25 words that baffle many people

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

How to write complex words correctly and remain a literate person.

1. Traffic

In English, traffic is indeed written with a double consonant. However, when borrowing from a foreign language, the second letter is usually lost, which happened with the word "traffic", so it should be written with only one "f".

2. Future

The word "future" often gets the letter "yu" by analogy with the word "next". But it can be easily parsed into the root bud- and the suffix -usch-. There is simply no place for an additional sign. If the spelling is difficult, you can try to remember through the synonym "future". Still, even the very doubters will not raise their hand to write "the one who is coming".

3. Offline

The word "offline", as well as close to it "offshore", "offside", lost a double consonant when entering them into dictionaries, which is typical for borrowings. At the same time, if the spelling "offline" can still be explained by confusion with the original language, then the version "offline" is puzzling: in English the word is also written without a hyphen.

4. Rinse

If you are not talking to your automatic washing machine, it is difficult to imagine in what situation you might need the word “rinse”. But just in case, it is worth remembering that you need to correctly distribute instructions using the word form "rinse".

5. Producer

Probably, the extra "s" is formed by analogy with the word "director". But in both Russian and English "producer" is written without doubled consonants.

6. Come

The word has gone through many transformations. In older books, it can be found in the come and come versions. And the analogy with "go" is clearly traced. However, in dictionaries it is fixed only in one form - “to come”.

7. Grapefruit

No matter how much one would like to make "grapefruit" a full-fledged "fruit", this word is pronounced in the same way as in the language from which it was borrowed. Otherwise, the first part of the word would have to be Russified, but "grape fruit" does not sound very attractive.

8. Blogger

For foreign words that extort the second consonant, there is a rule: if there is a single root word, then you should use only one letter from the double. The blogger maintains a blog, so he is not entitled to extra letters.

9. It is unlikely

According to Vasmer's etymological dictionary, the unchangeable particle "hardly" comes from the word "series", it is it that can be used as a test. And the "li" particle is always written separately, so do not be lazy to press the space bar.

10. Imagine

Frankly speaking, the word "imaginative" is absent in the overwhelming majority of dictionaries and in the literary Russian language. But it has a certain semantic connotation and can look cute in colloquial speech. At the same time, you do not need to be a linguist to cry bloody tears from "fermented". So test "imagining" with the word "imagination" and spare other people's eyes.

11. Ice cream

If ice cream means a calorie bomb made from milk or cream, then in this word you should always write one "n". This noun is formed from an imperfective verb, the letter in such cases is not doubled.

12. Cappuccino

In Italian, from which the name milk frothy coffee is derived, the word cappuccino was generously sprinkled with consonants. But in Russian, none of them doubles. Therefore, you can nod knowingly when, instead of cappuccino, you will find “cappuccino” or “cappuccino” on the menu.

13. Mosaic

Whether it's a picture of tightly packed pieces of glass or a children's puzzle, forget about bunnies and write it right: mosaic.

14. Handwriting

The insidious "d" strives to get in here, but she has no place in the word "handwriting". Because when you sit down to write the text by hand, you have no intention of underlining anything, but rather handwriting.

15. Bulletin

“Bulletin” is a vocabulary word, so you have to memorize it. This can be helped by the fact that it originated from the Latin bulla - "ball", "seal".

16. Legitimacy

There are many ways to disfigure the word "legitimacy", but it is better not to do this and just remember how it is spelled.

17. Realtor

It is difficult to avoid confusion with the word "realtor". Office programs do not underline it in red in any spelling, "Russian Guild of Realtors" insists on the letter "e" in its name, and even the authors of dictionaries cannot come to a consensus. And yet, in the most authoritative Russian spelling dictionary of the Russian Academy of Sciences, edited by Lopatin, the form "realtor" is fixed, it is better to stick to it.

18. Registration

The check word "register" will help to find out which letter is hiding in place of an unstressed vowel, and will not let you write "registration" incorrectly.

19. Gynecologist

The gynecologist has nothing to do with the word "gene", but is very closely related to the Greek "gyneka" - "woman."

20. Guest worker

It is easy to remember how the word "guest worker" is spelled: in German gastarbeiter consists of two parts: gast - "guest" and arbeiter - "worker".

21. Colander

Another word from the German language, where the letters tend to get confused. Colander comes from durchschlagen, which breaks down into durch, through, through, and schlagen, to strike. But if the etymology does not help to remember the correct order of the letters, you can go the associative path, especially since the word is so consonant with the popular curse word.

22. Calories

The word "calorie" was borrowed from French. Calorie entered the Russian language practically unchanged, there are no doubled consonants in it.

23. Vinaigrette

The name of the salad is derived from the French vinaigre - "vinegar", and it - from the word vin - "wine". This makes it easier to remember how to properly describe the vegetable mix. As for the second vowel in a word, it is enough to remember that it does not coincide with the first. Then you will write "vinaigrette" without a single mistake.

24. Shopping

In English, shopping is written with a double consonant, and many people want to transfer the two "p" and into Russian. Resist this urge and remember that there are similar words, such as shop tour. And if only one "p" is used in them, then there is no need to double the consonant in "shopping" either.

25. Terrorist attack

The abbreviation of the phrase "terrorist act" begs for a second consonant, but it is not worth negotiating with him. According to the rules for the formation of abbreviations, only one of the two consonants is written in them. Therefore, it is correct to write "terrorist attack".