A Spelling Test

Via Derbyshire, who claims to have gotten eighteen right. My guesses (not open book, with Firefox spellcheck temporarily disabled) are over the fold. I haven’t checked to see what my score is, but someone else can, if they have the time.

1. ass-uh-9
2. brag-uh-doe—C-O
3. rare-uff-I
4. lick-wuff-i
5. puh-vill-yun
6. ver-mill-yun
7. im-pah-stir
8. mock-uh-sun
9. uh-komuh-date
10. kon-sen-sus
11. roe-ko-ko
12. tittle-8
13. sack-ruh-lijus
14. may-uh-naze
15. im-pray-sorry-O
16. in-ock-U-late
17. sooper-seed
18. obly-gahto
19. dessuh-Kate
20. re-sussuh-tate

If you want to try it yourself, do it before looking at mine.

1. asinine
2. braggadocio
3. rarify
4. liquify
5. pavilion
6. vermilion
7. imposter
8. moccasin
9. accommodate
10. consensus
11. rococco
12. tittilate
13. sacreligious
14. mayonnaise
15. impresario
16. innoculate
17. supercede
18. obligatto
19. dessicate
20. resuscitate

8 thoughts on “A Spelling Test”

  1. Rand, according to Apple’s spell checker (and my eyes), nine out of those twenty are wrong.

    I think the correct spellings are

    asinine
    braggadocio
    rarefy -or- rarify
    liquefy -or- liquify
    pavilion
    vermilion
    impostor
    moccasin
    accommodate
    consensus
    rococo
    titillate
    sacrilegious
    mayonnaise
    impresario
    inoculate
    supersede
    obbligato
    desiccate
    resuscitate

    With that list, I got nineteen out of twenty. (Typed “supercede”; should have known better.)

  2. Can’t edit my previous post… but, given alternate spellings for ‘rarefy/rarify’ and ‘liquefy/liquify’, that would mean only seven out of Rand’s twenty were wrong. Not nine. Sorry.

  3. I got 8 right according to my TextPad spell-checker, 9 according to the Firefox spell-checker.

    My reaction is just how often are these words normally used? That’s a fairly esoteric collection, especially considering the original test was created in 19-fricking-55.

    That shouldn’t slow down The Derb, since he’s older than dirt, but the rest of us try to at least stay more current than George H. W. Bush administration…

    A couple of pointers for The Derb: we let colored people eat at the regular lunch counters now, and Japan makes most of the best audio equipment. Oh! I almost forgot; computers now take up less than a full room, and can execute several millions operations per second. No, I swear on my mother’s grave, it’s true…

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