"lead" where "led" is meant is the commonest typo that even careful writers commit, but "breath" for "breathe" is close behind it
Replies
pouring over this
sep 1, 2025, 2:49 pm • 4 0 • view
"Advise" for "advice"
sep 2, 2025, 1:36 am • 0 0 • view
This is brain/muscle memory typo for me. Sometimes when proofing I find spellings that my brain did not think; the fingers have a mind of their own.
sep 1, 2025, 4:18 pm • 1 0 • view
They were led by the beam of a led flashlight.
sep 1, 2025, 3:16 pm • 2 0 • view
the fact that "lead" isn't parallel with "read" is truly stupid
sep 1, 2025, 3:13 pm • 3 0 • view
And lead is mostly mis pronounced by AI narration. I cringe at 'leed' when describing bullets.
sep 2, 2025, 12:22 am • 0 0 • view
For a while I was collecting pore v pour (over).
sep 1, 2025, 3:21 pm • 1 0 • view
A hare's breadth away, I'd imagine.
sep 2, 2025, 9:15 am • 0 0 • view
Those are good ones. I don't personally run into too much or notice it, but the way folks use loose for lose is something spikes my anxiety in unhealthy ways.
sep 1, 2025, 2:50 pm • 7 0 • view
Same.
sep 1, 2025, 3:12 pm • 1 0 • view
I blame choose/chose, which sound more different and have entirely different logic English! 😤
sep 1, 2025, 2:54 pm • 1 0 • view
Destroys the "lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead" maxim.
sep 1, 2025, 3:31 pm • 1 0 • view
I'm always surprised how many people still can't spell "definitely"
sep 1, 2025, 3:06 pm • 0 0 • view
Fascinating fun fact!
sep 1, 2025, 2:50 pm • 0 0 • view
I'm seeing "reign" instead of "rein" more and more often.
sep 1, 2025, 11:15 pm • 0 0 • view
It’s speech and speaking, not near and ne’er that irk me. How harassed I’ll be if again I mistake Beatles for insects, not stars.
sep 1, 2025, 3:07 pm • 1 0 • view
Thank you for calling it what it really is most of the time: a typo. A lesser man would call it an ignorant mistake.
sep 1, 2025, 5:00 pm • 1 0 • view
I always feel uneasy using "led" unless the next word is "zeppelin"
sep 1, 2025, 2:52 pm • 3 0 • view
Guilty as charged.
sep 1, 2025, 3:10 pm • 3 0 • view
'loose' for 'lose' has got to be up there too.
sep 1, 2025, 4:21 pm • 3 0 • view
As a resume writer, I see lead where led should be alllllll the time.
sep 2, 2025, 12:57 pm • 0 0 • view
fun fact: my most-popular tweet ever, with almost a half million likes, has the lead-when-I-meant-led typo in it. it still gets passed around, and I wince every time it shows up in my feed
sep 1, 2025, 3:19 pm • 19 0 • view
oh look there it is again
sep 1, 2025, 3:23 pm • 31 3 • view
Lefties can't grammer [sic], or something.
sep 1, 2025, 3:28 pm • 0 0 • view
Also we all could afford a house with only one income.
sep 1, 2025, 6:16 pm • 0 0 • view
Apparently this wasn't clear in my original post, but the reason I cited those two typos as the most common errors committed by careful writers is that those two typos are, in my experience, the most common errors committed by careful writers. Those two (2).
sep 1, 2025, 3:10 pm • 51 0 • view
No, what you meant to say was [phone battery dies, power goes out at home]
sep 1, 2025, 3:24 pm • 1 0 • view
Where does "loose" for "lose" rank? That one really irritates me.
sep 1, 2025, 3:26 pm • 2 0 • view
That would be not careful writers. (Most careful writers, in my experience, get it right without assistance.)
sep 1, 2025, 3:40 pm • 2 0 • view
Copy editors invariably (almost invariably?) catch the breath/breathe thing, but lead where led is meant is certainly known to make it to print.
sep 1, 2025, 3:12 pm • 30 0 • view
And “extend” vs “extent”? Don’t know if it is common though.
sep 1, 2025, 3:19 pm • 0 0 • view
Maybe it's because of the typesetting?
sep 1, 2025, 4:52 pm • 0 0 • view
Perhaps because we often have to forgo (not forego) a second pass.
sep 1, 2025, 3:38 pm • 1 0 • view
Loose for lose
sep 1, 2025, 2:50 pm • 0 0 • view
I’ve always been curious if a lot of people mistakenly use “alot,” or if it’s just me that has a false memory of being taught “alot.”
sep 1, 2025, 2:55 pm • 0 0 • view
Enough people seem to recall being taught that "alot" is correct to make me feel/fear that it's not a false memory.
sep 1, 2025, 2:57 pm • 17 1 • view
I can clearly remember Professor Tabor writing “a” on one end of a line of whiteboards in front of my freshman composition class and then walking to the other end and writing “lot.” It sticks with me after nearly 40 years.
sep 1, 2025, 3:06 pm • 6 0 • view
I remember our tenth grade English teacher telling us (repeatedly) “a lot is two words and it means ‘a piece of land’”
sep 1, 2025, 3:20 pm • 1 0 • view
I am almost afraid to ask your feelings about "alright."
sep 1, 2025, 3:00 pm • 1 0 • view
(And if you quiz such people on whether they're confusing this with being taught how to spell "allot," they will always say, firmly, no.)
sep 1, 2025, 4:17 pm • 2 0 • view
The correct spelling is allot. (/s)
sep 1, 2025, 3:01 pm • 1 0 • view
One of my pet peeves is "moreso." I hope no one was ever taught that, but I wouldn't bet a million on it.
sep 1, 2025, 3:41 pm • 1 0 • view
Whenever I am tempted to use "alot" i remember this blog post and have a chuckle: hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot... I hope I either remind you of having read it before or give you something funny to think about it when you encounter an alot the next time
sep 1, 2025, 3:19 pm • 7 1 • view
Brilliant. Thanks for sharing. I will carry Alot of Fire with me everywhere now.
sep 1, 2025, 3:23 pm • 2 0 • view
For me it's "short" with "shirt" and "love" with "live".
sep 1, 2025, 7:55 pm • 0 0 • view
Loathe v. loath and born v. borne are some others in the tricky e category.
sep 1, 2025, 2:57 pm • 5 0 • view
Important to know that being led to breath can save your life, but lead to breathe will kill you.
sep 2, 2025, 4:42 am • 1 0 • view
And "born" for "borne" ...
sep 1, 2025, 4:36 pm • 1 0 • view