1. accommodate - Remember, this word is large enough to accommodate both a double "c" AND a double "m". 2.

accumulate - Accumulate wanted to accumulate a few more [c]s, but the Letter Rationing Authorities said two was plenty. 3. aficionado - This word comes from the Spanish verb, aficioner, which means to become fond of. It was originally applied to bullfighting fans. 4. beginning - Well if it only had one [n], then the [i] would have to say its own name, and then wed be saying be guy ning, which is just silly. 5. calendar - This word has an [e] between two [a]s. The last vowel is [a]. 6. colonel - Pronounced just like kernel, as in a kernel of corn, this spelling doesnt make any sense at all. The problem is that the word has been through so many changes, and were still using a pronunciation that went with a spelling (coronel) that died 300 years ago. The origin of the word is Italian. A colonnello is a column of soldiers. 7. committed - If you are committed to correct spelling, you will remember that this word doubles its final [t] from "commit" to "committed." 8. . 9. deceive - Remember your rhyme rules, now, kids. [I] before [e] except after [c]. 10. disappoint - The same goes for disappoint. Adding an extra [s] will only disappoint your sixth grade teacher. 11. embarrass (ment) - This one won't embarrass you if you remember it is large enough for a double [r] AND a double [s]. 12. ecstasy - In recent years, ecstasy has sort of taken a dirty turn. People tend to think of it more and more in conjunction with sex and illegal amphetamines, but ecstasy has its roots in religious mysticism and self-transcendence. It comes from the Greek ekstasis, which literally means standing outside oneself. There is nothing X-rated or illegal about it, so leave the [x] out of ecstasy. 13. foreign - Here is one of several words that violate the i-before-e rule. (See "believe" above.) 14. fulfill - Look, three [l]s is plenty for one word, wouldnt you say? 15. grateful - You should be grateful to know that keeping "great" out of "grateful" is great. 16. guarantee - I guarantee you that this word is not spelled like "warranty" even though they are synonyms. 17. generally - General + ly. 18. grammar - Your Gramma would be very upset if you used incorrect grammar. 19. hypocrisy - A classic case of a [y] acting like a vowel when its really not. How hypocritical! 20. jewelry - Sure, sure, it is made by a jeweler but the last [e] in this case flees the scene like a jewel thief. However, if you prefer British spelling, remember to double the [l]:

"jeweller," "jewellery." (See also pronunciation.) 21. leisure - Yet another violator of the i-before-e rule. You can be sure of the spelling of the last syllable but not of the pronunciation. 22. library - It may be as enjoyable as a berry patch but that isn't the way it is spelled. That first [r] should be pronounced, too. 23. license - Where does English get the license to use both its letters for the sound [s] in one word? 24. lieutenant - This is one of those rare words in English where you really do pronounce all the letters. The first three vowels happen so quickly that they come out sounding like one /u/ sound, but if you slow it down, theyre all in there. 25. lose - Lose is commonly confused with loose, meaning not tight, but just remember that loose has more room for an extra [o] (its not too tight), and lose has lost an [o], so it only has one. 26. maintenance - The main tenants of this word are "main" and "tenance" even though it comes from the verb "maintain." English orthography at its most spiteful. 27. medieval - The medieval orthography of English even lays traps for you: everything about the MIDdle Ages is MEDieval or, as the British would write, mediaeval. 28. memento - Why would something to remind of you of a moment be spelled "memento?" Well, it is. 29. millennium - Here is another big word, large enough to hold two double consonants, double [l] and double [n]. 30. missile - It has the same final three letters as projectile, and when one is fired, we hope it will miss. 31. occasion - Almost every word that starts with o + c-sound + a has two [c]s. 32. principal/principle - The spelling principle to remember here is that the school principal is a prince and a pal (despite appearances)--and the same applies to anything of foremost importance, such as a principal principle. A "principle" is a rule. (Thank you, Meghan Cope, for help on this one.) 33. privilege - According to the pronunciation (not "pronounciation"!) of this word, that middle vowel could be anything. Remember: two [i]s + two [e]s in that order. 34. pronunciation - Nouns often differ from the verbs they are derived from. This is one of those. In this case, the pronunciation is different, too, an important clue. 35. pigeon - These foul beasts (Get it? Foul? Fowl?) have been making pigs of themselves in cities the world over for eons, eating any crumb or pizza slice or Thanksgiving turkey dropped in the street. Perhaps thats why their name starts with pig- and ends with -eon.

36. questionnaire - The French doing it to us again. Double up on the [n]s in this word and don't forget the silent [e]. Maybe someday we will spell it the English way.

37. receive/receipt - I hope you have received the message by now: [i] before [e] except after . . . . 38. recommend - I would recommend you think of this word as the equivalent of commending all over again: re+commend. That would be recommendable. 39. referred - Final consonants are often doubled before suffixes (remit: remitted, remitting). However, this rule applies only to accented syllables ending on [l] and [r], e.g. "rebelled," "referred" but "traveled," "buffered" and not containing a diphthong, e.g. "prevailed," "coiled." 40. reference - Refer to the last mentioned word and also remember to add -ence to the end for the noun. 41. relevant - The relevant factor here is that the word is not "revelant," "revelent," or even "relevent." [l] before [v] and the suffix -ant. 42. restaurant - 'Ey, you! Remember, these two words when you spell "restaurant." They are in the middle of it 43. receipt - Never forget the rule, [I] before [e] except after [c]. And in this case, toss a [p] in there too. 44. remembrance - Remember, even though its related to remember, theres no [e] between the [b] and the [r] in remembrance. 45. ridiculous - Its related to the word ridicule, so it starts with ri-, not re-. 46. schedule - If perfecting your spelling is on your schedule, remember the [sk] is spelled as in "school." (If you use British or Canadian pronunciation, why do you pronounce this word [shedyul] but "school," [skul]? That has always puzzled me.)

47. seize - Argh! A miscreant! Lets seize seize for breaking the [i] before [e] except after [c] rule and make him walk the plank! 48. twelfth - Even if you omit the [f] in your pronunciation of this word (which you shouldn't do), it is retained in the spelling. 49. tariff - Even though it rhymes with sheriff and has the same single [r] and double [f], it starts out with the same two letters as tax, which is exactly what it means. 50. tomorrow - Today literally means this day, tonight means this night, and tomorrow means this morrow. Morrow means the following day.

51. truly - Please, oh please, dont put an [e] in truly.

52. until - I will never stop harping on this until this word is spelled with an extra [l] for the last time ! 53. usage - Just move the silent [e] to the end, and put an [a] and a [g] in the middle. 54. vacuum - If your head is not a vacuum, remember that the silent [e] on this one married the [u] and joined him inside the word where they are living happily ever since. Well, the evidence is suggestive but not conclusive. Anyway, spell this word with two [u]s and not like "volume." 55. weather - Whether you like the weather or not, you have to write the [a] after the [e] when you spell it. 56. Pamphlets 57. Parallel 58. Particular 59. pavilion 60. Peaceable 61. Peculiar 62. penetrate 63. Perceive 64. Performance 65. Permanent 66. Permissible 67. facsimile 68. fallacious 69. fallacy 70. familiar 71. fascinating 72. feasible 73. gauge 74. generally 75. genius 76. Ideally 77. Idiosyncrasy 78. ignorance 79. Imaginary 80. magazine 81. maintain 82. neighbor 83. neutron 84. Ninety 85. Opponent 86. opportunity

87. Oppression 88. Optimism 89. religious 90. remembrance 91. reminiscence 92. vengeance 93. vigilant 94. concede 95. conceivable 96. indispensable 97. Inevitable 98. influential 99. Information 100. inoculate