I saw it again this week posted on a classroom door while I was heading to class, “Class cancelled today.”
Note to self: Look it up…again…how to spell “cancelled”.
And then again, on Saturday morning around 10:20 D1 texted me from the second to the first floor and sleepily asked, “Was the showing canceled today?” She had spent the night with us to help me be sure the house would be straightened up for this weekend’s showings, the first one scheduled at 10:00. D1 was an English major, born and raised in TX. I noted she preferred “canceled.”
I called her back to answer. “Yes, dear, that’s why I wasn’t running around the house calling out a minute by minute showing countdown. Go ahead and sleep in.”
I had received a text from Showings.com (or some such) around 8:30 “We have CANCELLED (their caps, not mine) the apt. on Sat (no period) 2/15 @ 10:00.”
Back to my Note to self. From Grammar in Context, by Sandra N. Elbaum, here’s a rule regarding spelling the -ing ending in a two-syllable word and extends to -ed words that end in consonant, vowel, consonant. Double the final consonant only if the last syllable is stressed.
For example: refer becomes referred
admit becomes admitted
rebel becomes rebelled
control –> controlled
propel –> propelled
And, here’s a rule when the last syllable of a multi-syllable word is not stressed. Do not double the final consonant.
For example: listen –> listened
open –> opened
offer –> offered
limit –> limited
develop –> developed
Therefore, following these American rules, the -ed spelling of cancel is canceled.
Note: In varieties of English from outside the U.S., including Canadian, British, and Australian English, cancelled and cancelling are the preferred spellings. [Case in point, note preferred] “Cancellation” is the spelling for the noun in all varieties of English.
As our global world becomes smaller and smaller, it seems that “cancelled” has not only penetrated but permeated our American English. The same goes for “traveled”, “traveling”, “travelled” and “travelling”. My wp spell check wants me to correct “travelled” and “travelling” however, it does not check me on “cancelled.”
It is not my intent to be the grammar police, but only from time to time I think it is useful and desirable to brush up my spelling. First and foremost, I want to read my blogging friends’ stories, thoughts and opinions, how you construct them without specific attention to the grammar or spelling. An anathema to both? Perhaps.
Recently, as I went through old letters written by my Dutch father and grandmother, I remembered the spelling errors (not specifically the ones pertaining to the words mentioned above). It was in those letters that I received in my younger years, I was gifted an important insight. Although, I had grown up with two languages: Spanish and English, they had grown up with more: Dutch, Spanish, French, English, and in the case of my grandmother German, too. Considering English came fourth in their acquisition of languages, I have nothing to critique here, but am filled with admiration.
With that humbling knowledge I have kept my thoughts or comments regarding their spelling in check and I encourage my students to spell the best they can favoring a more holistic rubric, including other criteria in addition to mechanics.
Oh, English is challenging. I still remember my grandmother Moesje laugh until there were tears in her eyes when my dad shared with her this poem written by a Dutch writer. Although it doesn’t deal with spelling, it certainly magnifies the degrees of difficulty in not just the fine points of English grammar, but the pronunciation of English, as well.
The Chaos
by G. Nolst Trenite’ a.k.a. “Charivarius” 1870 – 1946
Dearest creature in creation
Studying English pronunciation,
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse
I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye your dress you’ll tear,
So shall I! Oh, hear my prayer,
Pray, console your loving poet,
Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!
It goes on further for 146 lines with 800 examples of English pronunciation pitfalls. Click here to read more about our English pronunciation chaos.
Great post! I always wonder when a word just does not look right to me if it is because of the spelling and it usually is. My biggest gripe is when people use the incorrect word —there, their, they’re—comes to mind. 🙂
The one that I think isn’t so hard and so many miss “your, you’re”…one is possessive and the other is a contraction, pronoun combined with a verb. uh-oh I promised not to sound like the grammar police.
It’s okay—you can be the grammar police. I agree. It is maddening.
I’m kind of putting myself out there on this one. So if I clarify double consonants and which are the exceptions, who or what will others note about my writing? I’m ready to get feedback. 🙂
🙂
This post made me feel so much better. Because I keep having trouble with those double letter endings. Travelling or traveling (spell check says two). I was a great speller once, but no more. Between learning French and working in an international organization where I did quite a bit of organiSing, I have struggled for years. But now at least I know I am not alone (or a lone)!
Once I got it in my head that the consonant is doubled when the last syllable is stressed…easy peasy…except for the exceptions.
The words I have the most difficulty with are those that sound the same in French and English and yet have an extra letter in one or the other like mariage and marriage!
Agreed! I too, experience interference with French and Spanish. Spanish only has 4 doubled consonants, cc, ll, rr and in one word, nn, so doubling letters is my personal spelling quest. Another thing I keep working on is compound words such as everywhere (2 words or 1?), into or in to?
anyone or everyone always seem to make me pause and ask one word or two??
Yep, they make me stop and think, too.
that made my head hurt. following that guidance, admitted should be admited, then, since the 2nd syllable is stressed but the last isn’t. 🙂 ugh!
hmmm…no, ad-mit’ = stress on second syllable = admitted. You’re right with the first spelling. ooo…I’m sliding a slippery slope today.
Many years ago, my colleague and I had this discussion on canceled. I insisted there were 2 “l’s” and she insisted one. We went to the dictionary which showed both as considered correct. I changed my ways when I was at the airport which showed about many flights were “canceled” because of weather. I figured they have to be right….maybe.
smile…maybe…The rule in Elbaum’s book helps only if one knows where the stress is. Sigh…more questions.
Now that I know the rule, it will be much easier…maybe.
Of course the issue of multi-lingualism is beyond my ability to comment. But for native English speakers, my opinion is that we need more grammar “police”. Allowing students (or bloggers, or NY Times editors) to spell words “just any old way” isn’t fair to them, any more than is allowing two plus two to end up as six, or three, or five.
There’s no reason to be nasty about errors, or use the rules as a way to put someone down. But the lowering of standards doesn’t serve anyone well. Creeping relativism has become galloping relativism, and when it comes to writing, participation trophies don’t really cut it.
Now, as for the doubled letters and such — it seems to me that consistency is the issue. If you prefer “cancelled” (as I would), use it that way throughout. The important thing is to know why we prefer one form over another, and to be able to explain it if questioned.
I will say that I’ve spent increasing amounts of time with dictionaries, grammar guides and such since I’ve begun writing. And I never use spell checkers or auto-corrects of any sort. If I’m unsure, I look it up myself, and I’m unsure at least a couple of times a day. If I miss something and someone corrects me (as has happened), I accept the correction with gratitude.
Of course, teaching and working with people for whom English is a second language (or third) is a slightly different issue. One of my readers speaks and writes English as a second language, and there are times when word selection or spelling is a little “off”. Occasionally, I’ll use the misspelled word in my reply, with the correct spelling. Just now and then, if something is wrong in a way that affects meaning, I’ll let the person know – but in a private email, and nicely. I never, ever would correct someone publicly. That’s not my role.
I have been doing quite a bit of reading in the journals of pioneers who crossed our prairies. Although many had no formal education, I’ve been astounded by the beauty of their language and, quite often, the clarity of their thought. Are there occasional spelling and grammar errors? Of course — but not nearly as many as we might expect from the “untutored.”
To be quite frank, I worry as much about reductionism in language as I do particular errors. But both are critically important. After all, as Wittgenstein so nicely put it, “The limits of my language are the limits of my world.”
I think the most important thing I write is a letter of recommendation on behalf of a student. Certainly, the reader will judge the reference favorably if at the very least the spelling is in place.
I don’t find any errors in major publications such as the NY Times or the Houston Chronicle, or in El País and BBC Mundo in Spanish, but I do find hoards of errors elsewhere in Spanish, especially with particular letters and accents. I have learned that spell check just doesn’t recognize the English word “Castilian” or other words which are perfectly spelled and appear in Webster’s.
My nemesis would probably be the run on sentence and certain compound words. (blush)
In class, I try to do as you do, in correcting in an open forum. I take what has just been said and extend the discussion an extra beat, correcting the improper grammar usage hoping to model the correct form. Some smile in acknowledgement. Others still need more time to get it. Or, in the case of spelling, I make a mental note to use troublesome misspelled words in examples on the whiteboard.
If we are lifelong learners, we need to diagnose and review our own trouble spots. It’s what my contemporaries may view as an intense approach, but I think worthy. Certainly, the stories of well-known figures who had trouble with spelling abound. Just as I appreciate my grandmother’s and father’s errors, there are other criteria to consider, whether English is our first or “other” language.
For me, it’s punctuation. I just learned about the “Oxford Comma” this year. I’d been misusing it forever. Now, I think I’ve got it straight. 😉
I need to ask my brother about that. I’m still not clear, and I blush again, I use …, too often. There have been several fp posts on just that topic.
Another thought about Spanish spelling. Yes, there is the verb “deletrear” but it’s not used often among Spanish speakers. Instead, one asks “¿Cómo se escribe…? = How do you write x? English places much more emphasis on spelling in my view. I continue to take a poll among my colleagues, and I know exactly who I’m going to ask when I return to Cincinnati this June.
Although spelling was my easiest subject in school, there are a few words that are always baffling to me!
Me, too, Dianna. How many times have I looked up “proceed” and “concede”?
Like you, I remember teaching the various rules of spelling and tricks to remember the confusing ones like it’s and its. You are an English teacher, aren’t you?
I love the handwriting artifacts you have preserved. I have some family recipes in my mother’s and grand-mother’s handwriting, which I treasure. Thank you for the poem. I will add it to my collection.
My first field is Spanish Literature, and I also, teach ESOL later in my career. I confidently tell my students regarding Spanish, “After intermediate Spanish there should not be a verb you cannot conjugate nor a word you can’t accent.” Of course, you and I know, it all takes time and experience. Still, the rules are there, even the exceptions to the rules, and I believe it’s possible.
In writing this post, I didn’t have a copy of this poem that made my grandmother laugh until there were tears running down her cheeks, the best kind of laughter, I think. I asked my mother and brother if they knew what poem I was talking about. They didn’t, yet that memory of my grandmother laughing so hard is so clear to me. Thank goodness, for the internet, I remembered words from the first line (creature…creation) and voilá there it was! I am so glad it’s here now for the rest of the family to know about.
I love that you have handwritten letters from your family. I’ve held on to a few myself since they’re becoming obsolete. A downside of the computer age.
Thanks for the tip on when to double, Georgette! I’ve always spelled “canceled” with one “l”, but I never really knew why I did. 🙂
You know because you’re American.:) You may notice as you go out and about, folks spell it both ways. At first we think it’s us, that we’re confused. Then we realize, “No, we’ve seen it both ways and continue to see it both ways.”
You may want to scan your letters so you can share with family members or others interested in the originals. Also, you can create a digital folder file of something very precious.
Fascinating stuff. I often have trouble with the past tense of travel. I never know one “L” or two. I’ve come to assume it’s optional. Where do you stand on use of “me” versus “I” and how some are interchanging them? Like chalk on a blackboard, if you ask me.
Oh gosh, I don’t like being the grammar police, but I don’t mind an opportunity to inform. Not only the mix-up of “me” vs. “I”, but the use of “me” before another person such as “Me and my best buddy” instead of “My best buddy and I.” It’s so simple to think of the other person first.
Aww … “a kiss from Moesje” — just precious.
Like Dianna, every once in a while I’ll encounter a word that stumps me for no reason whatsoever. The word lately has been jeopardy. I just never want to spell it as it should be spelled – agh!!
Safe travels to you, GS. I’m supposed to fly today but one flight was already xlld and another booked for later on .. we shall see!
MJ
Oh gosh, safe travels and good luck. I’d hate for you to have Hubbs’s (sp? sigh) experience in Atlanta.
My sister is “stuck” in FL bound for DC. I say stuck because she needs to return to work.
I work with folks online in NJ, NY and PA. They just hope their internet will hold up.
And “spring break” is next week! What to pack? Looks I’ll be wearing my Carhart, a scarf, gloves and boots.
The British English and American English is so confusing. We tend to use the British spelling here in Canada, but not always. Imagine how difficult it is for ESL students to figure out. Both spellings are considered correct here. The best advice I got once was to just be consistent. If you use cancelled don’t use canceled the next time and vice versa. I’m also not the best speller. I once wrote dessert instead of desert, on marketing material. I said my main character was lost in a dangerous dessert. How embarrassing. (but good for a few laughs)
haha…a “dangerous dessert” such as “Death by Chocolate”…oh my. I do hate to make errors, but I guess the best we can do is the best we can do…and as you said, laugh. If it happens rarely, folks will forget and we’ll definitely learn from our mistakes. shoreacres commented similarly. Just be consistent with the spelling you choose.
Georgette, I just came across this, one paragraph from a 2001 article on writing by Elmore Leonard. You can read the entire article here, but I thought you’d enjoy this, especially:
If proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative. It’s my attempt to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious writing. (Joseph Conrad said something about words getting in the way of what you want to say.)
That just made me smile and smile. And you’ll notice his point about exclamation marks – perhaps 2 or 3 per 100,000 words. I think I may give up exclamation marks for Lent. 😉
haha…give up exclamation marks for Lent! (Oh dear, my previous sentence is replete with … and !.) I will carry this thought with me. Seriously, giving up things for Lent just doesn’t resonate with me, but this does.
I’m at school early getting ready for class, then I need to prepare for a long conference call, then a web mtg. It may be until tomorrow morning until I read it, and I look forward to it.
Funny, I have something for you, too. As I was clearing out all the travel brochures (yay…we’re 19 boxes packed so far and I’m sure double that yet to go), I ran across some information on the buffalo. I will scan on Thursday and send it to you via e-mail.
Enjoyed the article, especially how much he dedicated to dialog which I enjoy trying to capture in order to deliver a story or vignette. I found myself nodding in agreement about using “said” in dialog. I, too, feel that “admonished, scolded, exclaimed or replied” get in the way. If line 1 is a question and line 2 is an answer, of course he/she replied/answered without saying so. Yes, by using just “said” can be sufficient just to keep the story on course and not lose the reader.
As an English major myself, I confess I’ve been a member of the grammar police very often! LOL I’m always catching mistakes in print — newspapers, magazines, signs, you name it. That’s why I was always a very good proofreader. BUT as I’ve –ahem… – matured, I find that I have to often stop and think quite deliberately how to spell certain words! And I used to be a pro at spelling!! :O
At this point of my life and career, I’m more relaxed. These matters are very important, but I acknowledge I don’t know everything. Some wonderful things have happened in my career that I feel so very blessed about, yet because it is my career, I don’t publicize those matters. Let’s just say I feel validated and much more confident in writing my stories paying as much close attention to mechanics as I can. I do as you do, think deliberately, use a dictionary and even use google.
Re: the grammar police, probably the thing that rankles me most, I wrote in my comment to Monica. “Me and my buddy” instead of “My buddy and me” is not just about grammar but courtesy, respect and deference to others. There, I said it, and I will take the opportunity in a comment to point that out.
Funny… I call out to husband, “How do you spell x?” and then, lo and behold he’ll do the same. We both keep each other on track and respect when we ask, someone in this household knows.
Lucky girl! My husband is a terrible speller, so he relies on me and I…lately have to rely on the dictionary! 😉
My husband has a wonderful head for trivia…:)…which just may include spelling.
Oh, shoot, I forgot to mention one other thing. I commiserate with you on the “me and my buddy” thing, but that’s a whole other story (how many people never put others first) so I won’t go there. But one of the things people in our neck of the woods say that drives me CRAZY? “I seen it” instead of “I saw it.” Grrr.
…and the use of “don’t” as singular, as in “She don’t care.” I guess it’s as you said in your post, it’s a choice not of the spirit but of another kind… even when it comes to matters of grammar. It’s a choice to listen, a choice to notice and possibly learn.
I think about these things a lot, too, Georgette! Especially having worked as an editor. At times there seem to be no hard and fast rules to grammar — but if you look close enough, things will make a certain rounded sense. I’d never heard of the rule you mentioned where it depends upon the stressing of syllables to determine the doubling of the final consonant — thank you so much for sharing! And as you’ve pointed out, even within English there are different spellings for American English and British — which also includes the British Informal. It’s crazy! But fun. Thanks for the lesson.
Above all, I am glad to hear that you read for pleasure and understanding above reading for grammar. Though of course I believe in its importance, I believe true enjoyment only comes when you “get” a piece of writing, spelling mistakes and all. The letters you shared from your family members were precious, and perfect examples. I was so amazed to see the suggestion to “make more clothes for your doll.” Now that was written by someone who definitely understands the value of communication!
My father and grandmother achieved much in their lifetimes. Ivy league education. Serving in the diplomatic corps. Knowing 4 or 5 languages where I saw them communicate, connect with people. Somewhere I figured out at a young age, grammar or not, there are other things to consider in the rubric.
I don’t want to be the grammar police, yet I acknowledge credibility is at stake with folks you don’t know well. First impressions are important, but then, like family we do need to quit posturing and relax.
Nothing makes writers crazier than the rules of grammar. I tend to get crossed up when there are strings of vowels together – such as nauseous. That word always stumps me for a minute or two. I also have a habit of writing words as they appear in British English as opposed to American English. Such as adding an ‘e’ to blonde or a ‘u’ to words like colour. I must have read too many British novels. That’s my theory anyway. I wonder if there is a twelve step program for those of us who have read too much Austen and Dickens. Hmm.
hmmmm…I think I do add an “e” to blonde, too. I incorporate short stories in my grammar class because I truly believe by reading students can reinforce grammar and spelling. They read “Thank you, M’am” by Langston Hughes, “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry, a chapter from Tom Sawyer and a chapter from the YA novel Shiloh. They enjoy them and they are very accessible.
Thank you so much for that trick about which syllable is accented – I am going to try to remember.
I tutor English as a Second Language and I am in awe at the abilities my learners show at mastering all the pitfalls of English. I could never learn another language that well, especially at my age.
Yes, a verb that ends in C, V, C and is stressed on the final syllable, doubles the final consonant with “-ed” and “-ing” verb endings.
It amazes me how many of us involved in ESOL are bloggers. WP seems to attract those with a world view. ESOL students are the best, aren’t they?
What an amazing poem that must be! I have to refer to the dictionary more often than I’d like. Seeing how others spell things, makes me question which way is correct.
It is an amazing poem. I like to read parts of it to my students so they can get a humorous view of how challenging English can be.
Hello Georgette, I am a first-time visitor to your blog after seeing a recent post of Dianna’s blog, These Days of Mine, about a recent meet-up of fellow bloggers. We also live in VA on the eastern shore, and one day may get to meet Dianna and Motor Man as well. Life is full of surprises!
I did enjoy this post on the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of the English language. Whenever I am commenting on something on-line, I “blame” the keyboard for al those awful misspellings and misuses.
Hello Beatrice. Thank you for stopping to comment. It has been a wonderful trip with daughter #2, SIL and GS 2. I have depended on them for transportation as I just can’t take on DC driving, however in the future I think I will explore points outside of DC with my husband, my sister or by myself. haha…this trip I am blaming my sister’s apple computer for any errors…I just can’t adapt that well away from my home computer…a case of “HER” perhaps.
As you pointed out, sometimes we have to keep spell check in check.
Perhaps I am repeating myself. I find that spell check just doesn’t recognize some words. “Castilian” for example is a word that never passes spell check. Travelling and traveling, the former never passes, however when it comes to “canceled” and “cancelled” both pass. Whoever or whatever inspects our words needs a multicultural perspective. Just this morning as I used the word “unphased”, spell check didn’t like that either, so not wanting to appear illiterate, I rephased (ooo…spell check doesn’t like that either; it says I should use re-phased) my sentence to “the mechanic didn’t seem phased at all.” What’s with the dashes? As I experiment, spell check doesn’t like “un-phased” either. It’s a mine field out there.
In at least one phase of your questioning I can help out. It turns out that we have two unrelated homonyms, phase and faze. The second of those means ‘to disturb, disconcert,’ and it’s the one whose past participle is often negated: unfazed.
More generally, though, and like you, I’ve had plenty of experiences in which the WordPress spell-checker questions legitimate words. Some of the time it’s because I’ve used a technical term, but other times the questioned words have been less arcane, like the Castilian you mentioned. Microsoft Word lets users create a list of words that its spell-checker won’t question, but I’m not aware of that feature in WordPress.
Thank you. I had looked up phased online giving the meanings “Disheartened, forlorn, stunned in a negative way.” The urban dictionary accepts phased with the meaning, but the Merriam Webster does not. I will be more careful with my sources.