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Here Are the Backstories of Five Very Weirdly Spelled Words

Nov. 16, 2012 9:39pm Liz Klimas

You might have heard before that English can be one of the hardest languages to learn, thanks to the plethora of grammar rules — and all the exceptions them. Well, spelling English words can be confusing too from a phonetic standpoint, and while some of these words are oddly spelled for no reason, the folks at Mental Floss have pulled together some words that do have a bit of historical reasoning.

Here are a few of them:

Wednesday: Why are the “d” and the seemingly extra “es” in there anyway? Who says “wed-nes-day”? Apparently, there was an Anglo-Saxon god named Woden who had an honorary day with various spellings, including Wodnesdaeg. Mental Floss points out that Shakespeare tried to write some sense into people spelling it as we all say it — Wensday — but the “d” ultimately remained.

Metal Floss Discusses Why Some Words Are Spelled Weirdly

(Image: Shutterstock.com)

February: Again, who says “bru”? Is it supposed to mimic the brrr felt in many climates at that time of year? It appears that someone might have wanted to make the word fancier. Here’s what Mental Floss wrote: “The French feverier first became English feverere, or feverell. But in the 16th and 17th centuries, a craze for all things classical caused writers to start re-Latinizing their spelling—making words look more like their ancient language sources, whatever their current pronunciation. It was a way to make your documents look more intelligent and fancy. And so, in writing, they made February look more like Februarius.”

(Image: Shutterstock.com)

Receipt: At least we can comfortably say this one follows the “i” before “e” except after “c” rule. According to Mental Floss, the odd “p” comes from the “Latinzing craze” as well. Similar instances where this happened is with “debt,” “doubt” and “salmon.”

(Image: Shutterstock.com)

Colonel: How did something that sounds like “kernel” end up being spelled this way? There’s no “o” sound or middle “l” and where does that “r” sound come from? Mental Floss stated that it is the result of a compromise between two other spellings. The French word was spelled “coronel” while the Italian was “colonel.” Italian spelling won out for looks but the “r” prevailed for pronunciation.

Shoulder strap indicating a colonel in the Union army. (Image: Wikimedia)

Jeopardy: What is because the French for “divided game” is iu parti, sounding like jeu parti? That’s correct. Several spelling iterations came afterward before it settled on this version for the game show.

Software developer Ken Jennings from Salt Lake City, Utah, right, poses for a photo with Jeopardy host Alex Trebek. (Photo: AP/Sony Pictures Television)

Check out the rest of the words detailed by Mental Floss here.

Featured image via Shutterstock.com.

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Comments (53)

Melika
Posted on November 18, 2012 at 12:13am
I think Liz just hit a new record – she screwed up the first sentence. Usually she waits until at least 2-3 sentences have been typed. Way to go Liz! Can somebody please explain why she is still on staff?

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- JACKTHETOAD
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 6:16am
  I’ll bet there’s a nice, warm job waiting for you at the TSA. It involves cavity searches.
  
  Report this comment
- ZengaPA65
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 10:57am
  The Blaze makes “all the exceptions them” for kids who work cheaply. Can’t you tell by the constant articles that are really YouTube videos of how many pencils someone can stick in their nose etc. ?
  
  Report this comment
- thx1138v2
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 11:25pm
  What if you went on ajourney to all the religious and cultural centers in the world to find yourself and all you found was you?
  
  Report this comment
IMayLookHarmless...
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 6:09pm
I think “weird” is weird–why not “wierd,” like niece?

So, you have the odd spelling of words, and then you have the odd way otherwise intelligent people mispronounce seemingly simple words. For instance, “realtor,” becomes “ree’ la ter,” and “idea” becomes “ideal.”

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- Konservative PUNK
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:00pm
  Aside from ‘Woden’s Day’ (Wednesday), two other weekdays are named after Norse Gods.
  Thursday is derived from “Thor’s Day”.
  Friday originated as “Freya’s Day”.
  
  Report this comment
loneindividual
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 2:37pm
Wednesday = Wudan’s Day or Odin’s Day

Thursday = Thor’s Day

Friday = Freya Day or Frej Day

As for Colonel…I’m just gonna treat it like it’s a Hebrew name lol.

Colon of El or Guts of God

Receipt is probably Recite. Get rid of the P which is usually because of accents and the E which
take the Prefix which is Re, which means once more/again and the Suffix which is Cite, which basically means to refer to/build upon.

Everyone should look up the ETYMOLOGY of a word and find out what the Prefix or Suffix means…and then understand the basic concept behind words rather than the definitions other people give…including me…but I can cite (build upon) other people’s work.

Wikipedia is a good source of Etymology (where words come from & their deeper meaning)

Many words are just Frankensteins of other words.

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- Melika
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 12:09am
  Please for the love of all that is holy, stop using Wikipedia as the end-all of knowledge. Only the woefully uneducated (of which there are many) use that site as source material. There is so much crap on that site, it should be banned simply because it spreads such BS that people think is true because “everyone uses it”. If you must use Wikipedia, use it only as a portal.
  
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nesmond
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:42pm
Are you sure you’re out of sugar?

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ShyMan
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:01pm
How about the word “one?”

The word “on” sounds and looks correct.

But add an “e” to it and it makes no sense phonetically.

Where does the “w” sound come from?

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- ksmike
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 7:33pm
  The “w” in one was given to two because it didn’t have one. Besides, two is better than one and one is a lonely number (ask the Grass Roots).
  
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- Truthurts
  Posted on November 18, 2012 at 2:14pm
  No, ask Three Dog Night about the number one.
  
  Report this comment
LadyLibertykicksASS
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:26pm
I’ve always been puzzled by Freeze and Frozen…… So is it Squeeze and Sqozen as in OJ ????

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- BenInNY
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 6:34pm
  Stride = Strode,
  Glide = glid glidden glided… glode? <– This one got me the other night, lol
  
  Report this comment
normalmom
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:12pm
Words with a c making a k sound confuses kids, you tell them to sound it out so it should be spelled with a k. My son spelled subtraction subtracktion because the middle sounds like track for example.

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monkombre
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:10pm
lol. rebel in truth “woke up this morning and i got myself”….

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john vincent
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 9:55am
Here’s a perennial favorite:

-on a need to know basis
-he was kneed by a lineman
-more than one way to knead bread…

at least for a few minutes we are not discussing Obomba

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Paradox972
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:52am
Well with Obozo in for 4 more years , everyday is Monday

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RightUnite
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:51am
Corpsman could be added to that list….. I’m sure Obama would appreciate that.

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Lee_in_PA
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 7:19am
Mortgage is my favorite. Seems to be the French spelling where the t is silent. SO? why have it there.

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- ICSPADES
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 7:35am
  Way back in the middle ages, tea was the drink of choice after sex. So naturally “t” wold be in mortgage because if you take one out you are getting screwed.
  
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Eastinfection
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 6:46am
Connecticut should be on this list.
Same with Worcestershire…
or every town in Wisconsin.

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rebelguns
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 6:21am
Must be a slow news day, so I’ll take this opportunity to state: I like beer.

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- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 7:29am
  lol….
  
  http://thechurchofbeer.com/
  
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- DadRocked
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:47am
  Tom T Hall (I Like Beer)
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i5k4I1AOEI
  
  Report this comment
- the_truth_or_not
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 10:44am
  LOL! I diddo REBELGUNS. Already got one on my desk. Oh dont look at the time stamp lol.
  
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Advection
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 5:25am
Since this is a whimsical article, I’m posting a clever video that I just found.

Remember those “spot the difference” drawings where you’re supposed to find every difference between two seemingly identical sketches? This company hired a band to make this funny split screen video to advertise their beds.

http://sleepbetter.org/spot-the-differences-challenge/

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- 4xeverything
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 6:05am
  That was pretty cool. I found some new fun things to scare my kids with as well.
  
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- Advection
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 11:16am
  It’s funny how each family member’s subconscious comes across in their dreams. I’ve watched it over and over, and now I can’t get the song out of my head!
  
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piper60
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:43am
This could be a regular feature. Put it under “wordplay”.

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YallComeBack
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 2:00am
Sorry, but some of those are pitiful expressions.

A few of our days have their origins in Norse mythology.

Wednesday comes from- Woden’s Day.
Thursday comes from – Thor’s Day.

This is one reason why many Quakers have traditionally called days of the week by their numbers. First day, second day, etc. They did not want to use pagan gods in their everyday language.

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- YallComeBack
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 2:06am
  In other words- Today, practically no one ever things about norse gods when saying these days.
  
  But what about an older time when people would actually be saying Thor’s Day.
  Like the Quakers, I think I might have a problem with that.
  
  Report this comment
- Chet Hempstead
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 7:09am
  Thank God it’s Frigg’s Day.
  
  Report this comment
- Jakareh
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 10:24am
  In Portuguese, the week days are also called the equivalent of “second day” to “sixth day” and for the same reason as the Quakers changed them.
  
  Report this comment
woody4_rom828
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:52am
“…And all the exceptions them”? Is this a joke? What about “latinzing”? Don’t you mean Latin-izing? Surely I can reed and I know inglish grammer.

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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:43am
At least now I know why I lost on Jeopardy.

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- nzkiwi
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 1:56am
  Lol, Snow.
  
  One that has always intrigued me is “Lieutenant”. Americans pronounce it “Lootenant” whereas the British, Aussies, and ourselves pronounce it “Leftenant”.
  
  I have no explanation, and in fact, the American pronunciation seems more correct.
  
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marine249
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:35am
I like read and read as in
I will read it after you have read it.

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- Ditto Head
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 3:10am
  He was in the lead because of his lead foot.
  
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grayling646
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:28am
What about dumbass. Who ever uses the b?

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- marine249
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:41am
  you have to much time on your hands or
  
  you are a deep thinker.
  
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- grayling646
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:49am
  I too shallow to be a deep thinker so it must be the first one.
  
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- grayling646
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:56am
  I not gonna correct my mistake (just to confuse the Ron Paul supporters).
  
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VanceUppercut
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:09am
Now can someone explain to me why there’s no “f” in “cough”? Lulz.

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- The-Monk
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:32am
  I can do that VanceUppercut… It’s real simple…
  
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- SUNTZU
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:47am
  They used up all the f’s and didnt have any phor the
  word ph-one and ph-uck
  anrrmuhwahsappietoo.
  
  Report this comment
- Brainmuffin
  Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:49am
  The gh used to be pronounced as a soft h and eventually became an f sound.
  
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scherzophrenic
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:03am
We used to play a game called Name the word. You play it by using archaic and alternative spelling for similar sounds. F is one such sound. F, PH and GH all make that sound, O has several sounds. SH can be accomplished by, SH, CH, TI or CI. So Ghoti is the alternate spelling of FISH.

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KxMonster
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 12:00am
sea, it is clear.

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KernelOfTruth
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 11:51pm
oh. ColonelOfTruth here? ;-)

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