tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post7956164460117385009..comments2024-01-15T17:35:45.210+11:00Comments on Northern Planets: The dilemna of spelling dilemmaVlad the Impalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06581503726912398643noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-19850938086825717042023-03-06T11:00:14.920+11:002023-03-06T11:00:14.920+11:00There's an interesting Google search suggested...There's an interesting Google search suggested, among the comments: http://www.google.com/search?q=%22dilemna%22&tbs=bks%3A1%2Ccdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1800%2Ccd_max%3A1820&lr=lang_en<br /><br />All those instances of _dilemna_ seem to be in (very broadly) around the 1820s or perhaps earlier. In the Early Modern period there were still several methods used by printers to achieve a regular ('justified') right margin without awkward wordsplits (hyphenation) and without spending too much time fiddling with fine spaces ('half-ens', 'hair-spaces' etc). The main two tricks were swaps: between long-s and short-s, and between _i_ and _y_. Short-s is what we know and love; it's a full en in width. (In the jargon, 'it sets an en'.) Long-s is the thing that looks very like an f, and is a narrower character (especially when overlapping the next: 'kerned'). (It's where the German _β_ comes from, for _ss_.) Swapping long- and short-s was not a change of spelling, of course; but it fell out of use because of misreadings (of, for example, the notorious line of poetry, "Where the bee sucks there suck I"). Swapping _i_ and _y_ is another matter, because it is a change of spelling, and fell out of use as spelling became more standardised. (The eventual standard for this was that _y_ is used at the ends of words - only - and _i_ appears everywhere else (only).)<br /><br />My suspicion is that back in the day, when even the _i_ / _y_ standard was fairly new and long-s was still in free use, _dilemna_ sometimes seemed like an acceptable fix for a crisis emerging as the right margin came close! (_n_ is *much* narrower than _m_: normally half the width). There may be no good wordsplitting opportunities ahead (for example in a phrase like "dilemma between"!); the printer has nothing like the typewriter's Margin Release key!<br /><br />And then, with books printed and published in Britain, traded across the Empire . . and with the occasional distant and startled reader vividly aware of an unfamiliar spelling (of a rare word) - and not recognising it as a printer's rather dubious fix . . and with dictionaries only yet in rudimentary form, almost mere wordlists, and not widely or respected (or available) . .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-12462448129442488882022-10-25T14:53:15.165+11:002022-10-25T14:53:15.165+11:00* you’re * you’re Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-89636080300766753392021-07-05T13:25:56.289+10:002021-07-05T13:25:56.289+10:00It's the mandela effectIt's the mandela effectAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08094718234427587839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-16763716670713527612019-11-18T18:53:57.984+11:002019-11-18T18:53:57.984+11:00I looked it up but am only finding "Dilemma&q...I looked it up but am only finding "Dilemma" for the name of the goddess of indecision. I am certain I was taught to spell the word as "dilemna"!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08497557805879563683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-16628414334711098982019-11-10T23:32:37.509+11:002019-11-10T23:32:37.509+11:00I'm 53 educated in Brooklyn NY and it was alwa...I'm 53 educated in Brooklyn NY and it was always spelled dilemna for me too. Chrissyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06487829439017575085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-67898775928889110082019-11-10T23:29:57.562+11:002019-11-10T23:29:57.562+11:00Now you spelled spelt wrong too! Heheheheh no such...Now you spelled spelt wrong too! Heheheheh no such word as spelt unless your talking about bread.Chrissyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06487829439017575085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-89232431844645500752019-09-18T12:59:17.573+10:002019-09-18T12:59:17.573+10:00I am 51 and from the northeastern US. I know it wa...I am 51 and from the northeastern US. I know it was spelled DILEMNA. My parents (both teachers) also spell it DILEMNA. My husband (45) and boss (41) both spell it this way. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-23061902201499401312019-01-21T15:12:21.510+11:002019-01-21T15:12:21.510+11:00My early education was in Perth, Western Australia...My early education was in Perth, Western Australia and we were taught to spell the word as "dilemna". It was one of the list of difficult words that just had to be memorised as an exception. I'll have to dig out some of my old school English books or dictionaries!.<br />BethBeth Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-57133071592708125542018-05-06T05:20:56.115+10:002018-05-06T05:20:56.115+10:00An alternative Theory as to why the mm is accepted...An alternative Theory as to why the mm is accepted is that it is what appears in the Oxford English Dictionary and has done for as long as any of us have been alive.Billyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00118872004912225278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-48768933931811949922018-05-06T05:16:16.703+10:002018-05-06T05:16:16.703+10:00Yes, it was the very late 2000s. In fact it happe...Yes, it was the very late 2000s. In fact it happened just last week. Only then did we all start spelling it the correct way with two M's, and then we conveniently forgot about it. All traces of the incorrect spelling in the Oxford English Dictionary were expunged as part of a conspiracy...Billyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00118872004912225278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-8149083060544960572017-12-06T14:14:01.235+11:002017-12-06T14:14:01.235+11:00I'm 52 and am American, though I spent some ye...I'm 52 and am American, though I spent some years in England and western Europe as a child. I DISTINCTLY remember reading dilemna in a book (pretty sure it was while I lived in England) and training myself to remember the silent N by saying "di-lem-na" in my head whenever I needed to write it. It's a clear memory, much like other mental snapshots I'd take of other words that weren't what I expected so I could remember them (e.g. Geoff).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-84113484105329307842017-09-05T03:45:56.887+10:002017-09-05T03:45:56.887+10:00I am Australian, born 1967.
Always excellent in En...I am Australian, born 1967.<br />Always excellent in English at school.<br /><br />Definitely remember the silent N, as it was such an unusual word to learn.<br /><br />We are being robbed of our very lives if we cannot even trust the "memories" of thousands of people, from all over the word and many generations.<br />What will be "new and improved" in our "reality" tomorrow?<br /><br />"There ain't no monorail and there never was!"Shockadelichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09533737354788902988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-62420430031938104642017-04-14T05:35:43.592+10:002017-04-14T05:35:43.592+10:00<oops, obviously didn't double check my pos...<oops, obviously didn't double check my post!! :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13901603423486133059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-49295785820715658422017-04-14T05:30:38.693+10:002017-04-14T05:30:38.693+10:00This is a late reply. You no longer see the spelli...This is a late reply. You no longer see the spelling I "know" as "dilemna" all over the internet. Only one post that led me to Google Ngram that led me here. I'm 53 and I too was shocked when it came to my attention that many people were in the same boat, deliberately memorizing the silent N in order to spell it correctly all of their lives. I ran to an old 20 y/o paperback dictionary and found no reference of dilemna only dilemma. <br />I then went to look at personal writings:notes, poems, journals that I keep on an electronic notepad on my phone/computer. I searched "dilem" and came up with 4 places that I had written "dilemma". Only I KNOW I have NEVER spelled the word that way. It could have been autocorrect, but I double check what I write because autocorrect misspells names etc.<br />This led me to the phenomenon on the Internet called the "Mandela Effect". I've been aware of some Quantum theories about reality for awhile, but this has left me feeling discombobulated. If it was just me I'd think I'm developing dementia, so it's comforting to know thousands of others appear to have the same "mistaken memories" of many of the same things I do. Much of this can be explained by us remembering a misquote of a movie instead of the original, the map being different because of new technological accuracy or we have filled in gaps in our memories with something similar. But this- the spelling of dilemna/dilemma - that has really shaken me. I searchesd Google books Ngram that it appears in print as "dilemna" until 2008. Apparently the root of the word in Greek has always been di- meaning "twice, double" and lemma - meaning "premise or assumption". So none of us should have ever used the spelling dilemna! Unless somehow the word origin in the dictionaries have been altered too! Lol. No wonder Einstein called quantum physics "spooky". I am beginning to understand how he feltAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13901603423486133059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-53993188512900134992016-12-05T04:26:29.185+11:002016-12-05T04:26:29.185+11:00Don't silence the "N" it needs to be...Don't silence the "N" it needs to be heard. That's the way dilemma is spelled. Ridiculous this has been changed, but some blame it on the Mandela effect. Do the research<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07685586255603618887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-169158463305636692016-12-05T04:21:16.386+11:002016-12-05T04:21:16.386+11:00I'm with you, don't silence the "N&qu...I'm with you, don't silence the "N"Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07685586255603618887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-51818220446766257902016-12-03T01:38:59.298+11:002016-12-03T01:38:59.298+11:00Prey tell... you have eaten away my objections. ...Prey tell... you have eaten away my objections. asoralvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02554383227887552432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-78672996686432162152016-12-02T06:23:43.435+11:002016-12-02T06:23:43.435+11:00DaMN. M and N do not go together in English, so i...DaMN. M and N do not go together in English, so it must be dilemma. We need a MNemonic to remember the correct spelling. By the way, I too was educated in Illinois in a Catholic grade school, and it was dileMNa. And that is the way that God and the nuns spelled it. And so will I, hopefully, way into the future. So there!Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-60423647077350037252016-11-15T18:34:20.838+11:002016-11-15T18:34:20.838+11:00Im 16, and remember it as dilemna. It must have be...Im 16, and remember it as dilemna. It must have been late 2000sAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16648197945338484163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-926676556985964372016-08-09T01:25:28.968+10:002016-08-09T01:25:28.968+10:00Google the Mandela effect Google the Mandela effect Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17905089539204854139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-11385369698173976842016-07-19T07:05:23.784+10:002016-07-19T07:05:23.784+10:00I started spelling any way I wanted to spell, but ...I started spelling any way I wanted to spell, but it became a dilemna.PhoenixCroznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-77558843820039910612016-07-16T03:53:44.876+10:002016-07-16T03:53:44.876+10:00Yes,
I am 58 years old. I agree with the majority ...Yes,<br />I am 58 years old. I agree with the majority here - I KNOW I was taught in school to spell it dilemna! And I have also found that these spellcheckers don't always seem to know what they are "talking about". I say d-i-l-e-m-n-a and I'm sticking to it! I have always been a good speller, so I am just going to agree with the person above who said that people just can't seem to spell anything that is "complex" these days! So, there! :)<br /><br />Of course, that could lead to a whole separate rant!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-7320566855610484352016-03-10T06:07:46.933+11:002016-03-10T06:07:46.933+11:00I just have to repost this from Fri Dec 17, 11:37:...I just have to repost this from Fri Dec 17, 11:37:00 am 2010 <br />beezdotcom said...<br /> Look! Look! We are NOT crazy!!<br /> http://www.google.com/search?q=%22dilemna%22&tbs=bks%3A1%2Ccdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1800%2Ccd_max%3A1820&lr=lang_en<br /><br />Pages and pages of dilemnas.MaraGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02675518710544175497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-42799934281773186872016-02-07T03:14:39.691+11:002016-02-07T03:14:39.691+11:00I've just found out that I've been spellin...I've just found out that I've been spelling 'dilemma' wrong my entire life... I am so confused! I pride myself on being a great speller so this has really thrown me. I can't even ask my Dad because he is a terrible speller. Dilemma just looks so wrong!VickysTravellerDiarieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08438501990901577736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29098653.post-10684722242102140812016-02-07T03:14:23.866+11:002016-02-07T03:14:23.866+11:00I've just found out that I've been spellin...I've just found out that I've been spelling 'dilemma' wrong my entire life... I am so confused! I pride myself on being a great speller so this has really thrown me. I can't even ask my Dad because he is a terrible speller. Dilemma just looks so wrong!VickysTravellerDiarieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08438501990901577736noreply@blogger.com