A free hint — it is not “accommodate”.That particular word has the distinction of being misspelled in the greatest variety of ways. I learned this and other interesting factoids in a recent “New Yorker” article by John McPhee.
In a course he taught at Princeton, he used a 20-word spelling test that had been developed by T. R. Brown III at “Esquire”. In all of McPhee’s years to teaching, only one student — Nina Gilbert — correctly spelled 19 of the words.
Mayonnaise, impresario, supersede, desiccate, titillate.
Some more? Resuscitate, inoculate, rococo, consensus, sacrilegious.
Still here? Obbligato, moccasin, asinine, braggadocio, rarefy.
Almost there... liquefy, pavilion, vermilion, accommodate.
And the most misspelled word in the English language?
IMPOSTOR.
You’re welcome,
Paige
PS In another part of his final exam for students in Princeton’s Journalism and Creative Writing programs, McPhee asked them to name the 11 words in the English language that end in “umble”. Ten of them are easy to guess.
(John McPhee is 92 years old.)