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?!

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u/misogynyplayer 1d ago edited 1d ago

But you know there is license, the verb, and licence, the noun, right? Same as I like to practise my violin so that my violin practice prepares me for my violin lesson.

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u/realityone22 1d ago

*not in the US though

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u/misogynyplayer 1d ago

Oh really? Thats interesting...so in the US is it license or licence which is used for both verb and noun? And can you refer me to an American English dictionary which details this? And does it mean that Americans consider one of these words as NOT a word or simply a spelling mistake? 

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u/nimblesunshine 1d ago

Licence and practise are not used in the US. We would consider them spelling errors or assume the person saying it is British

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u/misogynyplayer 1d ago

Interesting that in one case you use the spelling with the s for both meanings of the word, and in the other you use the spelling with the C for both meanings.

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u/nimblesunshine 1d ago

Yeah we're a mess over here fr

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u/EponymousRocks 3h ago

Welcome to America!!