Crystal Clear Proofing: Spelling Challenge

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Spelling Challenge

It's been a while since we've warmed up your brain cells with a CCP Challenge! Grab a sticky note and a pen and write down the correct spelling for the ten words below!

NO PEEKING!

(The little peeking furry is still around!)

1. defendent
2. cooly
3. floatation
4. saavy
5. preferrable
6. camoflauge
7. athiest
8. inadvertant
9. hemmorage
10. deterance

Now for the stars! If you spell all ten words correctly, you get the beautiful sparkling gold glitter star! Good Luck!

Whether or not you get your star, everyone gets this spray of PURPLE glitter stars for your efforts! It just wouldn't be right not to have purple stars as part of the Spelling Challenge, now would it?

ANSWERS:

1. defendant
2. coolly
3. flotation
4. savvy
5. preferable
6. camouflage
7. atheist
8. inadvertent
9. hemorrhage
10. deterrence

So how did you do? Did I stump any of you with number 3? Both flotation and floatation are acceptable forms of the word, with flotation being preferable, and floatation being a variant of.

5 comments:

L. Diane WolfeJanuary 7, 2010 at 6:18:00 AM CST
Seven out of ten, but I didn't even know #2 - never heard it before!
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The Old SillyJanuary 7, 2010 at 7:58:00 AM CST
I'll admit I stumbled a bit on #3. Glad to know both forms are "acceptable" - I've always put the "a" in the first syllable, since the word "float" has it in it. Hey - learn somethin everyday on this blog, hmm? (wink)

Marvin D Wilson
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Replies
Alex J. CavanaughJanuary 7, 2010 at 8:39:00 AM CST
Nine out of ten! Not bad.
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Carol KilgoreJanuary 7, 2010 at 9:21:00 AM CST
#3 - and how embarrassing because how many times have I heard/read 'floatation device' - hubby is U.S. Coast Guard. Don't tell him!
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Replies
Creative ChroniclerJanuary 7, 2010 at 10:58:00 AM CST
#3 was the only one that got. I thought it was correct, so I'm glad to know it can be used both ways.
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Replies

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Reader Comments

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I.E AND E.G.
Thank you! I've never know what those meant or how to properly use them!

JOINT AND SEPARATE POSSESSION
Thank you so much! I had a hard time finding what joint and seperate possession means! Once again, thank you!

WAIT AND AWAIT
Oh, I love this site! Do you have a past post about lay, lie and all that good stuff?

This is a very clear and succinct explanation of the distinction between the two words."

LAY AND LIE
OMG! This is GREAT!!! I might actually understand it now! Thanks so much, Crystal. This is an awesome site!

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AFFECT AND EFFECT
Thank you for this great post! I have printed it to keep it handy. Hopefully, it will positively affect my future writing.

Thanks for this post Crystal. I was going to actually email you and request that you explain the difference between these two, because these are usually a problem for me. Thanks again!

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THAT AND WHICH
Another excellent grammar lesson!

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WHO AND WHOM
Perfect! Got it...I keep all these tutorials in a bookmarked file now.

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QUOTATION MARKS
Great post. Good tips about punctuation.

AWHILE AND A WHILE
Another fine tutorial. Got it added to my Clear as a Crystal file.

What a wonderful tip!

Oh!!! Those examples are perfect and it really makes sense now. Thanks!

APOSTROPHE USE WITH POSSESSIVE NOUNS
Excellent and very thorough. Got this one copied and stored along with ALL your tutorials in my Crystal Clear Writing folder. :)

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Good one! I'm tweeting this.

Clear and concise. Thanks.

That possessive S has at some points been the bane of my existence...so thanks for this.

Great article! Thanks for the examples too.

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Excellent post! I enjoyed this a lot...Great blog. :)

LEVELS OF EDITING
Crystal, great explanation and post today - I copied it as a word doc and stored it in my "Crystal Clear" file.

You've written a wonderful post that throws light on a rather mysterious (to me) subject.

ONE WORD VS. TWO WORDS
Another great post.

Thanks for sharing this list and clarifying these points.

WRITING DATES AND TIMES
Writing dates and times is always confusing for me, so I really appreciate this, Crystal! Thanks.

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Awesome tips. I make some of those mistakes.

I will copy and paste into a writing tips folder I've started to gather all these handy dandy things in one place. Thank you.

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You have some good reference article(s) here, Crystal. :-)

PREPOSITIONS
Excellent tutorial, got it saved as usual.

Thanks for this! Bookmarking it for easy reference.

SEMICOLONS
Another great and much needed post for people like me. This is why you are the Grammar Goddess!

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COLONS
As always, awesome advice and clarification.

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Helpful as always. Thanks.

DASHES
You should really turn your blog into a book. Now THAT is a grammar book I would buy!

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I like your distinction between the use of dash and colon. It makes sense to me.

Most helpful. I just had to change a host of en dashes to em dashes in my ms.

HYPHENS
Thank you very much for this post!

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Good post, great blog!

OVER THE TOP AWARD
Congratulations, you and your blog are "Over the Top."

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FIFTEEN PUNCTUATION FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Great summary.

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Crystal this is excellent. I've got it stored in my Crystal Clear file folder.

Yeah, I've created a Crystal folder as well and cut and paste all your gems.

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Great tips as always :)

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EFFECTIVE WRITING
I think this is one of my favorite rules post yet. So helpful!! May have to post this one on my desk too, I know I'll get one of those flip book easels so I can have all your post handy and in my face to remind me. I need that, you are an editor extraodinaire!!!

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CLAUSES
Thanks! I love these tutorials.

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CHALLENGES
Great idea for a proofreader post!

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Great test! Thanks, I love your posts!

***************************************************************************************** "Editors and proof readers are the unrecognized support structure of books. Without them, books would take authors twice as long to complete." Comment left by Leigh Russell (CRIME FICTION)