Here is the introduction to the book I wrote with that title.
Whoops words are words that give writers
trouble. While most people would have to check the spelling and pronunciation
of pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism, there are plenty
of other words that bring authors to grief. As with the over-use words, some
are more likely than others to cause problems. Some people have a few words
they always get wrong. It’s worth
identifying these and making a concerted effort to learn them. My personal
whoops words were psychedelic, liaison and descendant. I learned them and now I
get them right.
A personal
whoops word is not one like pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism that most people never need
to use, but a normal word that has its letters in an unexpected order (how many
words begin with five consonants as does psychedelic?) a word that just looks unlikely (liai…
seriously? That’s as bad as skiing and taxiing and Hawaii!) or a word that has
one of the troublesome ant/ent/ible/able endings that don’t seem to have a set
rule of thumb.
While your own
personal whoops words may not be covered in this chapter, there’s a pretty good
chance they are. This list was compiled over a long period of editing other writers’
work and finding the same bunch of words misspelled (and misspelled is another
of them…) again and again… and again.
Once you find or identify your whoops words, write them down and learn them. If
you really cannot, then at least print them out and tape them to your desk.
Some of the whoops words are not difficult to
spell, but are often misused or misunderstood.
So, what makes this baggage? It's the accumulation. The more you write, and the more manuscripts you read and edit, the more of this spelling/use baggage builds up. I was looking at Whoops Words the other day and mentally telling myself it was time for an update (and a better cover...)
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