Spelling is important! Get your peek, peaks and pique right

Another day goes by, and another person publishes ‘sneak peek’ wrong.

Spelling and grammar is important, especially if you want to establish a status of authority.  

Not everyone is safe from spelling mishaps!

I remember being a cadet journalist around 12 years ago. I had written an article about a local resident, and policeman, who had started affixing a tiny camera to his pushbike to catch driver indiscretions.

A line I wrote was something like, “Constable Smith, who also enjoys a peddle”. Obviously I meant ‘pedal’. 

Nothing gets you on the straight and narrow than more than 20 Letters to the Editor with people questioning why our ‘boys in blue’ enjoy untoward practices.

Spelling is important. We’re all human, but getting spelling wrong detracts largely from an organisation’s credibility.

Common spelling mishaps in the communication world

I’ve seen it all - flagship newspapers quickly sharing breaking news in an eNewsletter urging people to take a ‘sneak peak’ of celebrity pics, a shopping centre on Facebook saying how you won’t be able to help but take a ‘sneak peak’ of the latest ranges, and even professional sports teams posting an Instagram story, “…here’s a sneak peak of our sports night’s award winners.”  

There’s an epidemic of people who can’t spell sneak peek properly, and I’m going to single-handedly save them.

For those who are unsure, here’s an easy way to remember:

Sneak peek means to have an exclusive glance or a snapshot of something greater.

Sneak peak really means, a sly, sneaky mountain.

There’s another pique! A sneak peek of something might ‘pique’ your interest.

Sneak peek isn’t the only ‘easy to fix’ spelling issue around. Some other culprits I find are:

Principal vs principle - remember, principal is your ‘pal’ so it could also be your head of school. Principle refers to things that are important.

One does not simply ‘wet’ their appetite, they ‘whet’ it.

You don’t ‘pour’ over interesting information, you ‘pore’ over it.

You line up in a queue, but you could cue up something, or use a pool cue.  

Affect is a verb, effect is a noun. The effect was affected.

Complement means to ‘complete’, compliment means to praise and complimentary means a freebie.

Apart and a part is a tricky one and not intuitive. Even though ‘apart’ places ‘a’ and ‘part’ together, it still means one thing is away from the other. ‘A part’ means one thing is a part of something else.

Get your content on track!

At Elevate, we specialise in supporting our clients to produce consistent content that is polished and professional. We can draft content for you, edit and proof. Get in touch today to discuss your needs.

But in the meantime, use spell check and proof EVERYTHING!