Spell Check
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Spell Check
You may recall that our inaugural spelling challenge last winter included all right, which has managed to ward off alright for decades now. As we noted at the time, the usage of alright “remains unacceptable across the board in serious writing.”
Since then we’ve discovered yet another adversary gunning for all right: films with subtitles. For whatever reason, subtitled films invariably insist on alright. We don’t know where films go to be subtitled, but apparently Subtitle Central has decided that alright’s time has arrived. We’ll see about that.
Meanwhile, here is the next in our occasional series of spelling tests. You’ll find the answers below—after you take the quiz, if you don’t mind.
1. The differences between them are ___, so take your pick.
A) minuscule
B) miniscule
C) minascule
D) minniscule
2. Many nutritionists claim honey mixed with ___ can help with weight loss.
A) cinnaman
B) cinammon
C) cinnammon
D) cinnamon
3. Living in that place was like being in a ___.
A) straitjacket
B) straightjacket
C) strait jacket
D) straight-jacket
4. A backyard ___ is what summer is all about.
A) barbeque
B) bar-B-Q
C) barbecue
D) A, B, and C are all correct.
5. The fire ___ is investigating a suspicious blaze.
A) marshall
B) marshal
C) marchal
D) marshill
6. The ___ choir sang like a band of angels.
A) a capella
B) a cappella
C) a capela
D) a cappela
7. These chemicals will help ___ the solution to the required purity.
A) rarify
B) rarrify
C) rariffy
D) rarefy
8. He handed me a metal ___ with a loose lid.
A) canaster
B) cannister
C) canister
D) cannaster
9. Bobby strummed his ___ as if his hand were on fire.
A) ukulele
B) ukalele
C) ukulale
D) ukalale
10. There’s a lot more to do in ___ than many New Yorkers suspect.
A) Cinncinatti
B) Cincinnati
C) Cinncinati
D) Cincinatti
ANSWERS
1: A) minuscule. Note that first u. A lot of people think the word is “miniscule.” And it makes sense that a word for tiny would have a mini in it. In this case, don’t think mini, think minus.
2: D) cinnamon
3: A) straitjacket. It’s commonly spelled with a straight, which is understandable. Wouldn’t a “straightjacket” be just the thing to straighten you up and straighten you out?
4: C) barbecue. People want to put a q where the c should be. The popular abbreviation, BBQ, doesn’t help matters.
5: B) marshal
6: B) a cappella. Most have no problem with the two l’s, but the double p’s are another matter.
7: D) rarefy
8: C) canister
9: A) ukulele. This word creates a lot of bother for such an elfin instrument.
10: B) Cincinnati
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
WGBH-TV, the PBS station in Boston, does a lot of the titling you see. Maybe you could start with them.
Love your column!
Thank you.
I believe MARSHAL can be correctly spelled with two L’s.
The word doesn’t have two l‘s unless it’s someone’s first or last name or a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean.
I would say that the reason why subtitles so often exhibit ‘alright’ is that subtitlers are taught to limit the number of words to six per frame.
Very interesting.
Both the Oxford and Merriam-Webster list “barbeque” as a variant spelling of barbecue. It started me to thinking that made-up words, the origins of barbecue are not really known, are all variant spellings, including “barbecue”. Up here in Toronto barbeque is used a lot (Dickson Barbeque, barbeques at Walmart.ca, barbeques at Sears.ca, Bad Wolf Barbeque, etc).
I love your emails. Thanks for sending them.
Webster’s New World, the official dictionary of The Associated Press Stylebook, lists no alternate spellings of barbecue, and says it derives from the American Spanish word barbacoa.
Thank you for the kind words, and thank you for writing.