Note 177 – Before you read on – is it brocolli or broccoli?

I’m going to be honest here – I wrote down the words brocolli and broccoli yesterday and decided that the former was correct.  Later in the same day, my six year old daughter asked why I had written both spellings down and quite confidently told me that it has to ‘c’s and one ‘l’.  I double checked the dictionary and she was correct.  I’ve tested a few other adults today and they said the same as me.  Broccoli not a word that I write down very often and also one of those strange words that looks right spelt both ways.

I decided to see if anyone else has blogged about this and it appears that broccoli is a commonly misspelt word.  In fact in 2004, Vivian Cook wrote a book called Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary (a purposely misspelt title) with a subtitle of Why can’t anybody spell?.  The book appears to contain a list of spelling oddities as well as puzzles for the reader.

I don’t think I’m ever going to forget the spelling of BROCCOLI again.  If you still struggle, just remember that broccoli has little spikes and the Latin for spike is ‘brocca’, according to the definition on the website How-do-you-spell.com.

I know that this post is a little different today, but I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

This blog post forms part of my writing challenge. Don’t forget that you can subscribe to receive my daily blogs by email so that you don’t miss any. Just click ‘sign me up’ on the home page. Alternatively you can follow my blogs on Twitter or my ‘Tips and Luxuries‘ Facebook page. Requests for future blogs (punctuation/grammar/writing tips) are always welcome.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra
Freelance writer
Please visit www.sandramadeira.com for more information on my services as a freelance writer.

My writing challenge

My other blogs:
Sandra’s blog
My OpenLeaf Journey

My Tips and Luxuries website
(includes the introduction to my upcoming book ‘A Gift for Stressed and Busy Parents’)

Twitter: @madeirasandra @tipsandluxuries @OpenLeafJourney

Reference list:

Accomodating, Brocolli in the Cemetary by Vivian Cook, 2004

How-do-you-spell website: www.how-do-you-spell.com

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• Correct Spelling? (amarquette333.wordpress.com)