Friday, May 16, 2008

It's "lightning' not 'lightening'

I don't know why it bothers me so much, but I really hate when people write 'lightening' when they mean 'lightning'. Maybe it is because I studied meteorology in college, I can't be sure. I know I make mistakes spelling. I try to do my best to catch them all, but usually I am writing something quickly and I don't have time for a close inspection. Anyway, I really don't like it when I find it, in what is supposed to be, a professional article. For example:

Beginning last year, American barred mechanics from doing more than minimal checks for lightening strikes unless pilots of incoming traffic officially stated the plane may have been struck, the newspaper said. (By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch).

At least it was correct in the title, which is usually not written by the same person.

OK, back to the grind.

4 comments:

Florinda said...

You're speaking my language now. I think the problem is that these aren't the errors spell-check catches, because they're not misspellings - they're errors of word choice and usage.

I agree that it's more annoying to find them in people who supposedly get paid for writing, though.

Mike said...

Florinda: I give most people a break, mostly because I've been known to have a mistake or two, but it should be right if you are paid for it. All my mistakes I blame on the 'auto-word-fixer thing' on my iPod. It always picks the wrong word, and I don't always catch it. Totally not my fault. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm totally with you. When I wanted to use my "nickname" as a domain name I thought I'd be right because it's not spelt right. Turns out they've taken the "not spelt right" domains as well!!!!

Every now and then I have to tell people "yes, I know Lightening is spelt Lightning" but it's a NAME and there are reasons for the spelling!!!

The very consiencious spellers tend to spell my name "Lightning" rather than "Lightening". It just doesn't look right without the e.

Funnily enough, my real name people add an e where there isn't one.

Mike said...

Hey Lightening: That's funny. At first when I saw you comment I thought you were someone I know poking fun at me, but after going to your site I see I was wrong. Thanks for coming over. I made sure I spelled your name right.