How To Spell 'Spell' And Other Basic Word Aussies Googled Most This Year
Google data exclusively obtained by 10 daily has revealed the words Aussies can’t spell and surprisingly, we have a hard time with some pretty simple words.
An analysis of the top 10 words searched for spelling help on Google by Aussies across the country shows many are stumped by words like 'colour' and 'definitely'.
READ THE FULL LIST OF WORDS BELOW
Professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann, a linguist at Adelaide University believes some of the confusion would boil down to the differences between British and American spellings.
"This really comes down to American spellings not using the letter 'u' in those words. Harry Potter, for example, is being translated from British English to American English to avoid confusion over 'colour' and 'favourite'," he said.
One of the more complex words that made the top 10 was 'diarrhea'.
The fifth most Googled 'how to spell' word was, funnily enough, 'spell',
"I suspect this one is just a bit of a joke, surely people know how to spell, 'spell'," Zuckermann said.
Australian accents and pronunciations are largely to blame for spelling mistakes, according to Zuckermann.
"Australia is the worst country to live in when it comes to spelling and phonetics. People who are dyslexic struggle even more," he said.
He said many words have French or German origins.
And 55 years after the release of Disney's iconic Mary Poppins, we are still trying to figure out how to spell 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'.
Image: Disney
The Most Googled 'How To Spell' Searches By Australians
- How to spell favourite
- How to spell colour
- How to spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
- How do you spell beautiful
- How to spell spell
- How to spell definitely
- How to spell diarrhea
- How do you spell niece
- How to spell aunty in Australia
- How to spell gorgeous
Google also provided 10 daily with the words Aussies needed help with in the last year.
Aussie staples -- 'barbeque' and 'scrunchie' -- made that list as well as the names 'Daniel' and 'Volkswagen'.
"When it comes to 'Volkswagen' that is a German word and most people would only use the abbreviation, same as 'barbeque'," Zuckerman said.
He also believes a move away from handwriting and auto-correct has contributed to poorer spelling habits.
"How many people actually use a pencil to write and train the brain to remember a spelling?
"Text abbreviations mean we don't have to use a whole word to communicate and phones automatically finish spelling a word for you too," he said.
The Top 'How To Spell' Google Searches In 2019
- How to spell barbecue
- How do you spell colonel
- How do you spell miracle
- How do u spell lama (llama)
- How to spell circumstances
- How to spell Volkswagen
- How do you spell nanna
- How to spell Daniel
- How do you spell discrepancy
- How to spell scrunchie
Contact the author alattouf@networkten.com.au