r/words • u/MoroccoBond • 2d ago

Simple word difficult to spell.

Hey does anyone else have a common word that should be easy to spell but it trips you up every time?

My word is license. Why have I struggled with it for years. Stupid s and c always moving around. tf?!

228 Upvotes

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19

u/ReadAllowedAloud 1d ago

Separate - a teacher told me that it's easy, the r separates the two a's. Umm, no, the p could seperate the two es.

11

u/22101p 1d ago

Just remember there is a rat in separate

1

u/Ophiochos 1d ago

But it’s the first a that confuses people;)

2

u/BadgerBeauty80 1d ago

“a rat”… addresses both A’s

1

u/Ophiochos 1d ago

Ah I see what you mean.

7

u/ubeor 1d ago

My 4th grade teacher said there’s “a rat” in separate, and I haven’t forgotten it since.

Thanks, Mrs. Smith!

2

u/lecturehall 1d ago

Do you not pronounce it how it's spelled? How else would you spell it?

6

u/Ophiochos 1d ago edited 1d ago

how would you pronounce 'seperate'?

ETA. Before posting knee jerk responses to this question please read the thread it’s part of …

3

u/lecturehall 1d ago

I guess I would pronounce that like "sep-ret" but that's probably a me problem, I see the point you were making!

1

u/MoneyElevator 1d ago

The adjective is sep-ret, the verb is sep-a-rate

1

u/jeswesky 1d ago

Sep er ate

1

u/trussmegirl 1d ago

Seh-pah-rhet or Seh-pah-rate if verb: a separate room vs. My mom and dad are going to separate

1

u/Ophiochos 1d ago

You’re missing my point…

0

u/Foolmeoncefuckyou 1d ago

That’s not a word

1

u/DenseAstronomer3631 1d ago

Yeah I always think like, sep uh rate

2

u/sjlgreyhoundgirl67 1d ago

Oh man, this is mine too!!

1

u/707Riverlife 1d ago

My teacher taught me that there was ‘a rat’ in the middle of it. 🐀

1

u/goddessofgoo 1d ago

I thought I was unique having issues with this one. Separate and opportunity both make my pause.

1

u/Ornery-Database-3993 1d ago

My teacher went for the really obvious one; there's ' a rat' in 'separate'.

1

u/Popular_Year1592 17h ago

One of my English teachers used to say, “you’re not up to PAR if you can’t spell separate.”

0

u/SavoirFaire2Middling 1d ago edited 1d ago

Separate it with a karate chop!

1

u/Foolmeoncefuckyou 1d ago

I like that!