




The examples of misspellings that Google sees most often are typos of very frequently searched terms, such as “Criagslist” instead of “Craigslist” and “Facebok” instead of “Facebook.” But Mr. Paskin said words that aren’t spelled the way they sound also give people trouble. He cited a few of the most common examples:

* “definitely,” which is often spelled “definately,” “definetly” or “definatly”
* “stilettos,” which people spell “stilletos,” and “stillettos”
* “mischievous,” spelled “mischevious” and “mischievious” and
* “nauseous,” which comes out “nautious,” “nauseas” and “nausious.”

Yahoo’s Web trend analysts also took a look recently at the top misspelled words of 2010 so far, with a focus on terms in the news. Their winner: Eyjafjallajokull, the volcano in Iceland that canceled flights across Europe when it erupted earlier this year.

A few other spelling confusions cited by Yahoo included “Goldman Saks” and “Goldman Sacks” instead of “Goldman Sachs”; “Justin Beaver” instead of singer “Justin Bieber”; “Louie Vaton purses” for “Louis Vuitton purses” and, fittingly, “Gulf Oil spell” instead of “Gulf Oil spill.”

For those who never spell these words wrong and think they have what it takes to compete with the Spelling Bee contestants, the Bee offers a chance to test your skills online.


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