February Most Misspelled Month

That silent “r” in February makes the shortest month the most misspelled month of the year and one of the most mispronounced words in the English language.

The r in February has been dropped so that it is almost always pronounced Febuary–without the r. Perhaps this is because placing the r sound in the word makes it slightly more difficult to pronounce, and since laziness tends to get the upper hand when we speak, Febuary has become the common pronunciation. However, despite this, the word is correctly pronounced February. The English language has enough silent letters as it is. Remember to keep the r sound in February.

Fun Fact:

February comes from the Latin word februa, which means “to cleanse.” The month was named after the Roman Februalia, which was a month-long festival of purification and atonement that took place this time of year.

Tony M.

If this article made you think, brought back a memory, or made you see something differently, I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email at sandboxworld@gmail.com. I read every message personally and, with your permission, may feature your thoughts in a future article because the best stories are the ones we share.