Spell-Write (Part 3)
There are certain words that even I, an exceptionally good speller, get wrong occasionally. One pair of words used to be “desert” and “dessert.” Used to be, as opposed to still is, because, when I was a fifth grade teacher, one of my students taught me a trick. She said, “You always want more dessert, so there’s two s’s in that word!” I have never forgotten that and can cross that pair off my list of confusion.
Since I was a math teacher for many years, I know that complementary angles are two whose sum is 90 degrees. I can also remember that red and green are complementary colors, as are yellow and purple. (For those who are curious, the complement of a primary color – red, yellow or blue – is the color you get by mixing the other two.) And complimentary? That’s easy – I love getting compliments on my writing, my fashion statements and my cooking. But, I have yet to find a way to remember “complimentary,” as in “free.” So, I always have to check myself before using the correct word.
That said, I have continued on my quest to find public signs with misspelled words. I offer the following: Is there something inherent in food stamps that is missing in credit cards? Why is one accepted and the other excepted?
Finally, in this Space for Rent sign, I could see a lot more possibility for misspelling warehouse (wherehouse? wairhouse? wharehouse?) and offices (ofices? offises?) than night! But, far be it for me to say which of those words the sign maker found a challenge. Like the others, it will become part of my “Misspelled Photo Montage” which I will seek to exhibit in the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in Dedham, Massachusetts. Look for it.
