Just asking…
Are you a good speller?I think I’m a decent speller; after all, my life as a journalist demanded the ability to spell.
Words are tricky, however, and I admit I often have to spell-check a specific word. If you’re computer-efficient, you know that misspelled words usually are flagged with underscoring, to advise you of errors. No one is perfect. (Spell-check doesn’t work efficiently with Hawaiian words, right?)
I bring up spelling because a friend told me her grade-school child has some difficulty in spelling. It’s understandable because words can be tricky.
Many words sound alike but are spelled differently. Examples: but/butt, knew/new, knight/night, wood/would, dough/doe, plane/plain and kernel/colonel. These are called homophones.
Some words like psychology, pseudonym, phlegm, phantom, psychic, and physics don’t look like how they are pronounced. The spelling of Wednesday is not logical, nor is the word marble, which means the little glass thing kids play as well as the stone-like glossy matter utilized in countertops. Hmmm, it is what it is.
The older you become, your vocabulary increases, so you learn the ropes and will know the difference between rain and reign. Hopefully.
Perhaps you can whip up a pair of same-sounding but different words. I’ll add one here — pair/pear — so add yours to the list…