Misspelling the Important Words
Whether it’s been coded in my DNA to be a grammar stickler or whether it’s a socialized skill, I do not know. What I do know is that when given another piece of writing, my eyes will immediately spot mistakes. Since I’m used to reading the writing of many college students who were neglected by their poor high school educations, my eyes usually have a field day. It’s almost like a crazy game of Duck Hunt — my eyes see so many targets, they start to go crazy. Usually this does not aggravate me too much, as I know 1.) some people simply possess skills that have nothing to do with writing that I both do not and will not have in my life, 2.) there are learning differences out there that could lead to these understandable errors, and 3.) they’re still learning.
What does kill me, though, is when an “expert” on a specific topic repeatedly misspells a word that is vital to any discussions on the matter. The one word prompting this post is “millennial,” as in a person born between the years of 1982 and 2000, and the generation known to demonstrate increased engagement with our political system through teamwork and enjoy Secret Service-like protection from their parents. When I see “millenial,” I cringe inside. Seriously. I don’t do it because I suddenly hate the person writing it. It’s not spiteful. I do it because there’s little else this person could do that would do more to harm their credibility on the topic.
I don’t usually see this word in students’ writing, so rarely is there an opportunity to misspell it. I do see it in blog posts of those professing to be experts or interested in millennials. What would be considered good, solid writing surrounds it, but there it is — the one “n”-ed word, one right after another.
Yes, “Millennium,” the root word, is probably on one of those “50 Hardest Words to Spell” lists. People spell it incorrectly many a time. But, again, in order for one’s words to mean as much as they can, it’s imperative to pick the critical words in one’s field and ensure they know how to spell them.
