Frequently misspelled/confused names.

Subject: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 05:05 PM

I just had a (for me) brilliant idea. I noticed where someone had asked for certain lyrics by Donavan (sic). Well, naturally, if he had searched DigiTrad and Mudcat threads for "Donavan" he wouldn't have found what he wanted, because he misspelled "Donovan." Bad spelling must be a handicap for many Mudcat users. Certainly, I have seen many misspellings in these threads. HERE'S HOW WE CAN HELP:

If you know of a certain word or name that is frequently misspelled, list it here. List both the wrong spelling and the right spelling. That way, if someone searches for the wrong spelling, they'll find THIS THREAD, which will tell them what the right spelling is.

Let me suggest a few rules:
1. Limit the words to proper names and terms that are relevant to folk music.
2. Limit the words to those you have actually seen misspelled.
3. Please double-check your "correct" spelling before posting anything here. I recommend The All Music Guide and The Folk Music Index as trustworthy sources. The Internet as a whole is NOT trustworthy, so don't just use a search engine and trust anything you find.
4. You can also list aliases, i.e. people who might be known by more than one name.
5. You can also list people whose names are so similar that they are frequently confused.
6. To help avoid confusion, list misspellings in all lower-case and correct spellings correctly capitalized.

Here are a few to get us started:

CONFUSIBLES:
Jimmie Rodgers (1897-1933), country singer, "The Singing Brakeman," famous for his Blue Yodels.
Jimmie Rodgers (no relation), pop singer with a folksy style who flourished in the 1950's-70's and recorded hits "Honeycomb," "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine," "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again," etc. He recorded under the name Jimmie Rodgers but is often referred to as Jimmie F. Rodgers to avoid confusing him with the other guy.
Jimmy Rogers (1924-1997), the Chicago blues singer and electric guitarist

GLEN OR GLENN?
Glen Campbell, Glen Hansard
Glenn Close, Glenn Gould, Glenn Miller, Glenn Ohrlin, Glenn Yarbrough

JIMMY or JIMMIE?
Jimmie Davis, Jimmie Rodgers, Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Jimmy Buffett, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Durante, Jimmy MacBeath
Jimmie Driftwood a.k.a. Jimmy Driftwood was inconsistent about how he spelled his name. This array of album covers illustrates the problem.

ROGERS or RODGERS?
Coleman Rogers, Gamble Rogers, Garnet Rogers, Roy Rogers, Sally Rogers, Stan Rogers
Jimmie Rodgers, Richard Rodgers (of Rodgers and Hart, or Rodgers and Hammerstein)

PEOPLE:
Adam McNaughtan, not macnaughtan, mcnoughtan, macnoughtan, mcnaughton, macnaughton, mcnoughton, or macnoughton.
Allister MacGillivray, not alistair, and not mcgillivray, mcgillivry, or macgillivry
Ani DiFranco, not annie, and not de franco, defranco, or di franco
Bernard Cribbins, not cribbens or cribbons
Bernard Wrigley, not wriggly
Bill Gallaher, not gallagher
Bobbie Gentry, not bobby (and her song is "Ode to Billie Joe", not "...billy...")
Bryan Bowers, not brian
Buffy Sainte-Marie, not saint-marie, st-marie, or ste-marie.
Carole King, not carol
Charley Patton, not charlie, and not paton
Charley Pride, not charlie
Charlie Maguire, not charley, and not mcguire or mcgwire
Christy Moore, not christie
Colum Sands, not colm, collum or column
David Mallett, not mallet, malet, or malett
Donovan Leitch, known as Donovan, not donovon, donavan, or donavon
Eddy Arnold, not eddie
Elizabeth Cotten, not cotton
Eric Andersen, not erik and not anderson
Eric Bogle, not erik and not bogel
Erik Darling, not eric
Ewan MacColl, not euen or ewen, and not mcall, mccoll, mccall, macall, or maccall
Ewen Carruthers, not euen or ewan, and not carrothers, carothers, or caruthers
Frank Crumit, not crummit
Garrison Keillor, not garison, not kiellor or keeler
Graeme Miles, not graham
Hazel Dickens, not dickins
Harry Nilsson, not nillson or nilson
Huddie Ledbetter was also known as Lead Belly or Leadbelly, but not leadbetter or ledbelly, and not hudie
Ian McCalman (of the McCalmans) not mcalman or macalman or maccalman
Jaime Brockett, not jamie
Jake Thackray, not thackeray, thackery, thakray, thakrey
Joan MacIsaac, not macissac, macisac, macissaac, mcisaac, mcissac, mcisac, or mcissaac.
John McCormack, not mccormick
John Renbourn, not renbourne, renborn, renborne
John Sebastian, not sebastion
Jonathan Kelly, not jonathon, johnathan, or johnathon
Judy Henske, not henski
Karan Casey, not karen
Kieran Halpin, not keran, keren, kerin, keron, kerran, kerren, kerrin, kerron, kieren, kierin, kieron, kierran, kierren, kierrin, or kierron
Lee Hazlewood, not hazelwood
Luka Bloom (formerly Barry Moore) not luca, and not bloome
Maddy Prior, not matty
Martin Carthy, not carty
Martyn Wyndham-Read, not martin, not windham, windom, or whyndham, and not reade, reed, reid, or reede
Miles Wootton, not myles, and not wooton, whooton, or whootton
Murray McLauchlan, not murry, and not maclauchlan, maclauchlin, maclaughlan, maclaughlin, maclouchlan, maclouchlin, macloughlan, macloughlin, mclauchlan, mclauchlin, mclaughlin, mclouchlan, mclouchlin, mcloughlan, or mcloughlin
Nanci Griffith, not nancy, and not griffin
Nic Jones, not nick
Nina & Frederik, not frederick
Ola Belle Reed, not olla, not bell, not olabelle, olabell, ollabelle, or ollabell; and not reede, read, or reade.
Patrick Sky, not skye
Ramblin' Jack Elliott, not eliot, eliott, or elliot
Richard Dyer-Bennet, not bennett or benett
Richie Havens, not ritchie
Rita MacNeil, not mcneil, mcneal, macneal, mcneill, macneill
Ron Kavana, not cavanaugh, cavanagh, kavanagh or kavanaugh
Rosalie Sorrels, not rosalee or rosa lee, and not sorel, sorrel, sorrell, sorell, sorels, sorrells, or sorells
Roy Book Binder, not bookbinder
Ry Cooder, not rye
Sean Tyrrell, not tyrell
Sheb Wooley, not shep, and not woolie, woolley, woollie, woolly, or wooly. (But there's a different person named Shep Woolley!)
Si Kahn, not sy and not khan
Steve Earle, not earl
Stuart Hamblen, not stewart, and not hamblin or hamblyn
Sydney Carter, not sidney
Vance Randolph (folklorist), not randolf, randalf, rudolph, or randalph
Vin Garbutt, not garbut

BANDS
The Chieftains, not chieftans, chieftons, cheiftains, chieftain's, not chieftan's, cheiftain's, or cheiftan's or cheiftans.
De Danann has been inconsistent about the spelling of its name. De Danann is the spelling currently favored by Shanachie Records but some albums clearly use the spelling De Dannan.
The Fureys (Eddie, Finbar, George, & Paul Furey + Davy Arthur), not furies, furys, fury's, or furey's
Highwoods Stringband, not high woods or highwood's, and not string band
The Limeliters, not limelighters, limeliter's, or limelighter's
The Wolfe Tones, not wolfe tone's, wolf tones, wolf tone's, wolfetones, wolftone's, wolftones or wolftone's. (But there is also a Scottish band called Wolfstone.)

OTHER TERMS:
A cappella, not a capella, a capello, a cappello, acapella, acapello, acappella, or acappello.
Accordion, not accordean, accordeon, accordian, acordean, acordeon, acordian, or acordion.
Appalachian, not appalachin, appalacian, apalachian, apalachin, apalacian
Bodhrán or Bodhran, but not bodran, bodrahn, bodhron, or bohdran
Bodleian Library at Oxford, not bodelian, bodlian, bodliean, or bodlean (It helps if you know it was named after someone named Bodley.)
Bowdlerize, not bowlderize or bawdlerize(after Thomas Bowdler, d. 1825)
Callous (adjective): insensitive
Callus (noun): thickened skin, such as guitarists get on their fingertips.
Céilí (modern Irish Gaelic) or Ceilidh (modern Scots Gaelic)
Chantey (a song sung by sailors to the rhythm of their movements while working), not chantie, chanty, shantey, or shantie – but see Shanty.
Chanteys (plural of Chantey), not chantys, chanties, shantys, or shanteys – but see Shanties.
Chord (several notes played in harmony), not cord or cords (but see Vocal Cords)
Chorus, not chorous
Copyright, not copywrite or copywright
Copyrighted, not copywritten or copywrighted
Didgeridoo (Australian instrument), not didjeridoo, didjeridu, digeridoo, didgeridu, dijeridoo, dijeridu, etc.
Dulcimer, not dulcimor or dulcimore
Hallelujah (from Hebrew) or Alleluia (from Latinized Hebrew), but not halleluja, alleluja, aleluia, aleluya, halleluiah, aleluja, halleluyah, haleluja, allelujah, halleluia, alleluya, haleluya, halelluia, halleluya, alleluiah, halelujah, hallalujah, haleluyah, etc.
Hammered dulcimer, not hammer dulcimer
Honky tonk, not honkytonk, honkey tonk, honkeytonk, honkie tonk, or honkietonk.
Lullabies, not lullabys or lullabyes
Lullaby, not lullabye or lullabie
Medley: a series of songs or tunes performed together, without a break between them; not to be confused with melody.
Melodeon, not mellodean, mellodeon, mellodian, mellodion, melodean, melodian, or melodion.
Melody: a series of notes; a tune; not to be confused with medley.
Ocarina, not occarina
Psaltery, not psaltry
Repertoire, not repetoire or repetoir
Review (a critical report of a work or performance), not revue
Revue (a musical show consisting of skits, songs, and dances), not review
Segue: a smooth transition from one tune or song to another, without interruption. Not to be confused with Segway.
Segway (trademark): a self-balancing personal transportation device with two wheels; not to be confused with segue.
Shanties (plural of Shanty), not chanties, chantys, shanteys, shantys – but see Chanteys.
Shanty (a roughly built, often ramshackle cabin; a shack), not chanty, chantie, shantie, or shantey – but see Chantey.
Soundtrack, not soundtract, sound track, or sound tract
Ukelele is the British spelling
Ukulele is the American spelling
Vaudeville, not vaudville
Vibrato, not vibbrato, vibbratto, or vibratto
Vinyl, not vynil or vynal.
Vocal cords, not vocal chords (but see Chord)

Words and terms from later messages have been copied into this one, and others have been added. -JoeClone, 21-Feb-2024.

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Greyeyes
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 05:46 PM

What an inspired suggestion. Some typos I have made in my time:

lonnie donnegan - should be Lonnie Donegan. jake thackeray - should be Jake Thackray.

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 05:54 PM

I have a cassette tape (not bootleg) on which Side One is by Martyn Wyndham-Reade and Side Two is by Martin Wyndham-Reade.

Murray

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Sorcha
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 05:59 PM

Not a bad idea, but the problem is that "creative" spellers can get very creative!!

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 06:00 PM

I should have said that he is of course Martyn Wyndham-Reade

Murray

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 06:00 PM

Another possibility:

In posting a song for the DT, check if the title/key phrase which someone might be expected to search for is spelling-sensitive. Maybe what you're posting is a phonetic version of the ordinary English, or maybe vice-versa. Maybe a song is called (fictional) Singin' Sword.

If you find that kind of trap built in, somewhere in your post say something like "Singin' Sword is sometimes spelled Singing Sword," so that you're using any likely variant a searcher might look for.

DAve Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 06:03 PM

Just stay away from my website, because I stick to the original spelling (when I don't make an error that is).

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Helen
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 06:52 PM

Thanks for this clever idea, Jim. Long overdue!

The one I can never find is the song I know as Welia Welia Walia, or something like that.

We had a whole thread on it with heaps of spelling variations:

Weila, Walla, Weelia, Wallia, Welia, Walia, Weela, Wela, Wolla, 'Weila Waile'

Almost a mathematician's exercise in probability: how many different combinations of these letters can you make - like calculating heads and tails with 2 or more coins.

Anyway the threads are here

Wela Wolla

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=13555#112037

Weela Wallia

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.CFM?threadID=6876

Thanks to all, and info request

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=29209#367736

I don't know what the correct spelling is, or if there actually is a correct spelling since it is just nonsense words. I thought it was in DT but now I'm not so sure of that either. It does need to be in there and maybe it needs to be searchable with any of these spellings.

Helen

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Blackcatter
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 01:30 AM

It all just makes me glad my name is Thom, I mean, Tom Cuk, I mean Cook

or somethin' like that.

pax yall

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Jim Krause
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:11 PM

You oughtta see the kreeativ spelin uv my naim sumthyme. And I ain't relaited to Allison, er Allyson, er aw heck, that countree/blewgrass fiddler and singer--yew know the won.
Jim, or is it Gym? Crackers! I can't remember.

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: SINSULL
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:20 PM

Staggerle
Stagger Lee
Stacker Lee
Maybe Max should do a radio show to demonstrate the variations.

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: GUEST,Rana
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:46 PM

Actually Murray,

It is

Martyn Wyndham-Read (and not Reade)

Rhana oops Rana

(Apologies if this has come up a second time, something didn't happen when I submitted

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Bert
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:52 PM

SINS, it's STACKALEE! And hey that would be a good theme for a show;-)

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:55 PM

The performer misspelt several times during this thread claimed to have once been billed as Marilyn Winding-Road.
Quack?
GtD

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Bill D
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 05:09 PM

hey, my father's name was Audley....you can guess how THAT was screwed up all his life...he took to signing stuff A.W. when he could. People simply would NOT listen when he told them...they would stare blankly at him and write down 'Aubrey' or even 'Oddley'...if THEY hadn't heard it before, it must not exist.

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 05:15 PM

or... how's about this... get a GOOD search engine that will allow FUZZY searches...

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 05:54 PM

Yeah Rana, I screwed up. I entered "Martyn Wyndham-Reade" in the search box at Google,just to check, and up it came, five hits ! So I am not the only illiterate ....

But of course it is Read, not Reade. Actually I was more concerned with "Martyn" v "Martin".

Murray

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 06:28 PM

Two others that have come to mind, are Paddie Bell, (of Corrie Folk Trio fame) frequently misspelt as Pattie or Paddy , and the Breton guitar ace Soig Siberil, who is frequently misspelt as Siog Siberil (though not by me any longer, thanks to Matt_R)

Murray

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 06:31 PM

Great idea. Does snog fall here?

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Sorcha
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 09:56 PM

I believe I noticed Joe Offer saying on the Help forum the other day that Tennessee is consitently spelled Tenessee in the DT.......(creep--our name is Wise. We live in an area with a large "German" population, and it everyone tries to spell it Weise, or Weiss)

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: GUEST,#1
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 12:05 AM

Clinton, where do you find fuzzy tunes for those fuzzy songs?

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Sorcha
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 12:07 AM

Hoka Hey, #1, I play "fuzzy" tunes all the time--it's called faking it and Follow the Leader......quite common, actually!

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 04:18 PM

Unfortunately Clinton whilst my search engine is not so sensitive digital tradition is and that is the problem many of us have if looking for an artist if we or the original poster misspell or should that be mispell?

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: GUEST,Judy Predmore (at work)
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 08:03 PM

I'm not surprised to see Martyn Wyndham-Read show up so early on this thread. His is the most misspelled name I know of, even on several of his recordings. I'm pretty sure it's spelled correctly throughout his web site, though the hyphen is not in the site name: martynwyndhamread.com

I've seen most of the below:

Martyn Wyndham-Reid Martyn Wyndham-Reed Martyn Wyndham-Reade Martin Wyndham-Reid Martin Wyndham-Reed Martin Wyndham-Reade Martin Wyndham-Read Martyn Windham-Reid Martyn Windham-Reed Martyn Windham-Reade Martyn Windham-Read Martyn Wyndham Reid Martyn Wyndham Reed Martyn Wyndham Reade Martyn Wyndham Read Martin Wyndham Reid Martin Wyndham Reed Martin Wyndham Reade Martin Wyndham Read Martyn Windham Reid Martyn Windham Reed Martyn Windham Reade Martyn Windham Read

And I'll bet there's more...

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 10:08 PM

I'm regularly astonished that so many people seem unable to spell my name, even when they are replying to a post from me and have it spelt out for them in front of their very eyes!

Malcolm  (NOT Malcom...)

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 09:37 PM

How about other regularly misspelt words - or should this one go in Catspaw's free American Bashing thread?

REMEMBER !

Grey is spelt with an E
Aluminium contains TWO I's
Gaol does not contain either J or I
Need I say more?
Quack!!!!!

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: fat B****rd
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 04:19 AM

I recall on the sidewinder lp by lee morgan that the bass player was bob crenshaw,cronshaw and cranshaw ! but it was the sixties. on the subject of mis-spellings ;stenger,stanger,stengar,steinger,spangler,spengleman, and my personal favourite, strangler. somewher in there is my correct surname. great thread. love fB

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Jim Krause
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 01:08 PM

Bill D, You think YOUR father's name was (uh geez, can't resist) odd, my Dad's name was Menno. No one names their kid that. You should have seen the stuff that came in the mail. It was hilarious.

Brief history lesson: There was a 16th century Dutch preacher named Menno Simons for whom my Dad was named, but I doubt even the Dutch remember that Menno nowadays.

Jim

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 04:19 PM

Jim Krause: Aren't the Mennonites named after somebody named Menno? Was it Menno Simons? (Thread creep, but I can't resist.)

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Jim Krause
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 04:36 PM

Jim Dixon, bless your pointed little head. You got it! Howboutthat!
Jim

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Bert
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 05:41 PM

Yesterday, inspired by the 'ego' thread, I did a Google search on "Plastic Flower Seeds". I found it had received some airplay on a couple of local radio stations.

Unfortunately they had it sung by "Burt Hansel".

So THAT's why I never got any phone calls.*BG*

Bert (Hansell)

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 04:47 PM

Mrs. Duck...

That's my point... rather than going to all the work of creating threads that lead from misspellings to actually spellings and from hither to yon... we should be addressing the actually problem...

That is that the digitrad search engine bites... any search engine anywhere these days allows for wild cards, and/or's, and will return fuzzy results...

So a search for Erik eventually returns Eric as well...

Hell, I'm shocked and stunned that the digitrad appears to be CASE SENSITIVE?!?!?!?!?! Why the hell is that?!?!?!?

People are gonna misspell... we're not gonna change that... may as well fix it to compensate as best we can...

;-)

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 05:52 PM

Clinton: It appears to me that a DigiTrad search is NOT case sensitive. At least not when you use the searches available on this web site. If you use the downloaded version, I'm not sure ...

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 06:00 PM

I might be thinking of an older, downloaded version...

But at any rate, my point that the current search could be a lot fuzzier stands...

;-)

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 06:07 PM

"may as well fix it to compensate as best we can... "

...no, that just encourages and proliferates mis-spellings. If bad spellers (many of whom have genuine problems, though some are just careless) learn that an internet search ONLY gets good results when spelling is correct, maybe they will at least learn to try alternate spellings or use a spell-checker, rather than post sad requests begging someone else to find it for them! The very same search engines and spell checking software is available to everyone, and the guy who answers the request only did what the 'spelling challenged' SHOULD have done.

As my ol' daddy used to say, "you shore ain't gonna learn it any younger"

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 06:18 PM

Sure bill, you go right ahead and change the whole human race and make them better spellers...

I'm more on your side than you might think... But I'm also less concerned with improving thier lot anymore...

So rather than trying to change the world...

;-)

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 07:06 PM

I don't expect to solve it...but ANY imporvement is better than catering to those who won't even type 'you' in a chat

(u no wht I mn?)

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 07:17 PM

'imporvement'?

LOL!!

I do know what you mean... and people like that, I simply ignore...

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 07:28 PM

*sigh*...I do 'imporve' with time ...(the money for typing lessons? I spent it on resords, why?)

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 07:31 PM

I'm just ribbin' ya Bill... like I've never made a "tpyo" in my time!

LOL!!!!

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 07:41 PM

Spell-checkers aren't going to help you spell "Martyn Wyndham-Read" correctly.

Anyway, regardless of how much you rail against bad spellers, they will always be with us.

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 08:01 PM

hmmm....a standard spell-checker won't help one with that name the FIRST time, but you can add it, once you know it....

and, a good WWW search engine is one gigantic spell checker! If you enter several versions of a word, of combination of words, you are VERY likely to discover the most commonly accepted version! This does require a bit of creative effort with Martyn's name, I admit

I got no hits with Martin Windham-Reed and Martin Wyndam-Reed....but 2 with Martin Wyndham-Read (leading me to think that I am close, but there should be more...) but one of the mis-spelled ones at FocalPoint gives links to the performer's websites, and LO! a list with the correct spelling

total time..3 minutes...

yep...that's a lot of trouble, easier to just post randomly and wait for corrections from pedants like me..*grin*

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 08:24 PM

Martyn said to everyone, "fie, folk, fie"
Martyn said to everyone, "who's the fool now?"
Martyn said to everyone, "my name's not an easy one"
"But searching Google gets it done...
Thou hast learned something new...who's the fool now?"

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 09:35 PM

Always envied the Spanish. Fotographie, etc., all ph rendered as f.

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 10:36 PM

Dicho: Wouldn't that be "fotografía"?

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 10:38 PM

Something here reminds me of my son: In the time he spends arguing about whether he ought to have to do his homework, he could have done it.

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: GUEST,Scabby Doug at work
Date: 14 Jun 01 - 05:39 AM

Can I just check on the Eric Bogel/Bogle thing? Jim Dixon was saying his name was Bogel? ermm I could be wrong here, but I have never ever seen Eric's name spelled as Bogel, and the site on the web that claims to be official has Bogle, and every album cover I've ever seen has Bogle.

Was Jim just being ironic and I missed it?

Cheers

SD

Error corrected in Jim's posting above. Thanks, Scabby Doug. -JoeClone, 14-Jun-01.

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: GUEST,Scabby Doug at work
Date: 14 Jun 01 - 05:41 AM

And "Ewen" MacColl - I think it's "Ewan"...

Error corrected in Jim's posting above. Thanks, Scabby Doug. -JoeClone, 14-Jun-01.

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: IanC
Date: 14 Jun 01 - 05:53 AM

There's a fairly simple technical solution to most of these problems. Allowing an optional SOUNDEX search on our search engines would get over 95% of the names-misspelt problems (at least for English names). It's a very simple algorithm (with a publicly available spec.) developed years ago for genealogy, where different spellings are frequent.

I've implemented it once or twice in text searches, but it does obviously need someone to do it.

Cheers!
Ian

Subject: RE: Frequently misspelled/confused names.
From: pavane
Date: 14 Jun 01 - 07:08 AM

Good idea. I just searched for plughole and got nothing - the song is actually present as "Dahn the plug'ole" !!!!