We usually use Word a lot, and we also have a lot of skills about Word. But in fact, there are many skills that you don’t use or don’t know yet. Today, this article will share with you a few very interesting tricks that many people don’t know.
1. Generate a Draft.
We all know that Word is a typesetting software, so we may need to edit and typeset various texts. But if you don’t have text content, we can use this function to automatically generate a large section of text content for typesetting. Isn’t it interesting?
You only need to enter[ =rand(5,7) ],then press Enter key.Now, you will get five paragraphs of text, and each paragraph has only seven sentences.
2. Collapse Content.
Sometimes there is too much content in Word, which makes it not convenient for us to look up. At this time, you can fold the content and leave only a title. When you want to see it, just unfold it, and fold it when you don’t want to. Let’s use the five paragraphs of text just generated as an example. You only need to hold down the Ctrl key to select all the titles, and then set the level of the title in the Style.
3. Automatically Generate Underscore
How do you usually enter underscores? In fact, we only need to enter three minus signs “-” in a row, and then press the Enter key, we can quickly get an underscore! In addition to the minus sign, we can also enter other symbols like “~,#,*,=” and press the Enter key. Try it now!
4. Generate Tables Quickly
How do you make a table in Word? Is it generated by inserting the number of rows and columns? In fact, there is a faster and more interesting method. Just enter “+-+-+-+-+”! Then adjust the table to make it as needed.
Hope you like these cute and interesting tips and they can be helpful to you.
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Does your brain go to the “I am dumb” mode stumbling upon some of the tricky English words? Maybe, you’ve always struggled with spelling issues like — receive and recieve.
Every time you tell your brain that it’s receive but your brain yet again trolls you — “You know what, the correct spelling is recieve because last time the autocorrect suggested that receive is the wrong spelling!”
If this is the case, you’re not the only one!
We all struggle with some of the English words. This is because the English spellings are riddled with exceptions. Also, hundreds of English words have foreign origins.
For example, kindergarten is a German word that means garden (garten) of children (kinder). Similarly, volcano is an Italian word.
Let’s not fuss too much about the problems and focus on the solutions here. Luckily, we can use many spelling tricks to deal with confusing spelling issues.
Spelling Tricks That Will Make You a Genius at English Spelling
1. Mnemonic Devices: The Go-To Solution for Spelling Issues
There are many spelling tips and tricks to solve your English spelling problems. But mnemonics are by far the best tool that you can use.
The fundamentals of mnemonic devices suggest that you use relate a piece of information with images, sentences, rhymes, or even acronyms to remember things.
Let’s consider the spelling of island here. This word has a silent s and kids often forget to add it.
How to solve this?
What is an island? It is land surrounded by water. If you remember this spelling trick, you will never misspell the word again.
Also, our brain often remembers the odd rules and examples better.
That’s great news, right?
Then, you can use acronyms as a mnemonic device. The idea is simple — you identify a spelling that your struggle with and come up with a silly but memorable sentence to acronymify it!
Physical, for example, confuses a lot of people as they are not sure whether to use f or ph here. You can use this sentence — Pat Had Yummy Strawberry Ice Cream And Lollipops. If you take a look at the initial letters, you’ll get the word physical.
Use your creativity to come up with acronyms that will be easier for you to remember rather than memorizing acronyms created by others. It would better if you can have a friend playing these games together. Or, you can use newly invented spelling tricks to play on friends.
The more you use and implement these spelling tricks in real life, the better you can remember them. Plus, you can make the learning process more exciting with easy spelling activities.
2. Name of the Game — Find the Pattern
Yes, it’s true that we mostly misspell the unorthodox spellings. But that doesn’t mean we don’t misspell the common words too.
To minimize this issue, you need to study the common spelling rules and categorize words that follow the same spelling rules in groups.
For example, think of this well-known spelling rule. The singular nouns that have y in the end, replace the y with ies in the plural form. That means, fry becomes fries, party becomes parties, etc.
The same rule applies to regular verbs changing their forms from y to ies when the noun is a third-person singular number. According to this rule, dry becomes dries, study becomes studies, and so on.
You’re surely clever enough to recognize the pattern here. After all, our brains are fond of finding the similarities and grouping them together.
Now, try to collect all words that follow the same spelling rule into one list and try to create as many lists as possible.
This is surely a tedious process. But you’re basically aiming for two birds with one arrow here. You can bolster up your vocabulary collection and polish up your spelling skills.
3. Break Them Up!
Have ever misspelled the smaller words, like — ant, bat, cat, or dog?
No, right?
Mostly, we misspell the longer words. Because we need to remember longer sequences of letters. If that’s the case for you, you can always chunk them down into smaller parts. The knowledge of syllables helps A LOT too.
Think of the word disappearing in this case. You can break it up in groups like this — dis-ap-pear-ing.
Suddenly, the spelling became much easier!
You can also try the extended spelling trick here. After breaking the word into smaller chunks, you can identify the spelling pattern and group them up together.
The trick is to slowly pronounce over and over and chunk it up into smaller groups. Spelling Bee’s competitors use this trick all the time. Learn more about Spelling Bee preparation here.
Sounds confusing?
Let’s simplify things with an example. Consider the word traditional. You can break it up like this — tra-di-tion-al. Then, create a list of similar words, just like the previous spelling trick.
Like this one —
- Func-tion-al
- Fic-tion-al
- Emo-tion-al
- Sec-tion-al
- Con-sti-tu-tion-al
- Cons-pi-ra-tion-al
As you create such lists, your brain will automatically cluster them together because of the similarities among them. Thus, you can master the spelling of several words together.
4. Pronunciations Help with Funny Spelling Tricks
If you ever hear a word and be asked to spell that word, you should put emphasis on the pronunciation.
The way that word is spoken can help you out with the spelling.
Think of this spelling rule for example. The silent e, in the end, makes the vowel say its name. So, that e in the end in kite, makes the i sound like /ai/ rather than creating the /ee/ sound.
All of these words follow the same spelling rule — cube, tube, bite, dive, fine, code, bode, etc.
You can use spelling tricks jokes. A very common spelling trick joke goes like this — “When two vowels walk together, the first one does the talking!”
Hmm, interesting!
Let’s test it out.
Break has two vowels, e and a walking together where e is the first one. So, break has an -eh sound rather than having the -ay sound. Coat, boat, pear, team — all of these words follow the same rule.
However, while using pronunciations for spelling words, you must make sure that you’re using correct pronunciations. Learn more about proper pronunciation here.
For example, we often pronounce candidate like canidate! Some do the same thing with other words like jewelry or library and mispronounce them like jewelery and libary!
5. Create a Curated List of Foreign Words
Yes, the English language has its fair share of foreign words in it. And, most of the times you will not find any spelling rule justifying the unorthodox spelling of these words.
You should create your own list of these foreign words and use the country-of-origin tags with them. This tedious and hard spelling trick will serve you for a long time.
To help you out, we’ve prepared a small list to get you started!
10 Common German Words in English |
|
Original Word |
English Word |
Kindergarten |
Kindergarten |
Eisberg |
Iceberg |
Angst |
Angst |
Diesel |
Diesel |
Über |
Uber |
Doppelgänger |
Doppelganger |
Fest |
Fest |
Kaputt |
Kaput |
Hamburger |
Hamburger |
Pretzel |
Pretzel |
10 Common Italian Words in English |
|
Original Word |
English Word |
Vulcano |
Volcano |
Influenza |
Influenza |
Fiasco |
Fiasco |
Finale |
Finale |
Scenario |
Scenario |
Opera |
Opera |
Spaghetti |
Spaghetti |
Pizza |
Pizza |
Lasagna |
Lasagna |
Broccoli |
Broccoli |
10 Common Italian Words in English |
|
Original Word |
English Word |
Alouance |
Allowance |
Aviation |
Aviation |
Bacheler |
Bachelor |
Baguette |
Baguette |
Ballet |
Ballet |
Bureau |
Bureau |
Débris |
Debris |
Énergie |
Energy |
Galerie |
Gallery |
Menu |
Menu |
10 Common Spanish Words in English |
|
Original Word |
English Word |
el Lagarto |
Alligator |
Cucaracha |
Cockroach |
Fiesta |
Fiesta |
Armada |
Armada |
Vigilante |
Vigilant |
Cargar |
Cargo |
Orégano |
Oregano |
Cafetería |
Cafeteria |
Chili |
Chili |
Cacao |
Cocoa |
Funny Spelling Tricks for Some Commonly Misspelled Words
Now that you’re aware of some of the best spelling tricks, let’s focus on some of the clever and funny spelling tricks to tackle the commonly misspelled words.
Receive, Believe, Ceiling, Field — Is It EI or IE?
As you’ve seen in the introduction, these words are very tricky and our brains will often get confused and pick out the wrong option.
You can sort out this issue with one simple rule — i before e, except after c. So, it will always be ie but the rule will reverse to ei or cei if there is a c.
For example, lie, field, relief, believe uses ie but ceiling, receive, deceit uses ei.
But you can ask, “Why aren’t we using ie for words like — reign, freight, sleigh?
Good question!
It’s because of the pronunciation. These words (reign, freight, sleigh) have the /ay/ sound but the first batch of words had the /ee/ sound.
So, pay attention to the pronunciation.
Desert or Dessert?
If you use the autocorrect feature, none of the words has that red underline. But one word means a vast arid and sandy landscape while the other one refers to a sweet dish.
Use this trick — Strawberry Shortcake (double S) is a dessert!
Principle or Principal?
Homonyms are always a challenge.
Here one word (principal) refers to a person while the other one (principle) refers to an idea or rule.
Just remember, that person is your pal or a friend but rules are tough and don’t have any pal.
Misspell or Mispell?
Are you always dropping on s? Guess what? Miss Pell never drops the s!
Embarrass vs Embarass vs Embarras
Well, this is embarrassing! You the dropped r’s and s’s again!
From the next time, don’t short out on the letters, use extras, like double — double r and double s!
You can think of funny stories and add them with the words that you struggle with. Here’s a tip! Make the rules silly — the sillier the better!
You can find more these tricks and tips on spelling in this detailed guide on spelling rules in English.
The English language has so many tricky words to learn. For every grammar rule, it seems like they’re their there is an exception. Let’s take a look at 30 of the most common tricky words to remember and see if we can come up with some tricks to remember how to spell them or decipher what they mean.
Note: I use affiliate links in this post. If you choose to purchase an item with one of the links, I may receive a small commission. Thank you for helping me with the expensive hosting costs for mrsladywordsmith.com.
Most Common Tricky Words
There, their, they’re
I know this rule, no problem. But if I’m typing something really quickly, sometimes the wrong version slips in. If this one trips you up, you might try this simple trick to keep things straight.
Your, yours, you’re
Incorrect versions of these tricky words are everywhere. We see them misused all the time; no wonder so many people, especially our youth, are confused about them. Your and Yours are both possessive (you own it). I’m not going to give you the techy explanation about them. Just know there’s no apostrophe in yours. And what’s funny to me is that teens will often misuse your for you’re but text ur, which should indicate they know it’s two words smooshed into one. This image shows you how tell these tricky words apart.
Study this image for a few minutes to see how these tricky words aren’t so difficult once you learn them.
It’s or its?
Which one is it? It is/it’s the first one. Yep, it’s is a contraction–it and is smooshed together. Its, on the other hand, is possessive (you, someone, or something owns it). The issue people have is they think the second one needs an apostrophe because traditionally we use them to show possession. Take my name, for instance. If I want to tell you about my blog, I’d say Kerry’s blog. Now let’s transfer that to something not so personal, say an object. Maybe I notice a book has a nice cover, so I say, “I love its cover!” The trick here to remember is you only use the apostrophe for it is or it’s.
Principal, principle
Since many of us have kids in school and we may need to send an occasional note to the principal, let’s remember he or she is our pal and spell the word correctly. Principle, by comparison, is a rule. Principle and rule both end in le. An example of the latter is: It’s important to teach a correct principle.
Accommodate
This tricky word is so easy to understand but a little complicated to spell–unless you know the trick. Cc and mm are on a double date. Check your spelling and make sure there are two a’s and two o’s as well, but they split up and are no longer dating as a pair. 🙂
Dining or any word where you drop a consonant and add ing
I see this one misspelled all the time on yard-sale type adds. People don’t really want to sell me their dinning set. Instead, they mean dining. So, take the root word. In this case, it’s dine. The e makes the i a long sound. Drop the e and add ing. This makes dining, which is correct. If you take dine, chop the e, and add another n, you’ve just made the i the short sound, and it’s dinning–not the word you want. In fact, if you type dinning into google, it will ask you if you meant dining, because so many people make the mistake. Other examples are pine to pining, mine to mining, and so forth.
Knife, roof, hoof. How do you make them plural?
It’s easy. drop f or fe and and add ves. The plural for these words: knives, rooves, hooves. Now you try. Think of some more words and apply the rule: safe, leaf, etc. Want to make this rule stick in your brain more? Write the correct versions down, and put them in a place you’ll see for a few days. I love to write messages or concepts I’m trying to learn on the bathroom mirror. These chalk markers are perfect for that. You can also use post-it notes, labels, whatever works for you.
Dessert
So simple. You want two desserts, right? Make sure you spell it with two s’s: dessert. Otherwise, you end up with a dry, parched Sahara Desert.
Embarrass
This is just how it’s spelled. Memorize it. Rr’s and ss’s together. Spell it wrong? Well, you could look like the last three letters of the word. Just sayin. Don’t be embarrassed. 🙂 A fun way to practice this word, or any word where the spelling trips you up, is to jot down each letter in the word, tear up into tiny letter squares, mix up, and rearrange to the correct spelling. Have some scrabble tiles on hand? Those work even better. Set on the kitchen table or a spot you frequent, and practice throughout the day until you’ve mastered the spelling.
Separate
The tricky part of this word is getting that first a right. Soooooo, remember that this word has a rat in it. Yep, a rat. Sep-a-rat. You already know how to spell rate, so just make sure that e gets on the end. You can even make up a funny mental picture to help you with this. Maybe picture a big pile of rats that you have to separate, one by one. Ugh! Another tip to practice this word: spell it seperate and separate, then quiz someone to see if they get it right. Teach them your trick for remembering this tricky word if they get stumped.
Misspell
Oh dear! After all our hard work, you don’t want to misspell this word. Still can’t remember that it has two s’s? Pretend that Miss Pell taught you how to spell it.
Beautiful
Believe it or not, beautiful is listed as the most commonly misspelled word in the U.S.. Shocker, right?! I can maybe understand it for us Utahns because we’re often clever and spell it BeUtahful, but that’s no excuse for everyone else right? Just memorize this one. For fun, see if your family members or a few friends know how to spell it. Pick someone who won’t be embarrassed (see, spelled it right) if you ask. Dinnertime is the perfect time to bring up new things like this for everyone to learn.
Potato, Tomato: Single vs Plural
Speaking of dinner, do you know how to spell some common veggies? I’m a native Idahoan, and I’m here to tell you that potato does not have an e at the end. Some of might recall when former vice-president Dan Quayle got it wrong. At least the whole world doesn’t know when we misspell (thank you, Miss Pell) it, but poor Quayle is still publicly noted for it today. Here’s a link to the clip. Hilarious! Tomato is also tricky for some to remember too. Why? Here’s the catch. Plural does have an e plus an s. Thus, potatoes and tomatoes. Sooooooo, just remember that when you have more than one of these, you get toes. 🙂
One potato, two potatoes.
Lose vs loose
Order this adorable children’s book with the link above to teach your children moose-loose tricky words.
Perhaps you’re going to lose a game. But your screws might be loose. 🙂 Loos says ssssss at the end. In lose, se is the z sound. We know what these words mean when we hear them, but seeing them confuses us. This tricky word needs repetition and a little memorization to get it right. It might help to remember that “the Moose is on the loose,” in which case, you should run or you’ll lose your head or an arm or whatever silly story you want to make up. Help your kids remember these two tricky words with this cute book: Moose Moose Is Running Loose, by Cheryl Welch (affiliate).
Words That Are Commonly Misunderstood
Affect vs effect
Take the first letter, a in affect and remember that it means change, which has an a in the middle. Affect is a verb and change is a verb (action). Effect begins with an e, of course. It means result, which also has an e in it. Effect is a noun, as is result. An easy test is that you can stick the word the in front of both and it makes sense or belongs. I know these tricks are subtle. So you’re going to have to practice. One of the best ways to do so, is to write sentences using the words correctly.
Some examples: The astonishing effect lead to a fantastic result. OR His choice is going to affect everyone and cause change.
The effect, noun, or to affect, action verb.
Accept vs except
We must accept a lot of things, except bad manners and ill will. OK, I made that up. But you can see how the two words work, giving you clues as to what they mean. In short, accept means to receive. Except has an x. Cross out the things in your life you don’t want to include.
And now, I have to tell you a funny story related to this. Online a man criticized my comment for a cause I was standing up for. He said, “They’re Idahoans. What do you except.” As a native Idahoan, I HAD TO respond. So I simply said, “Hi! I’m from Idaho. I believe the word you’re looking for is expect.” I was very polite to not mention that he had also forgotten a question mark at the end of his sentence. 🙂 I wonder if he also doesn’t know the difference between accept, except.
I hope you can find these words misused somewhere. You’ll never forget them if you do. If you can’t find incorrect spellings, write them wrong on purpose somewhere. Then put big fat XXXX through the incorrect spellings. Then carefully spell them below correctly. In other words, pretend you’re an editor and fix them.
Nauseous vs nauseated
Not feeling well? Are you nauseous or nauseated? How the heck do you tell? This one confuses me. I tend to use them interchangeably, and they’re NOT. So be smarter than me. Nauseous means CAUSING nausea. Nauseated means you’re feeling or suffering from nausea. So, when you’re sick, you’re nauseated. But nauseous fumes might be causing the problem. Just memorize “I feel nauseated.” You’ll start to feel better.
Lie vs lay
Lie down. Just lie down and take a breather on this one. You’re not doing anything. Just lie down. After a few minutes, pick up something, maybe a book. Now, lay the book on the table. What’s the difference in what I just told you to do? Think about it. In the first few sentences, you didn’t have to do anything. You just had to lie down and take a nap or rest or whatever. But then I told you to do something. Pick up something, an object. Lay takes and object. Lay the book down, lay the pen on the paper, lay the baby in the crib. You get the idea? Good! Now lie down for another nap. Repeat instructions until lie and lay don’t confuse you anymore. Also, eat chocolate or cheese. Those have nothing to do with what we’re talking about here, but they’ll make you feel better. You’re welcome. 🙂 By the way, I don’t lie; I always tell the truth.
Bring vs take
Is your brain fried yet? Remember, you should be taking these one day at a time. This is a 30-day challenge. One per day. OK, ready? Bring it on! Yep, bring is something that comes to you. As in, please bring me that chocolate and cheese we talked about in yesterday’s tip above. Take is the opposite, away from you. Take out the stinky trash. I don’t want it anywhere near me. 🙂
Bring is toward you. Take is away from you.
Rant vs rave
I grew up hearing the phrase “rant and rave” and used it for years, thinking they pretty much meant the same thing–to complain about something. Then, years ago, an English-guru friend asked me why I use it. She was confused as to what I really meant. She’d grown up learning them as two separate words with two different meanings. To her, rant meant to talk loudly and angrily, pretty much the definition I knew. Rave, on the other hand, was positive. One raves about something they enjoy, for instance. So I started using the words separately. Then I found this on Google recently, a definition of rant and rave that matched the one I grew up with. Well, la-tee-dah (I have no idea how you spell that). Guess I’m not the only one who says it and means it that way. Takeaway? I’m going to eat cheese and chocolate (as suggested above) and not worry about it. Yes, I just threw you a curveball today. Some of these grammarish things aren’t worth more than a paragraph to try to explain. 🙂
Fewer vs less
Can you count it? Then it’s fewer. Example: She has fewer than three items to purchase. If you can’t count it or are guesstimating, use less. Example: She has less money than him. But if you have an exact count, you’d say: She has fewer dollars than him.
Farther vs further
Get in your car and drive farther. Farther means distance. You drive far in your car. Further means more in depth, as in further discussion. Picture a lady in a furry sweater having an in-depth discussion with her furry cat. Now you try. What’s a silly picture you can create in your mind to help you distinguish these two words. The sillier the image or story, the better you’ll remember it.
All right or Alright?
All right, yes. Alright, no. It’s a one-word spelling of the first one. Right? Kapeesh? Just let that settle in your brain, and come back tomorrow.
All right is correct. Alright isn’t.
Complement vs compliment
Zero in on the one-letter difference in these two words: e vs i. That’s your clue. In fact, you can pretend in the word complement that it almost says complete. Complement means you’re adding something that completes or brings perfection. Example: Your scarf complements your outfit. Now, you know your scarf isn’t talking; it just looks really great with everything else you’re wearing. If it could talk, however, it would compliment you. “Hey, nice outfit you have on!” Compliment is to praise or admire something. So tell yourself, “I should give a compliment every day.” Get it? I and the i in compliment. Sorry if I pointed it out and insulted your intelligence, but sometimes instructions have to be obvious. Just wanted to be sure.
Disinterested vs uninterested
Actually, at this point in the 30-day challenge, you might be both. Hopefully not. To understand both words a little more, let’s look at the prefixes. Pre means before. So look at the three- and two-letter prefixes that come before the root word interested. Dis means apart, away. Un, for all intents here, means not. So disinterested means you’re detached, uninvolved, impartial. Uninterested is more conclusive. You’re not interested. Period.
Thaw vs unthaw
I love finding this error when someone says it or writes it. Totally makes my day! With winter coming, I hope you’ll get the chance to spot it used incorrectly too. But you’ll know the difference. Thaw means to unfreeze. Unthaw (remember that prefix un we talked about yesterday?) literally means not unfreeze. In other words, if you unthaw your chicken, you just stuck it back in the freezer. Just use thaw and cross unthaw off your list of words to try to remember.
Sightly vs unsightly
My husband and I went the rounds debating the meaning of these two words. He won. He was right. There, I said it in print! Sightly is attractive. Unsightly is not. There goes that un prefix again.
Flammable vs inflammable
Today, clear your mind of prefixes. Why? Because it will confuse you with these two words. This is why the intricacies of the English language drive us crazy. Believe it or not, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. They’re synonyms. Don’t try to dissect these words apart. That’s where the confusion is. The root word here is inflame, not flammable. And I don’t know who the crazy person was who made up these rules and decided to trick us. Curses!!! Just keep eating the chocolate and cheese as suggested above. It helps. 🙂
Passed vs past
Passed is an action verb. Past is a noun. You can stick the in front of it. It’s a thing. Example: We passed the store. Example: The past is in the past. Clue: any time you see -ed (a suffix at the end) it’s (it is) likely a verb. So expect that something is going on. Still confused by nouns and verbs? Make up a sentence. Put yourself in the sentence and personalize it. “I, Kerry, passed out when I saw a typo.” That could be true, actually. I can picture myself actually falling to the floor, dramatically–a true action verb. Now you try it. OR “I, Kerry, carefully researched my/the past to discover my ancestors.” See, that’s a noun because I can insert a my or the before it.
Who or whom?
Ugh! My friend Rachel brought up this one. I saved it for last. Why? I hate it. I get it right most of the time. But it still stumps me sometimes. Want to know a secret? When I worked for the Ensign magazine, I remember having several discussions with the editorial staff, debating the correct usage of who/whom in certain passages. Yeah! So take that! Even professionals can get stumped on this one. My easiest trick for this tricky word is to picture the two words he and him. He matches who. Him matches whom. Then make up a sentence. “He went to the baseball game.” You could also ask, “Who went to the baseball game?” But you wouldn’t say, “Him went to the baseball game.” So who is the correct choice. Now for another example: “Give the ball to him.” “To whom, do you give the ball?” That’s my best strategy for teaching you this concept in a short pargraph here. Need more examples? Here you go. Try it. Does the explanation work for you? There are English techy reasons to explain more, and they’re confusing. They’ll make your eyes glaze over. If this one doesn’t make sense, blame Rachel. She’s the one who asked. 🙂 By the way, she LOVES chocolate and cheese.
Bravo!!!! You finished this 30-day Tricky Words Challenge. How did you do? Any tips for me? I’d love to know.
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If you enjoyed this 30-day challenge, you might also like to try my 30-day Patriotic Challenge. Find it here. You are also welcome to join my free, 30-day Nonfitness Challenges group. Month by month, we work on goals that support specific themes and aspirations. Work at your own pace, personalize as you need. Participation or just observation in the Facebook group is totally up to you. Join us here.
Topic: Funny word tricks. (Read 10993 times)
Lol’d at this. Post some of your favorite word tricks that you found out about/made up.
I’ll start: I have two.
1. Spell IHOP and say «Ness» after, out loud.
2. Say this out loud:
I
AM
SOFA
KING
WE
TODD
IT
Enjoy.
1. Spell IHOP and say «Ness» after, out loud.
I never heard that one before, nice. xD
I think I remember hearing #2 on ATHF.
Lol’d at this. Post some of your favorite word tricks that you found out about/made up.
I’ll start: I have two.
1. Spell IHOP and say «Ness» after, out loud.
2. Say this out loud:
I
AM
SOFA
KING
WE
TODD
ITEnjoy.
You didnt make those up. ive seen them and heard them before.
Post some of your favorite word tricks that you found out about/made up.
far cbrown town
far cough
far kit
far knee
EDIT:
far cup
Bend over and spell run. Out loud.
Our German teacher was infamous for these types of wordplay deals. Two examples that will always stick out in my mind is «Qweego» and «Twarberz»
Qweego being a mooshed version of can we go
Twarbers being a squooshed version of Two Harbours, a town some hour or so drive north from where I live.
People in our class had a bad habit of talking too fast much to the teacher’s amusement.
I saw that word thing on Youtube, no one really got the joke
Bend over and spell run. Out loud.
I did and lol’d.
I did and lol’d.
I did it and didnt figure it out D:
I did it and didnt figure it out D:
are you in?
I did it and didnt figure it out D:
I guess that explains your avatar…
far cbrown town
far cough
far kit
far kneeEDIT:
far cup
I still don’t get that one. And for all the people who think I made up those tricks, learn to read.
Did you know the English language is the most complicated language to learn as a second language (Japanese is a close second)? Not so surprising when you think about words like, they’re, there and their. And not to mention the confusing plural nouns, like goose is geese, but moose as a plural is moose. To celebrate the beauty, the sophistication and the history of the English language there is even a holiday on April 23rd each year named English Language day (which is also William Shakespeare day – The famous English writer). While there are millions of brilliant words in the English Language, today we look at over 100 of the funniest words in the English language. I hope you love them, as much as I do!
Funny Words starting with A:
- Abibliophobia: The fear of running out of reading materials to read.
Sentence: I have so many reading materials in my house, anyone would think that I have Abibliophobia or something!
- Abozzo: A rough sketch of a drawing or a draft poem.
Sentence: I’m almost finished with my abozzo of the Eiffel tower.
- Ama: Japanese diver who dives for pearls or food.
Sentence: Amas have been diving for pearls in the Japan region for many years.
- Araba: A carriage or coach used in Turkey.
Sentence: I’m taking the araba through the city today.
- Argle-bargle: A lot of commotion or a row happening.
Sentence: What’s all this argie-bargie about?
- Aye-aye: A type of lemur which can be found in Madagascar.
Sentence: The aye-ayes are such cute little creatures.
Starting with B:
- Bamboozled: To trick or confuse someone.
Sentence: I have been bamboozled again by you.
- Blubber: This word has two meanings: It can mean to cry very loudly or could refer to excess body fat.
Blubber Sentence: Please, stop your blubbering.
- Brouhaha: An event which involves great excitement or loud confusion.
Brouhaha in a sentence: Last night’s event was such a brouhaha and nothing was achieved.
- Bumbershoot: A Bumbershoot is an old-fashioned word for an umbrella.
Bumbershoot in a sentence: Don’t forget your Bumbershoot, dear.
- Bumfuzzle: This refers to being confused.
Bumfuzzle in a Sentence: I’m completely bumfuzzled!
Starting with C:
- Cantankerous: Someone who is very grumpy.
Sentence: Our neighbour is such a Cantankerous.
- Catawampus: Something positioned diagonally.
Sentence: To get to the school, you need to walk catawampus across that park over there.
- Collywobbles (kol-ee-wob-uh lz): This is the feeling when you have a stomach ache or when you feel really nervous or scared.
Collywobbles in a sentence: This place gives me the collywobbles, let’s go!
Hilarious Words Starting with D:
- Dingy: Something that is dark and dull.
Sentence: This house looks a little dingy to me.
- Donnybrook: This refers to a fight, riot or a big brawl.
Donnybrook in a sentence: A Donnybrook broke out last night when the police when to arrest the leader of the operation.
- Doozy: Something that is really great.
Sentence: I’m having a doozy of a time at this party.
- Dweeb: This is not a nice word to call someone. It means that you think the person is boring and uninteresting.
Sentence: No-one wants to be a dweeb.
Funny Words That Start With E:
- Egad: Used as an expression of shock or amazement.
Sentence: Egad! I never thought of that!
- Eep: Another expression of surprise or fear.
Sentence: Eep! That was scary!
- Epos: Could refer to an epic poem or something that is epic.
Sentence: That poem was just epos!
Starting with F:
- Filibuster: Somone who refusing to give up the floor in a debate to prevent a vote.
Sentence: Someone get that silly filibuster out of here now!
- Flibbertigibbet (flib·ber·ti·gib·bet): Is a word used to describe someone who talks a lot or is very gossipy.
Flibbertigibbet in a sentence: Imagine sitting on a 12-hour flight with a flibbertigibbet next to you.
- Flabbergasted: To be surprised or shocked by something.
Sentence: I’m just flabbergasted to hear that.
- Formication: The feeling that ants are crawling on your skin.
Sentence: Her constant shivering could be described as a formication.
- Fuddy-duddy: Someone who is a mild-mannered person.
Sentence: He can be such a fuddy-duddy sometimes.
Starting with G:
- Gaberlunzie: A beggar that walks around town to town.
Sentence: He didn’t really have a profession, some may even call him a gaberlunzie.
- Gardyloo (gahr-dee-loo): This is a disgusting one. It refers to the cry people use to shout when they would throw their slops or droppings out of the window.
Gardyloo in a Sentence: Watch out, Gardyloo coming!
- Gazump: This word really has a specific meaning. It means to refuse to sell your house to someone who you previously agreed to sell your house to.
Sentence: I’m so happy my offer to buy the house next door was accepted, but what if I get gazumped?
- Gobbledygook: Speaking Nonsense.
Sentence: Why do you always have to speak such Gobbledygook?
- Goombah: An older friend who protects you.
Sentence: Jamie didn’t have many friends, but was glad that his grandpa could be his protector – His Goombah.
- Gubbins: These are objects of very little value like rubbish or litter.
Gubbins in a sentence: No one’s going to buy your gubbins.
Starting with H:
- Hairball: A ball of hair that a cat normally chokes out.
Sentence: Cats are cute, but I hate it when they throw-up hairballs everywhere.
- Hocus-pocus: A trick or magical spell.
Sentence: What’s all this hocus-pocus about?
- Hokey: Something is is silly or old-fashioned.
Sentence: Now that was hokey old movie to watch!
- Hootenanny: A country music party or get-together.
Sentence: I’m going to an old-fashioned Hootenanny on Saturday, would you like to come?
- Heckler: Someone who interrupts a public performance with offensive comments.
Sentence: Those footballers are always having to deal with hecklers at their matches.
Starting with I:
- Itty-Bitty: Something that is really small or tiny.
Sentence: That ladybird is so itty-bitty.
- Ickle: Something that is small and normally cute
Sentence: Look at that ickle baby dolphin!
- izzat: This relates to your personal respect and dignity.
Sentence: I’m afraid of saying that in public, as it’ll be against my izzat.
Starting with J:
- Jabberwock: Something that is complete nonsense or gibberish
Sentence: Everything he just said was complete Jabberwock.
- Jazzetry: The reading of poetry which is accompanied by jazz.
Sentence: I love reading poems, but I’ve never tried jazzetry.
- Jink: The sudden change in direction.
Sentence: He jinked out of the way, as the ball came towards him.
Fun Words Starting with K:
- Kagu: An blueish-greyish type of bird which is now an endangered species.
Sentence: The rare Kagu can be found in the Pacific island of New Caledonia.
- Kaka: A breed of parrot that can be found in New-Zealand.
Sentence: The kaka parrots are so cool!
- Kebbie: A Scottish term relating to a walking stick with a hooked end.
Sentence: Pass the old man his keebie.
- Kibble: Ground meal or gains used as animal feed.
Sentence: The chickens love this new brand of kibble.
- Kraken: A mythical sea creature.
Sentence: Just like the loch ness monster, the Kraken is a myth.
Starting with L:
- La-di-da: If you described someone as “La-di-da”, you are suggesting that they are upper-class or behaving unnaturally only to impress other people.
La-di-da in a sentence: She thinks she is all La-di-da, but I know what she’s really like.
- Lol: Short for laughing out loud. Mosting used on social media and in text messages.
Sentence: Lol – That’s so funny!
- Lollygagger: Someone who walks around with no aim or goal.
Sentence: They spent their summer lying about, eating and general lollygagging.
- Lickety-split: When something moves really fast.
Sentence: He was out of the door lickety-split.
Starting with M:
- Malarkey: An informal word for talking about meaningless things or nonsense.
Malarkey in a sentence: This is all malarkey, I tell ya!
- Moist: Something that is slightly wet.
Sentence: This blanket seems a little moist to sit on.
- Mollycoddle: To be extra nice to someone or to overprotect them.
Sentence: Sometimes what a child needs is some tough love and not mollycoddling all the time.
Starting with N:
- Nacket: A light lunch or snack.
Sentence: I’m going to have a quick nacket before dinner.
- Namby-pamby: Someone who is weak, with no backbone.
Sentence: I don’t want to be some namby-pamby little girl!
- Napoo: The end of something. A term mostly used by soldiers.
Sentence: Napooh! That’s the end of that story.
- Niff: Something that smells bad.
Sentence: It’s got that horrible fishy niff.
- Nincompoop: This refers to someone who is not intelligent or a fool.
Nincompoop sentence: You act like such a nincompoop sometimes.
Starting with O:
- Obi: A sash worn around the waist of a kimono.
Sentence: That pink obi would look nice with this kimono.
- Oozy: Something that is slimy and wet
Sentence: That table is dripping in ooze.
- Oompah: The sound of deep brass instruments in a band.
Sentence: The oompah music in the background really set the tone.
Starting with P:
- Panjandrum: Someone who thinks that they are superior to others.
Sentence: She’s no queen, but she saw acts like a panjandrum.
- Patroon: The captain of a ship
Sentence: Look sharp, the patroon will be here soon.
- Pettifogger: A pettifogger is someone who deals with small or petty businesses. It can also be to argue over small, unimportant matters.
Pettifogger in a sentence: Why do you look up to such a pettifogger?
Starting with Q:
- Quab: Something that is incomplete or immature
Sentence: That baby bird is still just a quab.
- Quark: Scientific term used to describe atoms which are made up of smaller particles.
Sentence: Understanding quarks of fundamental to the world of physics.
- Quoz: Something that is strange.
Sentence: That’s so quoz! No-one wants to eat cheese and ice-cream together!
Silly Words Starting with R:
- Ratoon: This refers to the small root that sprouts from a plant, especially during the springtime.
Sentence: I heard somewhere that ratooned plants grow taller and healthier.
- Rugrat: Refers to a young child or toddler
Sentences: Those rugrats don’t know what’s coming to them!
- Ruddy: The term sometimes can be used to suggest good health in a person.
Sentence: That ruddy-faced girl was someone I never seen before.
Starting with S:
- Sialoquent: Somone who splits while talking.
Sentence: My old science teacher was Sialoquent. I was always scared to go near him!
- Skedaddle: To ask some to leave or run away very quickly
Skedaddle in a sentence: This is no place to play your silly games, now skedaddle before I get you!
- Skullduggery Refers to dodgy dealings and some no good business.
Sentence: We need to put a stop to all this skullduggery around this town.
- Shenanigan: This is when someone is causing a lot of mischiefs or playing tricks.
Shenanigans in a sentence: What’re all the shenanigans about?
- Snollygoster (snol·ly·gos·ter): This refers to an unethical politician who is guided by personal advantage.
Snollygoster in a sentence: I don’t want any help from a snollygoster.
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: Something that is really good. And the longest word in the English dictionary.
Sentence: Your cake is simply supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Starting with T:
- Tatterdemalion: A poor child wearing rags.
Sentence: I grew up like a tatterdemalion on the streets and now I’m a billionaire!
- Taradiddle (tar-uh-did-l): this is a small lie or when someone is speaking nonsense.
Taradiddle in a sentence: That’s such taradiddle – I don’t trust you at all!
- Thingamajig. A thing for which you have forgotten the name of.
Sentence: Can you pass that thingamajig over?
- Troglodyte: Someone that lives in a cave.
Sentence: All my life I’ve been living like Troglodyte cooped up in this house!
Starting with U:
- Uber: Something that is really great.
Sentence: That’s a really uber-looking coat you got there!
- Ube: Type of yam which is coloured purple
Sentence: You can make really nice curry using ube.
- Upsy-daisy: Lifting up a small child.
Sentence: Upsy daisy! It’s time for your nap.
- Urubu: A blank vulture found in South American.
Sentence: The Urubu is a rare species of bird found in America.
Starting with V:
- Vamp: To make something brand-new.
Sentence: Let’s vamp-up your car.
- Vexed: Something that is really annoying or frustrating.
Sentence: This puzzle has really got me vexed.
- veepstakes: A competition to find a party-s vice president.
Sentence: Have you prepared for the upcoming veepstakes?
Starting with W:
- Wabbit: A Scottish word referring to feeling exhausted or a little unwell.
Sentence: I’m feeling wabbit today.
- Widdershins (with -er-shinz): This refers to going in the opposite direction or going down the wrong path.
Widdershins in a sentence: Only widdershins going down that road.
Starting with X:
All words beginning with X are funny ones!
- Xanthoderm: A person with yellowish skin.
Sentence: This make-up makes my skin look a little Xanthoderm.
- Xebec: A small sailing-ship with square sails.
Sentence: Let’s take a ride on my new Xebec.
Starting with Y:
- Yabby: Refers to any Australian crayfishes used for food.
Sentence: These yabbies are going to taste delicious.
- Yachty: Relates to yachts.
Sentence: I have a yachty-looking T-shirt.
- Yaff: A type of bark.
Sentence: The dog yaffed at the mailman.
- Yawny: When you yawn or when something is boring
Sentence: That movie was a little yawny.
- Yahoo: A rube, a country bumpkin.
Sentence: What’s that yahoo doing here!
- Yerk: Pull or push something with a sudden movement.
Sentence; She yerked at the rope, as they tried to pull the bucket up from the well.
- yips: When a golfer misses an easy putt due to nervousness.
Sentence: Looks like he has the yips today.
Funniest Words starting with Z:
- Zaftig: Having a full-rounded figure.
Sentence: Her zaftig figure was admired by all.
- Zappy: Something that is lively and energetic.
Sentence: She looks very zappy today.
- Zazzy: Something that is shiny and flashy
Sentence: Jenny brought herself a new zazzy handbag to match her shoes.
- Zeze: A string instrument from South Africa.
Sentence: The sound of the zeze is unique in South Africa.
- Zizz: To take a short nap or sleep.
Sentence: James likes to take a 2-hour zizz every afternoon at 2 pm.
- Zoanthropy (zoh-an-thruh-pee): This is when someone believes that they are an animal.
Zoanthropy in a sentence: I think she suffers from a mild case of Zoanthropy.
What do you think of our selection of the funniest words in the English language? Do you have any more to add on? Let us know in the comments below. In the meantime, why not take a look at our post, 12+ Words Beginning with X Used in Sentences.