Lightening v lightning

[DadDadDad]

One that occasionally people get wrong: it's a lightning rod. A lightening rod would be a rod that's getting lighter?

[TheOneWiththeNicestSmile]

It's not really occasional - whenever there's a thread on here about electrical storms at least half get it wrong

[DadDadDad]

Fair enough. I had a slightly mischievous reason for starting this thread: I deliberately got lightning wrong when I posted on an AIBU thread, which is all about grammar / spelling peeves! I was trying to drum up business for Pedants' Corner.

[ThenLaterWhenItGotDark]

Course you did it deliberately.

[MrsHathaway]

I spotted you, 3Dad and called you a wanker under my breath because I knew you were doing it on purpose.

It's an odd sequence of letters to spell: -ghtn-. I think people just can't see the right spelling as being correct whereas -ghten- is far more common and therefore more acceptable.

[DadDadDad]

I did do it deliberately - this thread was my insurance policy to prove exactly that. If you check the posting times, I created this thread before I posted with the error on the other thread.

And all to wind MrsHathaway up.