3.09.2007

My Whole Life I've Been Wrong!


In all of the 26 years I've been alive I've always thought of marshmallows as marshmellows. In case you didn't catch that, I've always pronounced and spelled the word as if it were marshmellows not marshmallows! I just realized this today as I was grocery shopping online at FreshDirect.com for the first time (I had a 25% off coupon and thought I would give it a try).

I was looking to buy baking ingredients and saw what I thought was an misspelling on their website of the word and clicked on it. Next thing I knew, the Jet-Puffed Kraft brand misspelled marshmallow and so did every other company I googled that contained the word. Merriam-Webster even had a different spelling than I thought it would. Side note: if you play the audio pronunciation of the word marshmallow over and over again, it begins to sound like a strange foreign word. I was shocked at how such a thing could go unnoticed in my life for so long. I've always considered myself a "detail-oriented" person. I mean 26 years I've been in the dark. I walk around the streets of New York thinking, "I need to get Rice Krispies and marshmellows" or "mini-marshmellows are better in hot chocolate than their larger counterpart." This new realization will take some getting used to. I'm going to really have to concentrate the next 500 times I use the word "marshme - DOH! I did it again. I mean I'm really going to have to concentrate the next 500 times I use the word "marshmallow." What else have I been mispronouncing/spelling?!? Catchup? At least I discovered it while I'm still young and able to recover.

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5 Comments:

Blogger Side of Jeffrey said...

Of course its mallow...that is where Malloween comes from, not Melloween.

Do you know what I'm talking about? Fluffypuff Malloweens?

March 09, 2007 4:49 PM  
Blogger Sara said...

Well, actually . . . you have been spelling catsup incorrectly. It's "catsup" or "ketchup." Not "catchup." I just thought you might like to know . . .

I LOVE when words are not spelled the way they sound. At the same time, though, I love it when words are spelled exactly how they sound.

March 09, 2007 6:24 PM  
Blogger Lexia said...

Actually, Sara, Merriam-Webster says "catchup" is a variant of "ketchup" or "catsup." Hm.

Fluffypuff Malloweens sounds like the first and last name of a little dog. What is it?

March 09, 2007 7:10 PM  
Blogger Jacki said...

Whenever I have a question about spelling or the pronunciation of a word, I ask my friend from the UK. They ALWAYS say things correctly. MARSHMALLOW DAHLING!

March 09, 2007 7:55 PM  
Blogger Lauren said...

Weren't Marshmellows the first brand of marshmallows? Or am I way off?

Though I do spell it correctly, I will not, however, say "marshmallows." Some things are just meant to be said "incorrectly." Like Louisville (lou-uh-vuhl) and yonder (yunder).

March 12, 2007 5:35 PM  

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