There are always those few words that just don’t stick. It doesn’t matter how many times you use them or people correct them, you just can’t get them right. Sometimes, when writing something you will spell the same word a different way every time you write it.
I had a few growing up and still have a few now, but since I type rather than hand write most things they are less of a problem (oh the wonders of spell check, synonyms and online thesaurus. A subject for another entry I think).
My most common difficult words were ‘does’ which I always spelt as ‘dose’, ‘private’ which I always spelt as ‘privet’ – even now I find myself using the synonym function to make sure I got that the right way around. But my arch nemesis was ‘because’.
I was thinking about it recently and now can see no real reason why this word caused me so much trouble – but I always got this word wrong, no matter how many times I wrote it and got it corrected in red pen, it just didn’t stick.
One day, I think out of pure frustration from repeatedly pointing out my mistake, the teacher sat me down and taught me a way of remembering how to spell the word ‘because’.
She taught me a saying – this sentence actually makes no sense and I have heard better versions, but this one is mine:
Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants, BECAUSE.
I said it to myself over and over again until I remembered it and every time I went to write ‘because’, I saw the first letters of each word pop out at me, as bold as brass.
I have tried this may times for different words but none of them I can remember now. However, I still use my saying – every time I write the word ‘because’, I say it in my head and I have never got it wrong again.
Arch nemesis defeated!
A life less ordinary 