Commonly Misspelled Words in Business
Our reliance on spellcheck and the delete button is undeniable. We often curse autocorrect but will never disable it. I do not want to make this another AI debate, but artificial intelligence should never replace our critical thinking and ability to spell. Studies show that poor writing costs businesses billions and post-secondary graduates entering the workforce are challenged to spell, write and present an argument “on paper”.
Superlative communications in business are as important and fundamental as punctuality and keeping one’s promises. But we are all human and mistakes can be telling in charming and forgivable ways. I have one word that always plagues me and I basically write for a living. The word is Awkward. I always spell it ackward which I cannot explain and is awkward for me to share here.
This brings us to words in business. The headline to this piece includes a challenging word. It is both ironic and comedic that Misspelled is so often missing an “S” or an “L”. An important one is Calendar that shows up frequently as calender. I cringe when I see privlege rather than Privilege.
Teamwork in business requires Consensus not concensus. One that pops up all the time is Accommodate. Two “C’s” and two “M’s” people! The word, Gauge, has tripped me up through the years. I have no problem with French-rooted words like Entrepreneur and Liaison but always double-check Rendezvous.
Acknowledgement and Acquire are big in business but show up inaccurately. The same is true for Occasion and Occur. Days of the week can be butchered with Wednesday and Tuesday getting the brunt of the damage. I have been in brainstorms where the words Adjacent and Adjacency are thrown about in discussion but cannot be written on the whiteboard. Such challenges are highly Noticeable.
Clearly, this can go on and on. And we haven’t even touched on proper uses of words like inquire or enquire. Then there are phrases used all the time but improperly. Language shouldn’t be a burden, it is a constant exploration. Autocorrect can correct the word but does not correct the error.
