100 Commonly Misspelled Words That Would Make Any Language Nerd Shutter

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The throws of packing. All intensive purposes. Pass mustard. Sobbing wet. Doggy-dog world. From the gecko.

If you can identify the errors in the above phrases, great! You are a master of the English language. If you cannot ― no worries. Former New Yorker editor and author Daniel Menaker is here to help.

In his new book, The African Svelte: Ingenious Misspellings That Make Surprising Sense (published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Menaker reviews some of the most hilarious blunders he’s encountered throughout his editing experience. These are neither typos nor auto-corrects, but purposeful spelling choices that reveal just how curious our understanding of language can be.

The title comes from one of Menaker’s favorite mistakes: “The zebras were grazing on the African svelte,” a writer once confidently posited to Menaker. (It’s more accurately referred to as the African veldt or savanna.) Because of that, the author refers to similar blunders ― many of which are commonly misspelled words you’ve probably gaffed yourself ― as sveltes. And he includes approximately 100 in his 224-page book, as he attempts to explain why these errors make surprising sense.

Below is a preview of Menaker’s recently published book. Check out 12 of his sveltes, with excerpts written by the author, here. [Editor’s note: Bonus points to the nerds who shuddered at “shutter” in our headline.]

Former New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast provided the book's illustrations.
Former New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast provided the book's illustrations.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

1. Balaclava v. Baklava

Misspelling: The terrorist was wearing a baklava.

Explanation: “No wonder they caught him. Wearing a sticky, layered dessert anywhere on your person signals that you’re at least extremely peculiar if not dangerously crazy. The right word is ‘balaclava’ and, besides many letters, it has regional and ethnic and even physical aspects in common with ‘balaclava.’”

2. Jaywalking v. J-walking

Misspelling: J-walking

Explanation: “It makes perfect sense if you give it a minute’s thought. You’re almost across the street from the bar, where you had a little too much to drink, when you remember that you left your novel manuscript behind ― the one about a black whale named Mobility Richard ― and you do a looping right 180. A literal J-walk.”

3. Entrails v. End-trails

Misspelling: End-trails

Explanation: “Well, that’s what entrails are, in a way ― the end of the line for what we eat. The intestines are 28 feet long. There was a medical legend going around for a while that they are 28 miles long. Isn’t 28 feet long enough? Four Kareem Abdul-Jabbars one on top of the other?”

4. Canter v. Cantor

Misspelling: The horse started to cantor.

Explanation: “A Jewish horse! Who knew? Manischewitz o’ War? Or is it Mister Ed? There is a certain poetry in this mistake, since music and a horse’s pace have strong rhythm in common.”

5. Pillar v. Pillow

Misspelling: A pillow of his community.

Explanation: “This mistake often appears in death notices written up in local newspapers by funeral homes. The pillow of a community offers rest and comfort, I suppose, while its 90-degree cousin, the pillar, provides strength and resolve.”

6. Plethora v. Pluthora

Misspelling: Pluthora

Explanation: “It’s hard to think of a more poetically more perfect svelte ― ‘pluthora’ for ‘plethora’ ― since the error has the same muchness as the correctly spelled word. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if the person who made the mistake was thinking about the basic idea of over-supply.”

7. Self-esteem v. Self of Steam

Misspelling: Self of steam

Explanation: “This one works meaningfully by opposition to its correct form ― ‘self-esteem.’ A self of steam is one that evaporates and has no real substance, whereas someone with self-esteem possesses a solid confidence in his own worth.”

8. Alitalia v. Al Italia

Misspelling: Al Italia

Explanation: “Al Italia called. This was the message a receptionist handed to a New Yorker writer returning from lunch. You have to wonder if Al was related to Mr. Imony or Mr. Imentary and stayed at the Gonquin when he came to New York.”

9. Furrowed v. Furled

Misspelling: A furled brow.

Explanation: “Talk about concentration! Whoever suffered this condition was definitely overthinking, furrowed brows being worrisome enough. Both words have closely to do with lines, or at least geometry, the one with folding and the other with lines drawn for the planting of seeds.”

10. Color v. Collar

Misspelling: Horse of a different collar.

Explanation: “Button-down, spread, straight point, or club? This mistake ― ‘collar’ for ‘color’ ― makes obvious equine sense, especially since the idiom ‘horse-collar,’ for a violent kind of tackle, rides so closely in tandem with its correct cousin.”

11. Manner v. Manor

Misspelling: Bedside manor

Explanation: “A great name for a nursing or convalescent home. You can imagine that the entire staff has been trained to be gentle to and considerate of their bed-ridden clientele. There’s a chain of such places, and the people who manage them scrupulously mind their manors.”

12. Marquee v. Marquis

Misspelling: Lights on a marquis.

Explanation: “A most unusual sight, an illuminated French nobleman. Unless the sentence this svelte comes from is ‘The mosquito lights on a marquis.’ But it’s not. There is something appropriate about the splendor and prominence of a marquee and the high rank of its homophone, ‘marquis.’”

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