gorgeous" is No. 6 on the list. And we obviously care about our "neighbors," even if that e-i-or-i-e thing gives us fits. Google took root with a misspelling Google's own origin story includes a misspelling: Creators Sergei Brin and Larry Page originally called their search engine Backrub. But Page had a better idea (it might have been hard to think of a worse one): googol, or a "1" followed by 100 zeroes, or, if you're into exponents, 10 to the 100th power. Page misspelled it, and Google, the search engine, was born. The search engine's ubiquity, though, has made "google" a verb as well as a proper noun. And that popularity comes in large part because of its utility in helping us find some of our "favorite" (No. 9 on the list of most misspelled words) things. The things we search for most may be some of the things we misspell most often: "business" is No. 8 on the list and "restaurant" is No. 10 for misspelled searches. What do people in your state misspell the most? Alabama, Kansas, New York and Wisconsin all want to be "different," while Arkansans just want a good "quesadilla." Colorado, home to six U.S. military bases, seems to search "sergeant" a lot, and Delaware, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming are all looking for someone or something that's "beautiful." Californians and Washingtonians (of the state variety) are looking for "appreciation," and people in Montana and New Mexico want to "appreciate" whatever it is that they appreciate. Contrary to their prickly reputations, New Jerseyans like to say "Congratulations," as do the folks in Illinois. Floridians like to "compliment" people. And in Arizona, Kentucky, South Carolina and Virginia, they're just looking for, well, "people." Maine is concerned with "pneumonia," and who can blame them? In Alaska, they can't stop thinking about "tomorrow," and in Connecticut, they're apparently on a strict "schedule." North Carolinians are keeping a "secret," while they're merely "protective" in New Hampshire (and in Texas, where the spelling of "protect" is searched most often). They're evidently practicing their "crochet" skills in Ohio, but practicing "patience" in Oklahoma. No one should be running with "scissors" in Pennsylvania. But folks everywhere, including in Tennessee, should eat their "broccoli" to stay strong. Some states contributed to the top words on the list, including "definitely" (Idaho and Utah), "necessary" (Georgia), "through" (Iowa and Louisiana) and "business" (Oregon). In Indiana, they're wondering what's being "taught," while Nevadans are concerned with "school." Maryland is searching for "character," and Minnesota wants to be "successful." In Michigan, they're starting from "scratch" but feeling the heat in Missouri, where the "temperature" gets warm. Rhode Islanders are curious about what's been "cancelled" and in North Dakota, it's all about the "daughter" (because "son" is pretty easy to spell). It's hard not to envy the people of Hawaii, though, who are thinking about the next "luau." And what's up with you, Vermont? You just want to know how to spell "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Don't we all? Do you want to share a slice of Americana with USA TODAY? Contact Phaedra Trethan by email at ptrethan@ on X (formerly Twitter) @wordsbyphaedra, on BlueSky @byphaedra, or on Threads @by_phaedra
USA Today
7 days ago
- General
- USA Today
Letter imperfect: What words do we mispel, uh, misspell the most?
Letter imperfect: What words do we mispel, uh, misspell the most? Show Caption Hide Caption Chippewa Local speller Zach Yeager prepares for national bee Zach Yeager, a student at Chippewa Junior/Senior High School in Doylestown, is busy preparing for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Oddly, "misspell," a not-particularly easy word to spell, is not on a recently released list of words Americans most often misspell. But as the Scripps National Spelling Bee gets underway, a study by an online tool for Scrabble players and others who play word games, finds that Americans have a hard time spelling a host of other words. Using Google Trends search data from the start of the year through May 19 for "How do you spell ..." and "How to spell ...," analysts found that we definitely can't spell "definitely." We can't separate our impulse to misspell "separate" from search engine inquiries. And we somehow find it necessary to Google the spelling of "necessary." Those are the top three hard-to-spell words, respectively, according to WordUnscrambler's analysis. You won't believe what else is on the list. Or maybe you will. What does a Google analysis reveal about spelling miscues? At least two words with the challenging i-e combination made the list of most-misspelled words: "believe," which came in at No. 4, and "neighbor," at No. 7. There were 33,500 searches for "definitely," 30,000 for "separate" and 29,000 for "necessary." "Through" seems to be a troublesome word, with 28,000 searches. But maybe we can also take some solace in a polarized nation in some other words on the list: We may be complimenting one another a lot, because "gorgeous" is No. 6 on the list. And we obviously care about our "neighbors," even if that e-i-or-i-e thing gives us fits. Google took root with a misspelling Google's own origin story includes a misspelling: Creators Sergei Brin and Larry Page originally called their search engine Backrub. But Page had a better idea (it might have been hard to think of a worse one): googol, or a "1" followed by 100 zeroes, or, if you're into exponents, 10 to the 100th power. Page misspelled it, and Google, the search engine, was born. The search engine's ubiquity, though, has made "google" a verb as well as a proper noun. And that popularity comes in large part because of its utility in helping us find some of our "favorite" (No. 9 on the list of most misspelled words) things. The things we search for most may be some of the things we misspell most often: "business" is No. 8 on the list and "restaurant" is No. 10 for misspelled searches. What do people in your state misspell the most? Alabama, Kansas, New York and Wisconsin all want to be "different," while Arkansans just want a good "quesadilla." Colorado, home to six U.S. military bases, seems to search "sergeant" a lot, and Delaware, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming are all looking for someone or something that's "beautiful." Californians and Washingtonians (of the state variety) are looking for "appreciation," and people in Montana and New Mexico want to "appreciate" whatever it is that they appreciate. Contrary to their prickly reputations, New Jerseyans like to say "Congratulations," as do the folks in Illinois. Floridians like to "compliment" people. And in Arizona, Kentucky, South Carolina and Virginia, they're just looking for, well, "people." Maine is concerned with "pneumonia," and who can blame them? In Alaska, they can't stop thinking about "tomorrow," and in Connecticut, they're apparently on a strict "schedule." North Carolinians are keeping a "secret," while they're merely "protective" in New Hampshire (and in Texas, where the spelling of "protect" is searched most often). They're evidently practicing their "crochet" skills in Ohio, but practicing "patience" in Oklahoma. No one should be running with "scissors" in Pennsylvania. But folks everywhere, including in Tennessee, should eat their "broccoli" to stay strong. Some states contributed to the top words on the list, including "definitely" (Idaho and Utah), "necessary" (Georgia), "through" (Iowa and Louisiana) and "business" (Oregon). In Indiana, they're wondering what's being "taught," while Nevadans are concerned with "school." Maryland is searching for "character," and Minnesota wants to be "successful." In Michigan, they're starting from "scratch" but feeling the heat in Missouri, where the "temperature" gets warm. Rhode Islanders are curious about what's been "cancelled" and in North Dakota, it's all about the "daughter" (because "son" is pretty easy to spell). It's hard not to envy the people of Hawaii, though, who are thinking about the next "luau." And what's up with you, Vermont? You just want to know how to spell "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Don't we all? Do you want to share a slice of Americana with USA TODAY? Contact Phaedra Trethan by email at ptrethan@ on X (formerly Twitter) @wordsbyphaedra, on BlueSky @byphaedra, or on Threads @by_phaedra
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Akron's speller moves to 3rd round of Scripps National Spelling Bee
OXON HILL, Maryland – Akron Beacon Journal Regional Spelling Bee champion Zach Yeager of Doylestown has moved on to the third round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The 14-year-old eighth grader from Chippewa Jr./Sr. High School in Doylestown correctly spelled his first word − QUONK. He then correctly selected the definition of his vocabulary word − BOISTEROUS − in the bee's second round. The definition was "full of exhuberant spirits." Yeager now will move on to the bee's third round, which involves a written test. Spellers will face 28 spelling words and 12 vocabulary words. Five words will not count toward the spellers' scores, but officials won't tell them which ones as they're taking the test. Bee officials said close to 100 spellers will move on to Round 4. Beginning with Route 3, spellers will face words they haven't studied. Spellers had a list of about 3,000 words to study for the first two rounds. There are 243 spellers in this year's bee. Yeager is representing The Akron Beacon Journal in the national bee, after winning its Regional Bee in March. It's Yeager's second consecutive trip to the event after also winning Akron's bee in 2024. The Beacon Journal itself has a featured role in the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Its regional bee was named Scripps' Partner of the Year for 2025. Akron's spelling bee is the longest, continuously running partner in the national bee. This year is the Scripps National Spelling Bee's 100th birthday. Akron has had a speller in every bee since the very first, when nine students competed. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron's speller Zach Yeager moves to 3rd round in Scripps spelling bee
