dilemna or dilemma

[The Knize]

Folks around here seem pretty learned and aware, so I thought I would just ask on this board:

As far I as I know I was talk to spell the word "dilemna." But apparently every spellchecker and every dictionary in existence says "dilemma" without even a nod to "dilemna" as secondary spelling. Lots on stuff on the net with people writing in and saying they we taught to spell it the same way I was, and lots of people writing in saying they have never seen it spelled that way-which is obviously wrong, just search B&B or Google "dilemna." It comes up in that spelling often enough.

But I have not been able to find anything that explains why some many of us think it is spelled one way, when at least the current authorities say "no." I do not think replacing the second "m" with an "n" is a natural error based on the way it sounds or anything. Quite the opposite.

Anyone know anymore than I do?

 

[TimmyBoston]

Dilemma.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dilemma

I've never heard of dilemna.

 

[LinuxMintyFresh]

It's quite possible that the discrepency is a hold-over from the Americanization of the dictionary. I think it was Marriam Webster that started the movement to alter American words in order to distance ourselves from the English after the Revolution. It's in the same vein as why we spell "color" and "honor" without a "u."

 

[The Knize]

It's quite possible that the discrepency is a hold-over from the Americanization of the dictionary. I think it was Marriam Webster that started the movement to alter American words in order to distance ourselves from the English after the Revolution. It's in the same vein as why we spell "color" and "honor" without a "u."

Perhaps. But I did not see any one take that tack in what I read. Apparently the orginal Greek is "mm." There has got to me more to this than I have read!

 

[GoldenMonkey]

I've never heard nor seen it as "dilemna"...that's just weird, lol.

 

[Obsessed]

I also thought it was dilemna.

 

[the beav]

I've never heard or seen is as dilemna...that's just weird, lol.

It's similar to words such as bought'n (IN), chimbley (AL), and crick (NE), which are also words that became corrupted from the original pronunciation in certain locations. Because people used to not travel much, the local corruptions stuck over time.

Actually, you can think of the word dilemma as being a di-lemma:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lemma

 

[Obsessed]

Anyone have an Oxford English Dictionary they'd care to consult for us?

 

[GoldenMonkey]

..or "aks". As in, "I aksed you to clean your room...". God I hate that...

 

[GoldenMonkey]

LOL...let me Google that for you

Still, despite numerous Google hits, I've still never heard that. Is it more of an East Coast thing, or something?

 

[the beav]

..or "aks". As in, "I aksed you to clean your room...". God I hate that...

Similar to that, I used to think that phrase "I be at ....." was poor English, but it turns out that I later read it certain English classics. The only rationale that I can give is that slaves picked up the phrase during the 1700s, and because they were culturally isolated in most locations, never dropped it when the usage changed among whites.

 

[Go West Young Man]

We learned "dilemna" in Canada, but I usually see "dilemma" down here in the US.

 

[Pumpkin]

Dilemna just looks wrong!

 

[ericesque]

Sounds like you have quite the dilemma on your hands.

 

[JPM]

i've never heard or seen is as dilemna...that's just weird, lol.

+1.

 

[GoldenMonkey]

+1.

D'oh! I realized when you quoted me that I had a typo and a grammatical error, lol...I fixed my post though...

 

[ouch]

..or "aks". As in, "I aksed you to clean your room...". God I hate that...

They make up for it by cutting down a tree with an ask.

 

[The Nid Hog]

I just went through this a couple of weeks ago. I typed "dilemna" and couldn't figure out why my word processor was highlighting it. When I spellchecked it and got dilemma, it just didn't look right. I guess that I was wrong.

 

[Nils]

Dilemma, of course:

δί-λημμα

 

[The Knize]

Anyone have an Oxford English Dictionary they'd care to consult for us?

I keep the complete OED on my laptop's harddrive. First place I looked actually. No word entry for "dilemna," and if I understand how the OED search function works one entry only for "dilemna" in the entire OED. Under the word "horned" "1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 34b, Dilemna, otherwise+called a horned argument."

I guess one of us ought to check Black's.

We learned "dilemna" in Canada, but I usually see "dilemma" down here in the US.

Now that may be useful evidence. Although, my sense is that at the end of the day, we are going to find out that what really happened was that there was a time period when "mn" was considered correct, more than that "mn" was considered correct in a particular country or geographic area.

Dilemna just looks wrong!

Well, from the way the word is universally pronounced, one would think it would. On the other hand, "dilemma" definitely looks wrong to me and for the most part my spelling and proofreading abilities are not so hot.

Sounds like you have quite the dilemma on your hands.

Just so. A choice between only two options. I have not looked this one up, but I was also taught that if there are more than two possibilities, it is not a dilemna.

I just went through this a couple of weeks ago. I typed "dilemna" and couldn't figure out why my word processor was highlighting it. When I spellchecked it and got dilemma, it just didn't look right. I guess that I was wrong.

Among other things, things like this are why I do not think this spelling stems from my relatively poor--although well thought of at the time- pre-University education. Googling the matter brings up lots of discussion on the internet of people who have the same reaction TNH, Obssessed, me, and others here have. Seems to me that most language things are easy enough to find out about. But so far, I see a lot of discussion on the web, but nothing close to definitive as to why some of us were actively taught to spell this word "dilemna."

<I've never heard of dilemna. >

It "sounds" just exactly the same as "dilemma."