hookt on phonicks workt for me

it's about that time, again kids:
a third installment of

justin.barrett's simple rules of English

calendar --
the word is not spelled any of the following ways:
calander
calandar
calender
callander
it's not that hard. c-a-l-e-n-d-a-r. also, a collander is a strainer used to drain water from spaghetti or potatoes or other boiled foods.

cemetery --
the word is not spelled c-e-m-e-t-a-r-y. there are no a's in a cemetery.

alter/altar --
alter means to change something. an altar is a bench that is used to pray over.

personal/personnel --
personnel are people of a company. personal is how a person away from their job lives.

exorcise/exercise --
if you mean a workout, then use the word exercise. if you mean to remove a demon from someone's soul, then exorcise is right.
one question i have is why neither of these words follows the typical American English convention of ending -ise and -yse words in -ize and -yze (realize, analyze, capitalize, organize, etc.). weird.

eminent/imminent/immanent --
if you mean something is pressing and just about to happen, it is imminent. if you are talking about someone being famous or prominent, then you are describing someone who is eminent. immanent is very rare and means inherent or present throughout the universe. if you don't know the difference between these three words, then you are most likely not meaning immanent.
by the way, it's "eminent domain" not "imminent domain".

elicit/illicit --
illicit means illegal (illicit drugs). elicit is always a verb and means to draw forth a confession or comment.

skittish --
the correct spelling of this word is s-k-i-t-t-i-s-h. it is not:
skiddish
skidish
skitish
the difficulty some people have with spelling this one baffles me.

embarrass --
this one is ironic. people continually embarrass themselves by spelling this word wrong. it is not spelled in any of the following ways:
embaras
embarass
embarras
embarress
there are two r's and two s's. don't embarrass yourself and remember how spell this one.

complement/compliment --
this one can be difficult, though you should be able to get it with a little thought. if you mean a nicety said to another, you are talking about a compliment. if you mean something that pairs well with something else, you are talking about a complement.

alright. that's the end of this installment. hope you enjoyed it. let me know if you have any other spelling or grammar errors that you consistently see, which annoy you. there are hundreds out there, no doubt.