The Words We Keep Googling Because Spelling Is Hard

If you’ve ever typed a word into Google just to check how it’s spelled, relax. You’re not bad at English. You’re just alive.

According to Google search data shared by Mental Floss, millions of people are doing this every month. And the words tripping us up aren’t obscure medical terms or 17th-century poetry. They’re words we use all the time.

The Word That Breaks Us All

The most Googled spelling question? Restaurant.

People search for the correct spelling an average of 95,000 times a month. The problem is that sneaky “A-U” in the middle. You know the word. You’ve eaten there your whole life. Your fingers still hesitate halfway through typing it, like they’ve seen things.

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Other Words That Make Us Question Everything

Coming in second is pneumonia, which starts with a silent P and immediately throws in an E-U just to keep things hostile. English really said, “Figure it out,” and left the room.

Third is appreciate, a word that looks different every single time you try to spell it. Too many P’s? Not enough? Is there a C? An S? Spellcheck usually waits a second before fixing it, just long enough to shame you.

The Top 10 Words We Keep Googling

Here are the spelling villains ruining our confidence daily:

1. Restaurant
   That “A-U” combo is a personal attack.
2. Pneumonia
   Silent letters AND vowel chaos. Bold.
3. Appreciate
   The P situation is unclear and stressful.
4. Receipt
   “I before E except after C,” except when it isn’t helpful.
5. Beautiful
   Three vowels in a row. Rude.
   (If it helps: B-E-A-UTIFUL, thank you, Bruce Almighty.)
6. Niece
   Is it I-E or E-I? Depends on the day and your mood.
7. Maintenance
   Too many vowels. Not enough confidence.
8. Bougie
   Pronounced booj-ee. Spelled like it doesn’t want to be.
9. Diarrhea
   You don’t need to spell it correctly to deeply understand it.
10. Congratulations
    Mostly Googled because we type it on social media constantly and panic halfway through.

The Bottom Line

English spelling is a mess, spellcheck can’t always be trusted, and Googling words you definitely “know” is just part of modern life.

So the next time you type restaront and quietly open a new tab, remember: millions of people are doing the same thing.

You are not alone. You are just spelling in English. 😌✍️