Words I mixed up when I was very young

[eruthros]

I couldn't spell. Still can't. It doesn't help that I was reading Doyle and Chesterton in first grade, and various versions Robin Hood and Arthur soon after: I mixed up British, American, and just plain bad spelling. People thought I was totally blind about spelling, because I didn't pick it up even though I read voraciously. But it was confusing. I *heart* the OED.

So, partly because I couldn't spell, I got some pretty amusing words mixed up:

Peasant and pheasant. The concept of Danny, The Champion of the World is much more reasonable when you realize they're hunting birds. And the concept of the feudal system is much more reasonable when you realize the oppressed underlings are not, in fact, birds.

Heresy and hearsay. I spent many years confused about the Spanish inquisition: they were killing people for gossiping? I mean, whoa! That's a pretty strong statement about gossip. When I worked this one out, around second grade, I became very confused about religion instead. But at least I was confused about the right concept.

I thought "mischievous" was two different words, one spoken and one written, especially since some people pronounce it like I read it and some people pronounce it "properly."

Spelling is another matter entirely. I mean, I couldn't differentiate between "desert" and "dessert" in spelling, but at least I knew they were two different things.

Comments

[m-shell.livejournal.com]

hmm. y'know, i can *spell* (as anyone who's had to write a paper/lj post/icq or aim message/etc. with me hanging over their shoulder knows all too well) but there were many words that i massively mispronounced for ages because i'd only seen them in books ("patriotic" comes to mind).

a different kind of confusion, i guess...