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The word that spells trouble for millions of Britons was yesterday revealed as 'accommodation'. New research found it is the most misspelled everyday word in the English language, while others are baffled by 'business' or red–faced about 'embarrassed'. The study suggests the rise in abbreviated text messages sent on mobile phones and rapidly written emails means accuracy is being sacrificed for speed. Even the innovation of computer spell checking programmes is making people lazier when it comes to knowing the correct spelling of everyday words. While many may be quite happy to carry on making mistakes in texts to friends, others suddenly become anxious about their grammar when they find themselves writing formal letters like job applications or filling in forms. Internet search engine Ask.com reported which commonly–used words received the most queries requesting the correct spelling. Accommodation was variously typed into Ask.com's site as acommodation, accomodation or accommadation by those looking for the right way to write it. Second on the list of most misspelled everyday words was 'accessory', which was wrongly spelled as acessory, accesory and accessary when typed into Ask.com. At number three on the list – and appropriate this month – was the word February, which is often misspelled as Febuary, Febrary and even Febury. At number five was the word 'embarrass', which could lead to red–faces all round. Misspellings of the word include embaras, embarras and embaress. Sixth on the list was the word 'eighth' whose often puzzling letter order confounded many. Wrong spellings included eigth, eight and eigtht. The seventh most misspelled everyday word was 'receipt', whose silent 'p' led to numerous requests for spelling help. At number eight was the word 'guarantee', which was certain to confuse many. Wrong versions include garantee, guarentee and garrantee. The word license was also spelt with the letter 'c', but many Britons believe it is spelled 'lisense'. And finally, at number ten in the list is the word 'restaurant', with misspelled versions including restarant, resterant and restaurent. Ask.com's European MD, Cesar Mascaraque said: "With so much rapid communication these days, it seems people often spell words incorrectly in emails and text messages without really bothering too much. "However, when it comes to formal letters and even job applications, they need to get the correct spellings in place. "We found it surprising that some everyday words are regularly misspelled even though they are in frequent use. "Perhaps people are putting less emphasis on correct spellings in everyday communication these days, but as a consequence, their spelling is suffering." Top 10 most misspelled everyday words:
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