I’ve just imported my original poll concerning how folks spell this word. I would greatly appreciate it if you would answer the poll so we can get an updated count! Even if you don’t comment below, please take a few seconds to answer.
How do you spell this word??
Thanks again! 🙂
By the way, the comments that have been left over the last year are wonderful. If you have the time, I highly suggest reading them!
Okay, surely enough time has gone by that I can write this post without any feelings of guilt, shame or mortification.
Several weeks ago, I was writing to someone when I typed the word dilemna Yes, that’s exactly how I spelled it and–yes–the little red line provided by spell check appeared below the typed word. I looked at the red line in amazement. Why did it not like the way I spelled dilemna? Wasn’t that the way I always spelled it? Didn’t I even have a silly joke/pun/play on words I always used when someone said that word? Wasn’t I a great speller?
Yes, I’m a great speller–a stickler if you will. For a time, I made a conscious effort to never even speak a word if I couldn’t be sure of its spelling. You never know when someone may say: “That word you just used, gorgeous, can you spell that for me?” It’s really better to be safe than sorry, I feel. Yes, I do have a dumb joke using the word dilemna and, yes, that is how I’ve always spelled it. My point is, I’ve always spelled it incorrectly and my little joke was less funny than even I thought it was. It was meaningless because it hinged on spelling the word incorrectly. Oh, the shame!
So, I decided to do a little research on how I came to spell dilemma with an “n.” After visiting a few forums and conducting my own non-scientific poll I discovered that other people do spell dilemma with an “n” but it appears to be an anomaly and no one is sure where the alternate spelling originated. As for my poll, the only person who spelled it with an “n” was someone who attended grade school with me. Yikes! Sounds like we may have pinpointed that spelling glitch right there!
So, mystery solved. Or not. To those of you who were gracious enough to answer my little poll and wait so long for the great reveal, I deeply thank you. May all your days be happy and all your spelling be precise.
ETA: whoa-ho-ho…just checked the poll results–five people voted for dileMNa. Not so alone after all!
BrightHaven Days 
And how do you pronounce it? Do you say the word as if it has a double-M, or do you say DIL – EM – NUH ?
I’ve always just pronounced it with a silent “n.” Same pronunciation–crazy spelling!
How do you pronounce the word condemN?
Since there is no vowel at the end of “condemn” I wouldn’t consider it a valid comparison. We say “CondemNation” not “Condemmation.”
Well said!
Damn, column are a couple more examples, or I suppose someone will tell me to change my spelling to damm and columm next!
I’ve been taught to spell it dilemna, but my autocorrect tells me otherwise. On that same token, you really can’t ask if you pronounce the N; if that were the case, you’d have to consider the pronunciation of Damn, Condemn, and Solemn.
Say the word “bottle”. Did you actually say “bawdil”? Very few people pronounce the t’s as t’s. And if you do, you sound a little queer.
Language is dynamic. It always has been.
I just love thayt you asked that!
I learned to spell it dilemna, and your spell checker says dilemma. The pronunciation that I learned was: dil em na.
I, too, learned to spell this word with an MNA ending. I was educated in the early 70’s…I think that might have something to do with the spelling, after much research on the matter. 😀
I was also taught to spell it dilemna. I’m 40 and was educated in London.
I now try to avoid using the word in any written work, as dilemma just looks wrong!
Shelly, that sounds exactly like something I would do! I’m on the lookout for it now in use–and it’s always spelled with the double-m. How did I miss it for so many years??
the nuns who taught me english, spelling,and penmanship would be mortified today to hear”it is funner” “my bad” and witness the scrawling attempts at cursive writing. I was schooled in the 40’s and 50’s and very happy that I was.
by the way the word is spelled DILEMNA,lazyiness has set in the name is sean not shawn I think it is ignorant to spell or phrase out of ease.
Caught me today. Fascinating Google subject. Seems to be no geographic connection either. I was taught in NE Ohio. Phil here is the first I’ve seen that pronounced the N. It was categorized along with solemn and condemn as having a silent N. I generally do all I can to avoid the dreaded red line, but I’ll maintain a rebellious stance on this one and keep using dilemna.
Isn’t it a neat subject, Phil? So you’re not changing your spelling, eh?
I was taught to spell it dilemna in New Jersey.
Ramsey, New Jersey fir me as well.
I just came across this problem today. D I L E M N A is the correct spelling as far as I am concerned. Maybe there was a shift or a change when we became reliant on spell-checkers. Or maybe we slide in and out of other dimensions. I have no idea. Everyone thinks I am crazy to insist that there is this alternate spelling.
I am glad there are others.
that’s funny! I like the idea of sliding in and out of alternate dimensions! You’re right, if there was no such thing as “spell-check,” I would have happily spelled it incorrectly the rest of my life. 🙂
I agree, dilemna is in fact the correct spelling. The spelling has evolved with the advent of spellcheckers and word processing. I will continue to spell ot the correct way, which is dilemna.
I won spelling bees as a child and dilemna is correct. We are experiencing the mandela effect.
I am so glad that I found this post! I am in a mess over this word DILEMNA/DILEMMA. I am with Harold Cox, that the word was spelled correctly, as DILEMNA, with the “N” being silent. I know, as like Harold, I was in and won spelling bees, as a kid. I loved learning new words and know their meanings. One spelling bee, I had to spell DILEMNA and I got it right. I now am finding out that I am apparently wrong and supposedly. always have been. A little bit ago, I was absolutely bawling, like a baby, over this. Some people might find this a trivial thing, but, for me, it is absolutely devastating. It makes no sense, as I am sure my dictionary gave me the word as DILEMNA and Webster’s was my go-to book of words. I can only pray that this will be the only word that has changed. I have worked too hard in life, making sure that when I write, that I spell words the right way. I am still working on my punctuation, though. Go figure. =) =(
I was educated in very rural areas in California, and the spelling was “DILEMNA” and pronounced with a silent ‘n’.
I still believe the spell checkers are wrong
I find this issue to be as irritating as those who use ‘walla’ or ‘wallah’ in place of the correct ‘voila’ (Accented ‘a’, I can’t get the french dictionary downloaded).
I concur. I just used that word today. I believe it goes back to our age and how we were taught in school. Since I went to school in the 50’s and 60’s, I will use the n in dilemna. Spell check is only as smart as the people who program the information. There are many spelling errors in today;s world and many words that are mispronounced in the news media. I guess these aren’t important items to be taught in schools today.
I was in grade school in the mid-70s/early 80’s in Hawaii. I learned “dilemna”, pronounced with a silent “n.”
I am with you. My son just asked me how to spell dilemna and this what I told him. Then he challenged me and that is how I ended up here. I have always spelled dilemna with a silent n. Where did you go to school? hehe
Hi Kimberly! Thanks for stopping by! At least you can tell your son that there are folks all around the world spelling it the same way WE spell it!! 🙂
I attended grade school in Louisiana, high school in Texas.
I just used dilemna in an email to my sister, and the dreaded red underline appeared! I have spelled it that way for years. I learned to spell it that way in the ’60s in a Catholic grade school in Illinois. Maybe it’s regional. The order was from St. Louis, MO. Anyway, I am going to continue to ignore the shift.
Hi Marty! Thanks for weighing in! I don’t think it’s regional because you can see from the comments that folks from all over use the “-mna” spelling.
I’m 44 and learned to spell it Dilemna at school in Dublin, Ireland. I will defend that spelling despite anything!
Same with me. I was taught to spell it as dileMNa in the 60’s, New Jersey to be specific.
I just had this happen. I, too, love spelling and sounding smart as well. It shocked me to my core. It thought, yes, that’s how it spelled, Word. I figured I’d check Pages (I’m a Mac, Pages is like Word by Apple) and, alas, the same thing happened! I decided to be enlightened with the true spelling, and the two M’s didn’t look correct at all. I am actually a sophomore in high school right now in Sunny Southern California, and had always learned that dilemna had an N. No, Safari, I did spell Dilemna correctly!
PS- What was your play on words? I am intrigued as I have never heard a memorization tool for this.
Like most of your visitors, I found this post after being startled by the red line under my “dilemna.” My original reaction was that a deluded simpleton entered this word into Microsoft’s English dictionary. But no, Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster.com and thefreedictionary.com all list it with the double “m” spelling. Now I wonder if it was “changed” somewhere along the line because the “new” spelling is more closely aligned with its etymology. So many of us remembering it with the silent “n” can’t be wrong. I’ll continue to spell it the way I learned it, thankyouverymuch.
That’s a good theory, Kari.
I grew up in Phoenix, and I am completely sure I learned to spell it dilemna. I recently saw the movie Dilemma, and it looked wrong to me. But all internet searching comes up with the mm spelling, as does my only dictionary at home, a fifties era Webster’s. (Please don’t ask my opinion of the movie, I couldn’t even make it to the end).
I was taught to spell it dilemna. Today at work I was asked to put together a book of costume sketchs for the George Bernard Shaw play, “The Doctor’s Dilemma”. So George who wrote the play in 1906 was taught to spell in dilemma and I, who was educated in the 60’s and 70’s was taught dilemna. He in Ireland and me in Canada. How odd.
I am 40 years old and cannot believe that the word is spelled dilemma. It has always been dilemna to me. There must be a reason that is just not known yet…. I doubt we all just arbitrarily decided to throw a silent n in the middle of the word…
I stand with you and the silent n!!
I like that: “we can’t have all just arbitrarily decided to throw in a silent ‘n”. ” I would LOVE to find the ONE person responsible for splitting the spelling… 🙂
I am so upset right now! So, I received a text from a friend a little while ago with the word “dilemma” in it. Automatically I realized the word was spelled wrong. So, me, being prided on the great speller to which I thought myself to be, began to correct hiim. Something prompted me to check for the correct spelling of the word and I’ll be darn everything that I’m finding is saying that it’s spelled “dilemma.”
I am 23 years old, born and raised in the southsuburbs of Chicago. I am utterly pissed right now because I have been spelling it “d-i-l-e-m-N-A” since I can remember! DileMMA doesn’t even look right to me. Just like Solemn, Condemn, etc…I was taught that it was spelled with a silent “n.” Nonetheless, I am NOT changing the way that I spell “DILEMNA!”
GOD BLESS!!!! 🙂
MauRece: I am starting to notice a trend–>we shall NOT change the way we spell the word!! 🙂 We shall ignore the red squiggly line that spellcheck sends our way. Yes!
I was absolutely in amazement when the red line appeared under dilemna. I still can’t believe that the spelling of a word would actually change over time. How can that be? (I attended grade school in the 1960’s in New Jersey and know that this word was not spelled with two m’s.) I’m going to ask my friend who is a college English professor and see what she’s got to say….
I was also taught to spell the word dilemna. I grew up in Chicago and went to a Catholic grade school til grade 2, then moved to Orland Park. What city did you live in when you learned the spelling?
I just saw “dilemna” in print (iAsk a Mexican!, April 8, 2010) and it sparked my curiosity to do an internet search about this– for I too learned to spell it that way, and got trained out of it during my 20s. Went to public school in the suburbs of Houston, TX, 1980-1992. What is up with this whole thing? I was always a great speller, and I was really surprised when I found out that there was no ‘n’ in “dilemma.” I can’t remember where I learned the wrong spelling, but it’s nagged me since I found out that it was wrong.
I just did the same thing! It IS dilemna, I was always in school spelling bees and am a type-setter/formatter for a few large organizations. I have no idea when this changed!
It probably changed the same time that theatre changed to theater! Dilemna is the proper spelling regardless of SPELL-checker which is a program designed by a person. Language does evolve over time and usage. I have been in several spelling bee championships as a child, and the accepted spelling based on language etiology is d-i-l-e-m-n-a.
I found your blog while trying to figure out if “dilemna” is a real word – separate from “dilemma.” My mother used it all the time – to mean exceptionally tasty: “That double chocolate cake is really dilemna!” I’ve never heard it used by anyone else since. Has anyone else?
Same thing just happened to me! I know I am not crazy, and also a great speller…..when did this change happen?? I was brought up in good schools in Texas in the early 80s, by Yankee parents, so where did it originate from? Can we change it back? Ha HA!
I’ve always spelled it with two “m”s (western PA). My 1978 Webster’s New World Dictionary (my chair-side friend) says the etymology is di- (two) -lemma (an assumption). No “lemna” in my dictionary.
The correct spelling is: dilemNa. Best regards from Lisa in the 13th dimension – apparently. 🙂
One more thing. While we can only theorize of multiple dimensions, what this does prove clearly is the existence of the God of Irony. This God created quite a dilemna, er, dilemma. DilemNa! Oh…bollucks!
I learned dilemna in the 70’s in western PA, have seen the mm spelling more and more as an adult and now am googling it all over the place. How did so many of us get taught this incorrectly – and why did it change?
I have always spelled dilemna with the “n”. I found this thread after a spell check corrected me.
I was educated in the 50’s and 60’s in Ohio. I’m a good speller and usually rely on spell checks to detect my mis-keyed efforts, not my poor spelling. Since the derivation is from a Greek word with two “m”‘s I’m going to switch to dilemma, and it will no doubt drive me crazy until I get used to it after 50+ years of dilemna.
I’m just glad I’m not the only person who was taught this or I’d be wondering how I got it wrong. Now I’d like to know how Sister Daniel got around to all those other schools to spread her mischief.
That’s my DILEMNA now… I dont want to change it to DILEMMA… and that;s a DILEMNA…
so SUE me… 😉
Ii CONDEMM whoever posted this DILEMMA and ruined my SOLEMM life!!
hi! we have the same issue in French! I was taught to spell it “dilemne” but hear today that it’s “dilemme”… it looks so wrong as I type it…. and oh, same issue on the pronunciation too…
Caroline–I just read recently about the French connection. Thanks for bringing it into the discussion! I wonder if that is how MY mis-spelling came about, seeing as I was educated in Louisiana.
Educated in the 70’s in Michigan–the daughter of a school teacher from the 60’s who was a stickler for proper English & grammar–I can attest to being taught DILEMNA. It is ingrained in my memory, along with “not only, but also . . . ,” “It is I/I am she,” and other such anomolies. I was also a spelling bee kid, taking 2nd place in the state at the ripe old age of 10 with words such as “sesquipedalian” and “mitrailleuse”. Trust me, it’s “DILEMNA” . . . we’re not all crazy!! My best guess is that the general population consistently misspelled the word so often as “dilemma”, that eventually the powers-that-be caved and changed the spelling to fit the masses. I, for one, will be dam_ed before I quit using DILEMNA!!
I love all the “mn” words that you all are throwing into the discussion 🙂
Diane,
You are correct. This change to an ending with mm seems to be in line with Americans who have dumbed down over the past 40 years. Dilemna is also how I was taught, and as a writer I have used it for years. I was taught this spelling in the parochial schools in Philadelphia in the 1960s. One didn’t ask a nun if she was correct, as any Catholic school attendee will explain. Just as when I hear someone say ‘pacifically’ instead of ‘specifically’. “Really?” I must ask the mumbler, “You’re narrowing this down to the west coast?” Now with the advent of “spell check”, I always have my correct spelling underlined in red. Guess I’m a bit the renegade, if you will….
I am sorry, you are NOT correct. Your spelling make no etymological sense. Linguistics, my good woman, use your brain to see Greek origins.
i have always spelled it dilemma. just sounds like it, so i spell it that way. and this is why i love latin and want to learn greek:
(from Merriam Webster)
Main Entry: di·lem·ma
Pronunciation: \də-ˈle-mə also dī-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Late Latin, from Late Greek dilēmmat-, dilēmma, probably back-formation from Greek dilēmmatos involving two assumptions, from di- + lēmmat-, lēmma assumption — (look up lemma)
Date: 1523
1 : an argument presenting two or more equally conclusive alternatives against an opponent
What makes it so odd is that it’s from the Greek but that’s not why folks misspell it or not. Most folks don’t know the Greek root and were fortuitously taught the correct spelling to begin. Others, in our speculative alternate universe, were taught the -MN-spelling! 🙂
I am 24 and educated in the UK. I learnt ‘dilemma’. I looked into it and on consideration of etymology I do not need to change my ways as I don’t use the errant ‘Dilemna’.
Clearly, this dilemna will continue for a long, long, long time – especially now that French has been tossed into the mix! Damn, I mean damm, now even MORE investigating is needed to discover just how this teaching error happened to so many, for so long, from so many varied geographical regions. I do love a good mystery!
I’ve put the issue before Bryan Garner and will report his response (should it come).
Way to go, Robert! Be sure to keep us updated. 🙂
Well, he was no help! But I’ve met him, and because I am a dyed-in-the-wool MNA man myself, I hereby decree Bryan’s rule requires MNA until further notice.
Here is his response, a copy of an earlier Usage Tip of the Day for (gasp) Dilemma –
dilemma = a choice between two unpleasant or difficult alternatives. This word should not be used by slipshod extension for plight or predicament. Originally a Greek word meaning “a double assumption,” the word often appears in the colorful cliché horns of a dilemma—e.g.: “News media moguls find themselves on the horns of a dilemma. They all feel they must have a presence on the Internet, but none has yet figured out how to make money there.” T.R. Reid & Brit Hume, “All the News That’s Fit to Pay For,” Buffalo News, 20 Aug. 1996, at E8. (That situation leaves them with two bad options: be unavailable on the Internet or lose money.)
The adjective is dilemmatic—e.g.: “Naturally, working with an interior designer can get you off the dilemmatic hook—just drop a few buzzwords like ‘palazzo,’ ‘knotty pine,’ and ‘Regency.’” Victoria Lautman, “Spinning the Style Dial,” Chicago Trib., 22 Sept. 1996, Home Design Mag. §, at 8.
Language-Change Index
dilemma in reference to a problem or predicament not involving a clear choice between alternative courses of action: Stage 4
You’re right. That was no help at all. 😦 I think I can cross over to MMA but I do enjoy that alternate MNA universe!
I too was taught to spell the word with the “n”, and get this – I’m in the Philippines. Why so many people all across the world learned to spell it that way is such a mystery to me. I guess it really is a DILEMNA. Oops, there goes that red spell-checker line again! 😀
I happened upon this blog entry after my iPhone corrected my spelling of “dilemna”. I honestly thought it was a glitch or mistake. I had to wage war against the predictive text feature to get my “MNA” out!! I grew up in the late 80’s/early 90’s attending Catholic school in NE Ohio. Those nuns taught us how to diagram sentences and best believe, spell. I was taught the “MNA” spelling and I didn’t even question it….until now. WTH?!?!?!
How does the world expect to change after 29 years of this?! No way! Bring on the red line. 🙂
It is SUCH a lovely mystery…is it not? Did you read the hypothesis about the alternate universe? 🙂
I was educated early 70s in the Philippines and we were taught to spell it with “MN” also. Does anyone have an old dictionary somewhere to prove how it was spelled then? Maybe it stemmed from a typo from a popular dictionary.
So, you’re saying that there was a worldwide mis-informing? That’s kind of like the alternate universe theory (which I like very much). My dictionary is 1961 and uses the MM spelling. Alas, I’m afraid there’s no excuse for us! 🙂
I was taught to spell it dilemna, in Midwest, 60’s and 70’s.
Tried to make the word dilemna in scrabble blast and it kept rejecting it which is how I came to this page. I am almost 69 and Jamaican. Have always prided myself on my good spelling because the catholic nuns drilled us well. Too old to change so I will stick with dilemna except when playing scrabble balst.
Chalk up another one for dilemNA.
Just had this come up today. 37, from New York. Was taught to spell it Dilemna. My sister in law said i was wrong. Does anyone have an old dictionary?
My dictionary is from 1961. It declares that we MN spellers are wrong. :O
So very, very weird, but I was taught dilemna, too, and I will defend it to the death. Anything else looks like a misspelling.
haha went to school in the Philippines and was taughtl that the spelling was DILEMNA also. I guess dilemna is old school.
Dilemna
Oregon 1980’s
I never feel the need to write in a forum; no idea why I cannot resist commenting on this
I now plan on writing the word whenever dilemna possible even dilemna when it dilemna doesn’t make sense to do so, just dilemna for spite…dilemna
I was taught “dilemna.” So was my sister. I’m a 47-year-old editor, she’s 42 and a teacher (with a degree in English). Both from New York.
For the most part, it seems that most of us educated in the 60s, 70s and possibly early 80s were taught “dilemna.” Yet the folks with dictionaries from the time say it’s not in there.
Now THAT is a… dilemna.
My mom was educated in the 40s with an English teacher as a mother, and SHE is the one who pointed this out to me today. She’s always spelled it “dilemna” also. I never knew it was such a big….well, dilemna!
From: http://www.worldwidewords.org/nl/zcsp.htm
4. Q and A: Dilemma
——————————————————————-
Q. My daughter, who lives in the Cayman Islands and works in the
media, asked me the other day whether “dilemma” is ever spelt
“dilemna”. Apparently her boss insisted that it was and my daughter
said that she had a residual memory of having been taught that at
school. Good grief, what schools did I send her to? Do you have any
views or comments on this? [Andrew Lewis, UK; a similar question
came from Jim Black in the US.]
A. This is very strange. A search in mailing lists showed that many
other people also report they had been taught that spelling, though
always told that it was pronounced as though with a double M. The
error has been reported both in the US and in the UK.
There is no doubt about the correct spelling: the word is Greek,
from “di-“, twice, plus “lemma”, a premise. It has always been
spelled that way, at least according to the dictionaries that I’ve
consulted, ancient and modern (it dates from the sixteenth century
as a term in rhetoric). Though the Oxford English Dictionary is
usually punctilious in recording variant forms, it doesn’t note any
alternative spellings other than the French “dilemme”, which was
sometimes used early in its English history.
The spelling is certainly rife today. It’s easy to find thousands
of examples by searching newspaper and book archives. Of these, a
large number, certainly a significant majority, are misprints or
simple errors. The reason for it seems to be a mental confusion
with other words in English that are spelled with “mn” but said as
“mm”, including “autumn”, “hymn”, “condemn”, “solemn” and “column”.
It’s all too easy to miss as a typographical error because “mm” and
“mn” look so similar on the printed page. This visual confusion
could be part of the reason why so many people, having learned the
wrong spelling, fail to correct themselves when they notice the
properly-spelled form.
A search of historical literature shows that in earlier times it
was quite common and turned up in works by well-known authors.
These are a few eighteenth-century examples:
In this Dilemna, as I was very pensive, I stept into
the Cabin, and sat me down.
[Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe, 1719.]
The nation saw themselves reduced to a ridiculous
dilemna upon their testimony.
[The History of England, by Oliver Goldsmith, Vol 3,
1771.]
There was a famous ancient Instance of this Case,
wherein a _Dilemna_ was retorted.
[Logick, by Isaac Watts, 1772.]
It even appears in a list of difficult three-syllable words in The
Civil Service Spelling Book, by R Johnson, published in London in
1868. If this is a mistake left uncorrected at the proofing stage,
it’s a particularly unfortunate one.
Modern reprints of old works usually “correct” the spelling, their
proofreaders presumably taking it to be a printer’s error. However,
there are so many old examples that it is difficult to write them
off as a mass word blindness among printers and proofreaders.
It’s not just in English that the problem is known. In French it
sometimes appears as “dilemne” instead of “dilemme”. Native French
speakers have reported that they, too, were taught the wrong form.
It is frequent enough that it appears in lists of common spelling
mistakes. In French, it’s said to be the consequence of a false
comparison with “indemne”.
I’ve not found any example of a spelling book or primer that has
the “dilemna” version. Anyone who taught that form must have been
perpetuating what they had learned without reference to any book.
In view of the very large number of historical examples, it makes
me wonder if the variant spelling has persisted in the language for
many generations, unnoticed by dictionary makers or repeatedly
dismissed as a simple error.
I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT A WEBSITE EVEN IS, LOL
Below is a series of correspodence that I began with Oxford English Dictionaries on this subject.
My initial Email.
I notice that your dictionary spells the word “Dilemna” as ”Dilemma”. Considering the words root, “Dilemma”, indeed makes more sense. However, the vast majority of the English speaking world, educators included, spell this word as “Dilemna”. Does anyone know the story on this? How could so many of us have been wrong for so long? If “Dilemma” is correct, when did it get corrected? If “Dilemna” is incorrect, then when and how did it get incorrect. This is a major dilemna(having to beat down my spell checker here). There are numerous blogs and sites devoted to this dilemna. “Dilemma” doesn’t even look right at all. PLEASE HELP!
Oxford Dictionaries resopnse.
Thank you for your email about the spelling of dilemma. As you point out, the origin of the term makes the reason for the spelling clear: it comes from the Greek words di, meaning ‘two’ and lemma, meaning ‘premise’. The Oxford English Dictionary’s first citation for this word is from 1523, as follows:
They are excommunicated wth a dilemma made concerninge the Mayor’s perplexitie.
I think I must take issue with your contention that the vast majority of the English-speaking world spell the word as dilemna! I took at a look at the vast database of language which we use for our dictionary research (you can read more about this resource here: http://oxforddictionaries.com/page/oec/the-oxford-english-corpus) and I found the following statistics:
26,260 instances of the correct spelling dilemma
93 instances of the incorrect spelling dilemna.
So it would seem that the majority do spell the word correctly! I also had a look at a couple of discussion forums on the Internet, though, where I did indeed discover that some people said they had been taught to spell the word as dilemna. This is very odd: I can’t imagine why some teachers would have taught their students to spell a word incorrectly.
I don’t know why the incorrect spelling of dilemma arose: possibly from an analogy with words such as column, hymn, or condemn, in which the -mm- sound is represented by the letters -mn-. I’m glad you brought the issue to our attention as it’s an interesting one. I’ll make a note of it and we may include a spelling note in future editions of our dictionaries.
Thank you once again for taking the time to email us about this.
Kind regards,
SH
Oxford Dictionaries
My response.
I am very impressed by the effort you undertook to respond to my “dilemma”.(See! You can teach an old dog new tricks! I hope you are proud! Me and my spell checker are again living a harmonious existence together. laughing here). And, you have made me into sort of a hero amongst my peers for getting an authoritative explanation to the dilemma about the spelling of the word “dilemna”. Although, statistics aside, and however incorrect they may be, the majority of Americans over 30 years of age are more familiar with the “dilemna” spelling than they are the correct version. I have asked people ad nauseum how they spell it, and I get the same answer 9 times out of ten at a minimum. And trust me, telling them they are wrong has not been an easy thing to do, for them, or for me(laughing again). All of this still does not answer the nagging question I have, as to where the spelling became incorrect. Perhaps we may never know. Never fear though, as I am quite persistent, and if I do ever find the answer to this great mystery, I will certainly let you know!
As to the statistics you presented. I would be curious to know what those numbers would have been had they represented only publications which had original content preceding computerized spell checkers. I would make a wager that the difference between correct and incorrect would have been somewhat less dramatic.
Your hypothesis that the misspelling may somehow be due to an incorrect analogy to the spelling of words such as “solemn”, “condemn”, or “hymn” was also mine. However, then why don’t some people spell other similar words such as “gamma” as “gamna”? I suspect there is a more specific answer. An early spelling book by a major publisher in the USA which had a simple typo? An early American historical figure who used it in writings? I must find out!
Be assured, I will be purchasing future editions of the Oxford English Dictionary in hopes that the comment “often misspelled as dilemna” may someday show up. And, my small contribution towards keeping the English language true to its origins may someday be a topic of conversion in my family for generations to come. Well, I can hope, can I not?
Thanks again, from your friend across the pond!
David
It’s just so funny to me! Makes me crack up every time I think of it! I should write a book on the subject. A non-fiction historical comedy to be sure! The title alone would catch the eye of any student of the English language(and French too). “The dilemma about “dilemna”!”
Final Notes:
I suggest those of us who were taught to spell it “dilemna”, should now substitute it with the word “quandry”, at least until this mystery is figured out. As I state in my response above, I beleieve it is far too simplistic an explanation than to simply say that it is a false analogy between words like solemn and condemn. THANKS FOR THIS BLOG BECCA! Lets all keep it going!
Hi there, 26 years old, also taught it was dilemna, and I have impeccable spelling, if I do say so myself! I guess I’m a bit cocky about it, because the spellchecker has fought me on this before and I’ve actually written it off as a computer glitch! lol But another friend of mine who also has impeccable spelling spelled it as “dilemma,” today, so I HAD to look it up, and here I find myself!
Responding to your post specifically because, well… isn’t the word “quandary,” not “quandry?” I hope, for your sake, that this was a mere typo on your part, and not another word you’ve misspelled your whole life! 🙂 Because I know how it feels to find out you’ve always been wrong!
I was taught Dilemna in the mid-70’s in Carmel California. Dilemma just looks so wrong to me, but the Spell Checker disagrees.
@DavidH, top work, however putting quandry into MS Word does the same thing and looks like it should be quandary, doh!!
I would have sworn that quandry was a word too, looks like it might have started all over again….
I’ve always known it as dilemna, born and raised in the South of England.
Parochial school, 1950’s, graduated HS in ’68, all in Southern Cal, and it’s always been dilemna! Like others here, I consider myself an excellent speller. Drives me nuts when I see dilemma!!
Came across this issue today with a friend. I was born in 1982, raised in California, and I have always spelled it dilemna.
I was horrified to read: “Yes, I do have a dumb joke using the word dilemna and, yes, that is how I’ve always spelled it. My point is, I’ve always spelled it incorrectly…….”
Are you saying that ALL my teachers in school, high school, college and university, everyone of them got it wrong? I spelt the word dilemna “DILEMNA” all my life!!!!
This feels as though suddenly out of the blue someone shoves something under my nose that seems to prove that the world is actaually a FLAT disc!
Forgot to mention that I was born in Switzerland, educated in Luxembourg and England.
I learned to spell it as “Dilemna” as well, in (public) elementary school. In the ’90s. (California, Unites States) And now all my spell checkers and dictionaries are listing it as “Dilemma.”
I could not resist joining in. I am sure ‘dilemna’ was listed as such in the spelling textbook used in parochial elementary schools in New Orleans in the 1950s and 1960s (Yes, Becca, both the Louisiana and French connections). I do not remember other words with which it was grouped and I would not argue the derivation presented by many so articulately. I am, however, surprised that no one has mentioned that language evolves…much as we might hate for it to do so. And since we are all party to that evolution, we are caught amidst the change. Some of us will maintain the spellings and usages with which we were raised and others will move on to the changed presentations. I do not believe those of us who learned ‘dilemna’ were taught incorrectly…just differently.
I personally like the way ‘dilemna’ looks. Continuing to use ‘dilemna’ presents no dilemna for me at all. It is an aesthetic and personal choice, although I may sometimes substitute quandary.
Thanks for a fun discussion.
I was born in 1961,went to public schools,and graduated high school in Philadelphia,PA in 1979.I just checked my dictionary from the 70’s.Damn!
2 m’s…staring at me….laughing.The spelling of “dilemna” is only a dilemma if you allow it to be.At least I know that those who spell it with the 2 m’s are not wrong,and I’m betting we can all get along.Perhaps the word “dilemna” could be added to the dictionary as -describing the dilemma one experiences when pondering the proper spelling of a word.
I will continue to spell the word with the “mn” with pride as it causes my brain to hurt otherwise.
I’m shocked. Another dilemna user. At least I’m not alone. I was feeling dumb until I came on here!
We’re all just one big happy family caught in a dilemNA!
fabulous discussion
I was educated in Australia in the 70’s and I’ve always been an “mna” guy. Perhaps rather naively I never realised there was an alternative (which I choose to reject)
I too was taught to spell dilemna with an ‘n’. It just discovered today that there is a controversy. My mom was an English teacher too that beat spelling into our heads. I’m confused.
Funny how this post was started nearly a year ago, but people such as I are finding it when we Google “Dilemna vs. Dilemma.” I’d never seen Dilemma anywhere before (at least anywhere where I thought the person spelling it was correct) and I got the dreaded red line for the first time. I was educated in the 70s and early 80s in California. I’ve learned most of my spelling from reading, so I’m sure I saw the NA in many many books.
Try writing “dilemma” in cursive handwriting. There’s your answer.
Thank goodness I’m not the only one. I was educated in the 90’s and 2000’s (yes, I’m just a highschooler), and I found myself in the same situation as all you baby boomers just a few months ago. 🙂 I live in Maryland and went to a private school, and I could have sworn that my elementary school teachers taught me to spell it as “dilemna.” My mom says that how she was taught, too. So even my generation has encountered this same problem! Maybe if you look through an older dictionary from the 50’s or so, you’ll find it’s spelled “dilemna” instead of “dilemma.” I don’t have any old dictionaries around here (the one from the 70’s lists it as “dilemma”), but perhaps some of you do.
*that’s
And I do *not* agree with the article that “dilemna” is a wrong spelling. It’s obviously a variant that dictionaries have not yet recognised. Maybe if we put up enough fuss it eventually will. After all, if slang can make it into the dictionary, why not “dilemna”? It’s much more beautiful a spelling than “dilemma.”
I had this conversation with my daughter last week. I was taught “dilemna” while she insists that it is “dilemma” (she admits that she relies on Google for spelling). I went to grade school in the ’70s in Northern Ontario.
The dilemna on spelling is about to get huge. I’m here after seeing a trailer for Ron Howard’s new film, starring Vince Vaughn and Kevin James – it’s called The Dilemma.
I was educated in New Zealand in the late 70s and until this moment was unaware of the -mm- spelling.
Was born 1962, and educated in New Hampshire and Connecticut. I hate to say it, but the dictionary I got in high school (Websters New Collegiate, 1977) says dilemma. That’s too bad for Webster. I’m way too old to become a lemming.
I must admit, this has been the most captivating blog entry i’ve ever experienced. I was in the middle of writing an email at work, and dilemna came up with a red line!!! What the heck? Being the proud speller that I am, I googled <–(which also comes up with a red line) the word, and this great debate came up.
I'm 29, educated in northern Ohio.
By the way, I have NEVER commented on a random blog before, nor have I read one this lengthy. Kudos to all.
Well, thanks for commenting, Dan! I am developing a theory about excellent spellers and the word “dilemna.” (Oops, red line!) It seems that many great spellers have this misspelling in common.
I also was taught to spell it “Dilemna.” I also consider myself a stickler for spelling.
See. More proof. 🙂
HELL NO!!!!!!! I was educated in Jamaica in the best high school on the Island (CAMPION COLLEGE) and a subordinate just handed me a memo with that’mm’ rubbish. I was in the middle of correcting her when I found this site. Damn! or is that Damm? Guess I can’t condemm her, huh?! And sadly, the Oxford Dictionary, which I consider to be the absolute authority on the language doesn’t even give ‘mn’ an honourable mention.
I went to high school 80-85, by the way.
I wattended to public school in the 50s, HS in the early 60s in northeast New Jersey.
I was taught “dilemna” … one of the silent “n” words like condemn, hymn, solemn (and damn which, of course, we didn’t use at all!)
I was doing a crossword puzzle today and couldn’t figure out why a “shopping place” would be a “nart” instead of a “mart”. The only way to make it fit would be to spell dilemna with two m’s!! The puzzle maker couldn’t possibly make that mistake, right?
So I, like so many before me, was led here. I’m 45 and educated in New Jersey.
A number of things surprise me about this topic:
1) I’ve never noticed the word spelled dilemma before;
2) Most who spell it dilemma have apparently never noticed it spelled dilemna before;
3) Many of those faced with the fact that we are wrong (as it seems certain we are, based on the etymology and lack of any dictionary showing otherwise) refuse to change. Strange!
Grade school in West Virginia in the early 80s, learned dilemNa, wrongly. People insisting they are going to continue to spell it wrong because that is what they learned, or that the correct spelling has changed, are just being stubborn. Creative writing degree and very fond of etymology so I was quite shocked to realize how long I had this one wrong. Very glad to learn the proper spelling and will use it exclusively in the future.
🙂 I think it’s just a question of choice. We’ve gotten by this far with no one being offended…
Apparently there were many students taught to spell it “dilemna”, myself included, Northeast Ohio in the 80’s. I refuse to spell it differently, it just doesn’t look right!
Whoever sent the letter in to the dictionary, please send a link to this blog as well so they can see that it isn’t a misspelling, that it was just taught differently.
You know they CAN and often DO change words and meanings and spellings in the dictionary. It wouldn’t be hard to simply add “dilemna” as an alternate spelling.
I am nearly 50, educated in New Jersey and California. Only today have I discovered the conundrum with the spelling of dilemna. I was one of those spelling bee children, and would never have let myself spell it incorrectly. Now, I can’t bring myself to use MMA. It will be MNA for me, red line or not.
I really can’t believe that this discussion has lasted an entire year. I don’t mean to dismiss anyone’s opinion on something as important as the spelling of dilemna. But it just seems strange to me that so many otherwise intelligent people would be so intimidated by the red line under the correct spelling of dilemna that they would accept as truth that the word should be misspelled. Think about it folks…who ever learned in school that the correct spelling was dilemma…NOBODY! The question didn’t come up until the little red line appeared. It only appeared because some dufus at Microsoft either didn’t know how to spell or decided to goof on the rest of us.
Ah, but Dan, there are some questions that have been debated for HUNDREDS of years. We should get several more good years of discussion from this one.
I learnt to spell it ‘dilemma’, and was completely unaware that any people spelt it with an ‘N’ until today. It looks to me to be certain that a substantial portion, but perhaps a minority, of teachers have been spelling it ‘dilemna’. Why they have been is another question. I do like the theory that it comes from trying to write it cursively: if I try that, it becomes a horrid mess for me (and would be a little less of a mess if it was written ‘mna’ than if spelt correctly). I also wonder whether the 1868 Civil Service Spelling Book is part of the reason for its perpetuation: but I wouldn’t imagine that it had a wide enough circulation to explain much. As for the theory about other words with ‘mn’ where the ‘n’ is silent: all the examples given are where the ‘n’ is the last letter.
Ben, my husband just made that observation the other day.
Not microsoft, Dilemna is etymologically incorrect. Lemma from Greek.
I may be misreading the responses, but it seems that a few people were taught the MMA spelling. We are only continuing the discussion because it’s such an interesting mystery. Research beyond the computer-based spell check has not cleared things up. So-called experts, and dictionaries from the ’70’s and ’80’s, the era we all apparently learned this deviant spelling, have not supported us. And we aren’t intimidated. Red line be damned! DILEMNA!
You’re reading the responses correctly, Steffanie. One day, we’ll know how the TWO spellings came to be!
Then you haven’t seen the etymology the correct etymology is ‘Lemma’ from Greek.
Graduated in ’86 from a MPLS MN high school that I entered with a college level reading ability. I’ve been an avid reader since before I entered elementary school, and I learned to spell it with the n. And yup, I ended up here like most others: I tried to use the word and spell check corrected me, and Google led me here. And like many others will continue to misspell the word.
36, northern Wisconsin. Dilemna. The problem I am having is that I have checked every old dictionary I own, and cannot believe that dilemma is in fact correct. This is sort of the feeling I get when I am sure I have remembered a conversation or something correctly, only to find 5 other witnesses who remember it different.
Yes, Jodi. I think we’re all feeling that same feeling… 🙂
Found that other scholars might have same background in “MNA” endings: http://www.bma-wellness.com/papers/addicts_dilemna.html
I too (59 years old) – attended public schools in Washington State through early 70’s & was taught dilemna. I am wondering what dictionaries in used book shops might show…
I am English, was born in 1939, so am one of the oldest particpants. I was taught ‘mna’ and as a professional writer 0f 17 books and hundreds of articles, have always used this spelling. I remained unaware of any other and put the little red spellcheck line down to that dratted American spelling and simply ignored it until I hit upon this link. Now I must apologise ( but not apologize ) to America for my presumption. It is weird though that no dictionary can be found to back up what so many people who pride themselves on their spelling believe to be correct – or even mention the …no not quandary …which doesn’t imply the bifurcation ….the dillemna
Keep searching though, something must turn up
Like Patricia, I was born in England, in the North East and was well educated and a voracious reader. Dont know why I spell Dilemna the way I do but i will take it with me to the grave. The hunt for ” why” has to begin across the Atlantic because little in the way of American ways of dealing with words
, ever travelled in the other direction.
So today I texted my friend with the word dilemna in it and she texted back saying it was dilemma and that I couldn’t spell. Like so many on here I pride myself on my spelling and looked it up immediately and came across this site. I will argue to my core that it is spelt with an ‘n’.
I am currently in high school in Australia, so if this spelling is not correct, how is it possible that people all over the world believe it is!
I am an MNA speller, and my jaw almost hit the floor when I saw the preview for Ron Howard’s new movie, The Dilemma. I leaned over to my daughter to whisper that some movie bigwig was about to be fired for misspelling the title. She looked at me as if I was absolutely insane. Me – educated in California and Texas in the 70s and 80s and an avid reader. She – currently educated in Texas. I am glad that there are others out here that spell it the same way that I do.
My author husband Robert just sent me this link, since we’ve been on the horns of… this discussion all week, after discovering our mutual preference for the MN spelling. We own at least four dictionaries, one of them published in 1928, and none of the usage notes acknowledge our dilemna. Robert grew up in Brooklyn, I went to public school in Massachusetts in the 1960’s (a spelling bee champion, too,) and I was shocked — shocked — when the dictionaries upended our universe.
I’m puzzled by so many being shocked to discover dilemma is in the dictionary. I write by the dictionary, and Roget’s Thesaurus, so although I do not always spell correctly, I refer to the dictionary and Roget’s Thesaurus often, and the word has always been dilemma in my experience. I went to public school in San Diego, CA, graduating from high school in 1970 (with honors), college in 1977 (with honors).
I do remember feeling disconcerted by historic spellings, being told they could and did spell in a variety of ways, while I was required to spell in a standardized way according to accepted guides such as those mentioned above. Otherwise, my grade would drop significantly. An “A” paper would become an “A-” with one mistake in spelling, with two mistakes would be reduced to a “B+”, and so forth. I strove for “A+” papers just in case I missed a spelling, which rarely occurred.
@Kelly and Meech,
I went to a movie last night and they showed the trailer for “Dilemma”. Letters about 3 ft high up on the screen. I turned to the schoolteacher I was sitting with and asked him, “Isn’t that spelled wrong?” and he replied, “No”. I shut up about it but could hardly wait until I got home. Googled it up and *damme*, it tells me not that I’m using an archaic alternate spelling but that IT’S NOT EVEN A WORD! I wrote to Michael Quinlon at World Wide Words and had an answer this morning in my inbox: We’re. All. Wrong. Aarrrrrgh! I think this is the only word in my 55 year old LIFE that I have spelled wrong. I’m obsessive about spelling! I can tell you right now that I probably will NOT be paying money to see Dilemma on the big screen. Sorry, Ron. Not if they don’t put some kind of a footnote on it saying that there is an alternate spelling! lolol Now I’m calling friends and asking them how they learned to spell it. It’s about 50/50 but the ones that use the (alternate) silent n are very emphatic about their obsessive spelling abilities. I wonder if it was spelled wrong in one of those spelling bee study books! Seems like a big proportion of us were in spelling bees… and won!
I’m going to post about this issue on Facebook and see if it interests any of my friends and relatives. It does seem like the better we think we are at spelling, the more likely that we were taught it the wrong way and don’t want to change! (or admit we all have a wrong collective memory). Maybe the ones that have always spelled it the way it sounds WEREN’T PAYING ATTENTION when the teacher taught it to us INCORRECTLY! lolol
Yeah, that movie trailer is going to increase traffic to this site significantly. I just saw it and googled my way here too. I grew up on both coasts of the US in the ’70’s and ’80’s but got my spelling from reading, so I must have seen dilemna in books…wish I could remember which ones. I’m aware of dilemma as an alternate spelling but I agree, it just doesn’t look right. I assumed it was one of those simplifications, like catalogue to catalog, and that dilemna was the “authentic” spelling.
Look, we are not crazy – books using the “mn” spelling:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22dilemna%22&tbs=bks%3A1%2Ccdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1800%2Ccd_max%3A1820&lr=lang_en
MNA all the way. I saw the trailer for the Vince Vaughn movie “the Dilemma” and thought to myself,” Idiots, they spelled it wrong.” I checked google just to be sure and to my surprise it’s actually dileMMa. I don’t where or when but I learned dileMNa, and I’m 16-years-old (born 1994) so this DILEMNA is still going on. I’m an immigrant to the US living in Boston and I’ve been using MNA all my life and no one has ever corrected me. DileMMA seems wrong to me and I’ve never seen it before until this movie trailer. I’m going to keep using DILEMNA no matter what. FU spellcheck.
Sorry meant to say ” I don’t KNOW where or when…” I really am a stickler for spelling so I’m sure DILEMNA is correct. to many of us at least
I, too, grew up spelling the word dilemna, and I’m sure we did not go to the same grade school. I, like you, am a stickler for spelling correctly, and I won the award for top speller in both 7th and 8th grades. I will continue to spell it with an ‘n’, as that was the way I was taught, and I believe it to be the correct spelling.
Another dilemna user here, attended school in Charleston & Scotland in the ’80s. I caught myself out last year, after spotting too many “dilemma” spellings for comfort, decided to look it up.
I was flabergasted that my spelling was wrong and had been wrong all these years. Also, I was spelling bee champion in school and I’m sure I must have been taught “dilemna”.
I finished high school two years ago, and can remember explicitly being taught to write the word dileMNA. While writing an essay one day, I got the squiggly red line and decided to look it up. Needless to say, I was shocked. I told one of my friends, and he replied that he had been spelling it that way too. We’re the same age so it seems that it’s not just something that the older generation were taught. I came here because I just saw the trailer for “The Dilemma”.
School in Canada in the 50’s and 60’s. Used a Dent Speller. *mn* all the way!!
I LOVE all you die-hards that insist on spelling it the right way, like me – “mn” forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also was taught “dilemNa” and went through grade school in Colorado, and high school on the east coast… As I cannot find where the schism occured, I believe I shall forgo using the word altogether, and begin using “conundrum” instead! Or was that “conandrum”?…
I was educated at High School and University in Melbourne, Australia in the late 50’s/early 60’s, and was definitely taught “dilemNa”
I just ran into this dilemna when my Blackberry corrected my spelling. My husband said it’s DILEMMA. I disagreed, so I Googled it & came across this thread. My 14 year old heard us discussing it & chimed in “I learned to spell it DILEMNA”. My husband brought out the Webster’s Dictionary and according to that….it’s DILEMMA. I will continue to spell it with the silent N, simply because I don’t believe that just because a word is in the Webster’s Dictionary, it’s correct. For example “Ain’t” is not & will never be a word to me. I feel that somewhere down the line, the spelling was changed due to so many people spelling the word incorrectly,lol 🙂
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Scotland in the 50’s/60’s and it was dilemna as far as all my English teachers were concerned.
New York City in the 50s and 60s. I have always spelled it dilemna with a silent “n”.
I learned to spell it with the silent n also. Spell check comes up all the time when I write because it doesn’t recognize acronyms or medical jargon, so I guess I never gave it much attention.It just looked wrong when I noticed it spelled in large letters for some movie trailer, DILEMMA…. Still looks strange to me.
When I see the way it’s spelled for the Vince Vaughn movie it hurts my eyes.
Well, it seems most of the people led to this site have been “mna’s”, and the reason is obvious – those of us who spell it “mm” have never needed to do such a search because we are very seldom, if ever, confronted about our spelling of it. The result is that this blog creates the misperception that a majority of people spell it “mn”. Like many here, I am a stickler for spelling and have never, until today, come across the “mn” spelling of dilemma. I would venture to say that the vast majority of English speakers and English printed material (and many of my books are far older than the advent of computers and spell checks) use the “mm” spelling, but very few of us “mm’ers” would ever be led to a blog like this. The “mn” spelling looks strange and wrong to me, but I am prepared to accept that it looks right to someone who has always thought it right to spell it that way. Looking right, feeling right, is no real argument for it being right. The Greek etymology (via Latin and French) is a far stronger argument, and certainly favours the “mm” spelling. English sometimes simplifies spelling (of words originating in other languages) and occasionally drops superfluous silent letters, but doesn’t add them, so it would seem strange for the Greek “mm” to have been changed to “mn” in English. Apart from a few, very few, examples from elsewhere in the world, it seems the bulk of those who were taught the “mn” variation come from the US, with Canada and the Philippines coming a distant second. The most plausible explanation would be a typographical error some time in the first half of the 20th century in an American spelling reference book – considering the proximity of the two letters on the traditional typewriter, and the similarity in appearance of the “mm” and “mn”, this is not hard to imagine. The fact that the eye generally overlooks the distinction is borne out by the many “mn’ers” who swear they never saw it spelt/spelled “mm”, despite the absence of their “mn” spelling in print.
What is more interesting in this discussion is what or who determines something to be “right” and how human nature seeks comfort in others who agree with our “right”. What we were taught as right is sanctified by time and we are naturally resistant (in some cases to the point of gross stubbornness, intransigence or even fanaticism) to change or to any suggestion that it may not be right. I have studied English, majored in English, read English and taught English for many years, and today in my 40’s, as a relative newcomer to North America, heard of the “mn” (mis-)spelling of dilemma for the first time in my life. Despite comments on your blog and the distorted impression that “mn’ers” are a majority, I believe the overwhelmingly greater number of English speakers and writers the world over, and the authority of printed works, reference books and reason itself to be on my side, the “mm” side, yet I’m quite certain I would be equally reluctant to change something I’d always believed correct if I suddenly discovered it to be incorrect, especially if trusted authority figures who passed on many other “truths” on which I had built my life had taught me the error. Desire and emotion generally trumps reason and evidence – almost every time!
Hi James, your comment is fairly arrogant and patronizing. Did you mean to come across this way?
I believe that any well-thought person would understand that only people who (mis)-spell the word would look for affirmation or clarification on the -mna spelling.
James, I can’t remember ever thinking that we were in the majority if we use the “mna” spelling. I’ve polled several friends and family members, and both spellings were taught over several generations as far as I can tell.
I haven’t gone back to my old books from childhood to validate the way I spell dilemna. That doesn’t mean that examples don’t exist. It simply means that I have too many other things to do. It’s a great mystery, I’ll admit. But, I’m okay with that.
I’ll continue to remember the way I was taught. I’m not at all concerned that it doesn’t match the way you were taught. It’s my memory, after all.
It’s not just people on this blog, James. There are also 64 BOOKS with the word spelled “DILEMNA” in them that Google brings up on a search. I asked my husband how to spell the word, and he too spells it with an N. It’s not just a simple mis-spelling, there are obviously TWO spellings of the word being taught and used!
Links to more discussions:
http://forum.thefreedictionary.com/postst326_Spelling-dilemna.aspx
http://northernplanets.blogspot.com/2007/08/dilemna-of-spelling-dilemma.html
I, too, always spelled it -mn- but I just saw an advertisement for the movie “The Dilemma” and went, “huh?” Double m seems to be the “accepted” spelling these days. In fact, wiktionary calls “dilemna” a common misspelling of dilemma. Shaw is probably chuckling in his grave, because he may be at least partially responsible for the change, due to his advocacy of spelling reform for English.
I was in first grade in ’60 and learned to spell in the early ’60’s. We always spelled it with a silent “n”. I double-checked it in a Webster’s unabridged dictionary copyrighted in ’96. Perhaps spellings are like usages in that the commonly used versions become the standard whether or not they were in the first place. Thank you very little, English language.
It’s funny how bad spelling, when supported by those who should know better, can easily take hold and even be justified. It’s sad, really.
This is interesting. I’ve never heard of the “dilemma” spelling, but I can understand how it is difficult to change one’s spelling of a word when he or she has been taught a particular spelling all his or her life. I tried doing some Google searches for other words with “mm” to see how often they are spelled “mn”, and here are some quick results:
Dilemma: 28,900,000; Dilemna: 222,000
Accommodate: 48,800,000; Accomnodate: 2,910
Ammunition: 18,700,000; Amnuition: 3,430
Common: 578,000,000; Comnon: 94,500
Grammar: 32,300,000; Gramnar: 4,380
Immediate: 159,000,000; Imnediate: 9,900
Out of the words I chose, it appears that “dilemma” is the most commonly misspelled word in that manner, and I have a feeling that a lot of the other misspelled words were merely typographical errors. The intriguing thing is that some people seem quite certain of that particular misspelling, which leads me to believe that there must have been some instance of that particular misspelling around the time that the people who learned that spelling were being educated. If anybody has any sources in print from before the 1990’s or so, I’d be interested in checking that out. Perhaps we can trace this back to an individual person who decided to change the spelling of this word.
That “Amnuition” above should be “amnunition”, “ammunition” with a “mn” instead of a “mm”.
Just to keep this blog going even longer… Shawn has an interesting point suggesting that the rate of delemna vs. delemma is similar to typo/misspells of other “mm” words. But with spellchecker telling us to use “mm”, I’m not surprised that many people give in.
If 1/16,000 misspell “accommodate”, then a similar number should misspell “dilemma”. However almost 100 times as many people ‘misspell’ “dilemna”. And we are a determined bunch to fight with spellcheck! Not a majority by any estimate, but determined.
Sorry … Actually 127 times as many people use ‘mn’ for dilemma as do for accommodate. I would say this makes it an alternative spelling rather than a typo. Maybe a typo way back when, now an alternative spelling.
I agree with David that Oxford English dictionary should offer this alternative for us folks who remember being taught ‘mn’!
I’m 24 and am from Oklahoma. I have always spelled it dilemma, because I am an avid spell checker. However, after having a debate with a friend, because the new movie DILEMMA is coming to theaters, I started to recall seeing it spelled dilemna in some books. I also dated a guy from England who spelled it dilemna, as did all of his British family/friends. I can’t help but think it’s possible that the spelling is geographical, at least for my generation.
Haley?!? Could it be? It’s me, Winston! Glad to see you are still wrong about most everything. That was always a dilemna with you. Since when does the back of a cereal box count as ‘books’?
PS – I hear the movie The Fighter is way better anyways.
Oh! I already like you, Becca, solely based on your having raised this topic.
As I was going to bed last night, I said to my Husband, “how do You spell dilemna?” My question was brought on by having seen an advertisement for the new movie. He got it wrong.
I am a stickler for spelling, and feel I could be an editor, as I often find errors in books whilst reading them. I was in primary school in the 1970’s in Vermont, was on our school spelling team, and was taught dilemna. I will continue to spell it as I was taught, as it is correct to me. I will continue to research the genesis of the divergent spellings!
been arguing about this for last few days – saw the movie Dilemma advertised and railed against movie people for imposing what I assumed was a US spelling on a UK audience. My (UK) compatriots looked at my like I was an idiot for insisting on the ‘n’. I know the schools in my are used a phonetic approach to spelling which was popular in the US but not so in the rest of the UK and I’m guessing it’s not unrelated.
I’m 45, grew up in CT and was educated through the strict teachings of the nuns of the Phillipini Order. I was a spelling bee kid and am a stickler for proper spelling… and lo and behold I am positive that I was taught to spell this word with an mn. I’m thinking maybe a textbook publisher fell asleep at the wheel. It would have been third grade I believe. I wish I could get my hands on my books from back then. I clearly remember it being taught with other words containing silent n’s. I also remember being taught that the plural of fox is foxen but can’t find that anywhere either. WTH?
How interesting about “foxen,” Di! That sounds very Olde English. 🙂
Last night my husband, son and I were watching a commercial for the new movie “The Dilemma.” I quickly piped up that they had spelled “dilemna” wrong. They both laughed when I said that as in “autumn” the “n was silent. I said it was spelled “dil-em-nuh” but pronounced “dil-em-uh.” I have a BA in News Editorial Journalism and Political Science and can’t believe that in studying those disciplines somewhere along the line I would not have had used that word in a paper and not have had a prof. or copy editor correct me. I also ran an archive search at The Washington Post and The New Yorker and found the word spelled “dilemna” in several articles. My husband attended the same university that I did but I was raised on the west coast and he and my son are midwesterners. This was all in the pre-spellcheck days. Is this a case of catsup vs. ketchup or colour vs. color? I seem to have a vague recollection of the “del-em-nuh” spelling being drummed into my head before a spelling test.
Urban myth? It just seems to be a very common debate on the internet.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/white-house-watch/obamas-iranian-dilemna.html
It’ not just me.
When you think about it, it’s unnatural to spell the word “dilemna” with an “n” unless it was taught to you that way. Phonetics? “Spell it how it sounds?”
Would be fun to find the common thread.
@maureen – I caught it the same way, looking for a movie to go see. I clicked on “The Dilemma” to see what it was about, and thought “you’d think they could at least spell it right”.
I’m not sure where the alternate came from, but now I’m intrigued. “Dilemna” is definitely something I was taught was correct. I’ve even spelled it that way in college level class assignments (I have graduate degrees in English and Linguistics).
The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) only has “dilemma”, citing its etymology as “< Latin dilemma, < Greek δίλημμα double proposition, < δι-, twice (di- comb. form) + λῆμμα assumption, premiss: see lemma".
So, at least historically and etymologicially, the two m's are correct. Still, it looks wrong to me.
I’ve always spelled it dilemna and pronounced it dilemma. I’d like to blame the ‘Word Power’ spelling text I had in Catholic grammar school, but there’s no way to prove that at this late date. I honestly thought the movie title was riffing on some inside joke until I looked it up. The nuns who taught me spelling would be seriously miffed if they were still living – not that I got it wrong, but that Webster did.
Fascinating discussion!
In all this I’m wondering why no-one has mentioned that ‘correct’ spelling is in fact arbitrary, a man-made phenomenon (even though we seem to internalise it to an amazing degree – I call it ‘baked in’ as in firing of pottery, as opposed to ‘hard-wired’).
As I understand it no-one cared about spelling until the printing press came into use. Story goes that Shakespeare wrote his own name with different spellings.
Since realizing that (1st year uni linguistics in 1968), I’ve tried to be tolerant of idiosyncratic spelling (except in business writing).
But I still KNOW how things should be spelt and ‘dilemma’ still scrapes that knowing part of my psyche like nails on chalkboard.
As my husband remarked, it just shows how mouldable humans are.
P from Australia, taught dilemna.
You have been spelling it correctly, I just got the little mark too and was wondering. I don’t know what is going on. Dilemna is spelled, unfortunately with a silent -n-
No it isn’t, The Greek Derivation is Lemma not Lemna.
Dilemma is the lazy way out from proper spelling. You only have to look at it to see how it goes against the grain.
I was educated in Oxford, England through the 60’s and 70’s and have got to the not so grand age of 52 before a spell checker pulled me up today!
My old English teacher would turn in her grave if she saw me write dilemma instead of dilemna, so in her memory I will never do it.
God Bless You Mrs Wilkes!
Well, then you are incorrect etymologically speaking as the Greek word is Lemma not Lemna. Your teacher was wrong or perhaps she was phobic of Greek words 😉
Blimey! I am 36. Lived in Colorado since I was 2 and am POSITIVE that I was taught -mna! After all, even if we aren’t the majority, how can hundreds of thousands of ppl be so sure of how to spell this word and yet be wrong! I actually got told off by my daughter tonight because she said it doesn’t even matter how it’s spelled! I said how would you feel if you found out I wasn’t really your mother after thinking it your whole life? She said, as long as my real mom is loaded I don’t mind! SACRILEGE! O.o did I spell that one right? I will conform I suppose, but I want to know 1 more thing… how long have I believed ‘bi’ meant 2 not ‘di’? If I break up the word the way Oxford does I think of the word ‘diurnal’ which means active during the day. Where as walking on 2 legs is bipedal. So if it’s 2 bad options it should be bilemma not dilemma yes? Also, if it is in fact dilemma, why is it pronounced duh-lem-ma and not dye-lem-ma?
BAH I went to college myself, even though I only succeeded in obtaining an Associates, and cannot believe I have never been corrected on the spelling here! Maybe I should note that I graduated college with a 4.0GPA, and still, here I am, misspelling this word. Something seriously happened in the language to have such a wide range of location and age doing this wrongly! Wrongly? Is that a word? Spell check isn’t telling me I’m wrong so it must be! LOL but it looks funny! Just like dilemma looks funny to me!
Alas, I am not fussed over it. Not really, anyway. It bugs me, but in the end the true spelling of this word will not bring about peace on earth, or an answer to mankind’s problems.
Here is some other information I found: about ‘trilemma’ (which by the way has a red line under it just now) A trilemma is a difficult choice from three options, each of which is (or appears) unacceptable or unfavourable.
There are two logically equivalent ways in which to express a trilemma: it can be expressed as a choice among three unfavourable options, one of which must be chosen, or as a choice among three favourable options, only two of which are possible at the same time.
The term derives from the much older term dilemma, a choice between two difficult or unfavourable alternatives.
The earliest recorded use of the term was by the British preacher Philip Henry in 1672, and later, apparently independently, by the preacher Isaac Watts in 1725.
Dilemna is how I learned it:
Catholic Schooling ’78-’91
This is a raging debate here in the office. Three days ago I started a poll on my whiteboard, and it’s currently an even split between dilemma and dilemna.
Ken, the poll here shows about 75% spelling it “mna.” Of course, that’s b/c most people looking for how to spell the word are spelling it that way to begin with. 🙂
I guess dilemnas have horns and dilemmas don’t.
Perfect!!
Wow, that was interesting, just don’t get me started on the word phoenix.
I’ve just found out today that apparently I’ve been spelling this word wrong all these years, at the age of 26. This means that not only must I have never used it in a document produced with a word processor, but also never noticed it being spelt wrong anywhere I’ve read it.
I think it’s possible that we don’t read words too closely unless we’re looking for mistakes. In this case especially, an ‘m’ looks similar to an ‘n’. This might also be related to that ability to read a word correctly even if the letters are jumbled up, as long as the first and last letters are in the correct place.
Anyway, I was glad to discover I wasn’t the only one!
I’ve always learnt it as “dilemma”. My boyfriend, ten years older than me, was taught to spell it “dilemna”.
I was trying to find out if it was anything to do with the Nu Spellin movement… but can’t find anything on that whatsoever. Now I’m paranoid that I had a really crazy dream about teachers in school advocating learning words phonetically. But that doesn’t *quite* work as we don’t pronounce it with an “n” here.
I wonder if it can be traced back to a textbook error somewhere.
Sheesh. I told my wife they spelled ‘Dilemma’ wrong on the movie title by the that name that just recently came out. Then I considered that perhaps the dictionary includes this as an alternate spelling. So, I looked. To my complete surprise (and utter dismay), the dictionary listed “dilemma” as the ONLY spelling!!! All my years of education just unwound before my eyes. If dilemna isn’t spelled with an N, how can I ever rely on anything else I’ve ever considered to be fundamental knowledge?! But, then I found this forum. I think I can sleep now. Thank you! (If you don’t relate to what I’m saying, just consider how it must feel to suddenly be faced with the possibility that something you’ve been taught as a fundamental truth in spelling isn’t even in the same dictionary that now includes “ain’t”!) I believe “dilemma” may be a phonetic version that stuck all too well.
Hi,
Like many others, I started looking into this because of the new movie being released. I assumed one of the characters was named Emma, so that is why it was spelled that way. I also was taught to spell it with “mna”. I atttended public schools in Michigan my whole life. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason as to who spells it either way except Ihave not seen any people under 40 who use the “n” in the spelling. Because it appears to be an international issue, I have a hard time believing this situation is due to a typo in a textbook. I guess I will just have to adapt or risk being ridiculed. I am glad I am not alone in my confusion.
And here’s someone who genuinely can’t understand how anyone can possibly spell the word with an N at all. It makes no linguistic or etymological sense and even appeals to “silent-N” words fail as they only ever end with the N. Whereas the obvious Greek roots of the word, deriving from Lemma seem pretty undeniable to me.
It also astonishes me that when not one major dictionary (including the OED, which is a stickler for including variants) has been located that cites the -MNA spelling as even a plausible alternative, people still seem to insist that they are correct, and that as spelling is not “carved in stone” they should be entitled to not only continue to believe that they are correct, but that the dictionaries should take note of them.
Yes, I realise that this does indeed sound arrogant and patronising – that’s because unfortunately it is. I just don’t see any other way of getting around the fact that spelling a word incorrectly doesn’t entitle you to impose that spelling on other people.
(Me – I definitely favour the “proof of an alternate universe” theory. I think it’s the simplest possible explanation for something that seems so bizarrely distributed. Although the cursive script reason probably holds a lot of real water.)
It’s interesting that you think we’re spelling it this way because it makes sense. For me, since I can’t speak for everyone, I’m not denying that there are huge indicators that it isn’t spelled the way we remember. I’m spelling it this way because my memory of it being taught as -mna is so compelling. Yes, I will continue to “impose” my choice of spelling on you. You can choose to get over it or not. Hopefully you will let it go, as I have chosen to do whenever I read the inadvertent spelling errors that come across my desk daily. The goal of language is communication. I’m fairly certain that you will still get the message.
How very strange! I thought I had the answer to this one. I was taught attic greek at school in the 60s and I could swear that the etymology of dilemna was from the word for a divided/double horn – something like di-lemnos. Our classics teacher made a point of warning us against using the phrase “horns of a dilemna” as it was tautological. Having spent some time googling if find that this appears to be untrue. The attic greek word for horn is based on “keros” or something like. However, dilemma simply looks wrong and I, like others here, was fairly disgusted to see the poster for the film “Dilemma”.
It makes me smile that this has elicited so many results. Obviously I found this page doing a search because I did not believe my spell checker in a piece I am working on. Microsoft Word is full of these oddities (my opinion) yet often when pressed to cite examples nothing jumps to mind and deeper I don’t care enough to support my position usually because I was doing something else (like now) and the spell check search was for momentary confirmation or adjustment to provide some element of accuracy in an otherwise op-ed context. Usually I succumb to the search results, most days worn out by the inconsistencies of English in spite of my grammar school educational recollections. Today this feels like vindication of sorts and not only will I stand my ground in my current piece I will buck consensus a little more often in favour of what my brain believes it has learned.
I’m fascinated that the seemingly well educated would find it necessary to so strongly enforce condemnation (doh!) and indemnity (double doh!) with such an air of solemnity (okay maybe not the best use of the word) to insist that every word containing the sequence MN ends in said letters. Maybe David Brain needs to sign up for a class in the autumnal season? Yes, these are variations of the words, granted, it is dilemm(n)atic, isn’t it?
Just had to post- I was also taught MN and lived 44 years until that movie (may it be cursed to eternal damnation- wait was that another one??) came out.
So enjoyed reading everyone’s posts.
Actually he was talking about how it is a silent N when it is at the end of words but not when it isn’t which is true for all words you said. you say the N for all of those words as the N is not the last letter and is therefore not silent.
I was educated in the 70s in NH. I clearly remember a spelling list that we had that contained several “mn” words: Dilemna, autumn, condemn, hymn, solemn. I recall a student pointing out that “damn” should be included… He was sent to the principal’s office! We are NOT crazy. “Dilemna” was the accepted spelling once upon a time.
So glad to read about all the others who learned to spell this word Dilemna! Educated in the ’70s in Westchester, NY public schools. I’m sticking to dilemna.
I shall not condemm those who taught
That an en should be in the word
I was right I really thought
But Greek “di + lemma” assured
The solemm admission, “I’m not.”
I was taught to say and spell it dil-em-na, as well. I went to school in the 60’s in Colorado. The English language certainly has evolved past the Greek words, and we should spell it the way out spelling teacher taught us, not the way the dictionary misspells it (I was taught that’s “mis-spells” by the way.)
I will not condemN those who spell it the boorish “dilemma,” simply because they can point to a dictionary and “prove me wrong.” I pull out my 1943 and 1953 copies of Webster, and the boors have it spelled with two M’s, so it can’t be the advent of computer spell checkers that have caused this, but generations of teachers who classed the word in with “autumn” and “solemn.” for mnemonics.
(again, a word with MN.) I’m supposing that somewhere, there was ONE teacher, who taught it that way, hundreds of years ago, and the method stuck, although, apparently, it was a leMoN?
I amend my previous comment. The origin of this “mistake” appears to be in an old concordance of the Bible, where Matthew 21:25 and 26 is explained as placing people in a “dilemna.” Note that this word is not actually USED in the bible, but in a scholar’s explanation of it.
It could very well be our Sunday school teachers taught us the MN version.
I apologize for again amending a previous post, but there was a prior typographical error IN A DICTIONARY, printed in 1658, spelling it with the MN. This dictionary, printed for the ‘PUBLICK’ (oh, this galls me more and more) was called:
The New World of English Words, or, a General Dictionary (by Edward Phillips.)
Apparently, this is not a modern error, and spelling teachers in FRANCE as well as English-speaking countries had access to this publication!
Fascinating! Here’s my story:
About 8 years ago (while I was an optometry student) one of the doctors handed us an assignment. She then proceeded to STERNLY advise us that we had better take the time to use very good grammar and writing style, because she would grade heavily against misspellings, etc. While scanning over her document, I noticed what I perceived to be a GLARING mistake that SHE had made! Two m’s in dilemna!? I nudged my friend next to me and whispered, “Listen to her up there threatening us when she can’t spell correctly herself!!” He just looked puzzled and said, “Well, how do YOU spell it?” After that class ended, I began my polling of many of the 120 other students. I was stunned! Not a single other person agreed with me on the spelling of dilemna! I was very confused… and a bit ashamed.
I researched this only briefly- a couple glances into an abridged dictionary two or three times over the last eight years. Yep- each time it was confirmed that “dilemma” was the only spelling, and I was further humiliated and confused. This morning I sat down at my computer and this “dilemna” once again entered my mind. I went to my trusted friend (dictionary.com) only to be shamed once again. Only “dilemma” was listed, with no alternative spellings offered. I then typed “dilemna” into Bing and as I typed, “dilemna vs. dilemma” came up as a suggestion. That’s what brought me here today! Finally I’m redeemed!! It was so fantastic to read the original post…. and even more wonderful to read the many added comments! So there are more of us out there… and I am not alone!! 😀 I had already begun “cowering” and I have been spelling it with two m’s for the last few years. Now I know that I can proudly spell it the way I learned it- the only way that “looks” right to me!
I pronounce it with a silent “n.”
High school and college in Cleveland, OH
Optometry school in Memphis, TN.
The link below is a graph showing the usage of both “dilemna” and “dilemma” in published works in English over a period of 400 years that Google has got its hands on. As you can see, “dilemma” has always been much more common. http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dilemma%2C+dilemna&year_start=1600&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=10
Here’s the graph for “dilemna” on its own: http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dilemna&year_start=1600&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=10 This way you can see the detail that was smoothed out because of the much, much more popular “dilemma”. What does it show? That “dilemna” was used, started to decline, then from around 1900 to the 1970s it started to be used again. However, look at the nosedive since then.
However, it has *always* been a minority spelling and never one that has been recognised as any form of Standard English (i.e. it’s not in any dictionaries). “Dilemna” spellers will just have to accept that they’re in a minority, always have been and probably always will be. And also that most people in the world will think that they spell it incorrectly. (And “dilemma” spellers have got mountains of evidence to back up their claim that they are correct – usage, etymology, dictionaries.)
And I managed to not say how I spell the word. 😉
Hmmm did I spell that correctly? I was educated in the wild west of Tucson Arizona. Better check the internet. And wow am I impressed with all of you. There is some really great reasoning and research in this blog. Thank you Becca for getting it started. My opinion is that MM is the result of a simplification of the English language. Watch the film “Idiocracy” to see where it takes us. It’s nice to have choices and not to feel alone in them. In the end I think I will stick with MN, as I originally thought, and also because I tend to avoid a herd of lemmings. So now it’s a fun, rebellious choice.
Hi Carl
I don’t think it’s a question of simplification of language at all. All the evidence points to -mm- being the most used spelling since 1600 (see the graphs I linked to in my comment directly above yours).
The Greek word “dilemma” – where the word we’re all talking about comes from – contained no n. Since at least 1600 it has been *much* more commonly spelled with -mm-. (And I mean *much* more commonly – the graphs kind of prove it.)
And it’s good to be rebellious – I won’t disapprove of that at all. But most of the English speaking world will think that it’s the wrong spelling. Sorry.
According to the preponderance of evidence given here, I would guess that in the next three decades, we would see the word condemn spelled “condemm”. I was born in 1950, and was taught that the proper spelling for both words ended in “mn”.
But Michale, dilemna/dilemma ends with an “a” unlike condemn which ends in a an “n”. 😉
You can’t really compare the two words though – one comes from Greek (and was always spelled with -mm- there). “Condemn”comes from Latin via France where there was/were extra syllables after the “n” (which was pronounced).
Check the etymologies of each here:
Dilemma – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dilemma
Condemn – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=condemn
I predict that “condemn” will continue to be spelled with an “n” for a long, long time, if only because the “n” is pronounced in the word “condemnation”.
Ooops…. apologies for the typos!
I have always spelled this word dileMNa. Other differences I have noticed in my spelling and vocabulary originated with teachers from England and Great Britan. I am unsure of this word but I say, accept both. “Vive la difference”
Fascinating discussion, but I must confess to being a touch irritated by the attitude of some of the more committed MN-ers. In my experience, very few of the people who pride themselves on their spelling are tolerant of non-standard forms, regardless of whether their users have been taught that way and have been using these variants their whole lives. In this case, the boot is on the other foot. Suddenly, rather than cleaving to etymology and marshalling the forces of lexicography, said mavens are trumpeting the virtues of individuality and nonconformism, even while basking in their childhood spelling bee successes…
As I was proofing a flyer, my use of dilemna came up on spellcheck. I am 50 and went to a French convent for grades 1-8. Those nuns knew their Latin, so I’m not sure how the derivation could have slipped their notice.
I too was taught to spell it dilemna! I’m 44 and went to school in Glasgow. My sister, who is 39, wnt to the same schools and was taught dilemma! Work that one out…..
(from a movie) I like to spell my name 5Rick as the 5 is also silent!!! LOL
Seems to me, someone who used to win the spelling bee every week ‘cuz I’d get a free ice cream, that we “wuz tot” to spell it with the ‘n’.
Gosh, I am stunned right now. I, too, pride myself in my spelling and correct usage of words. I was in the ‘gifted’ program in elementary school, scored in the top 99% in all standardized tests, tested with an IQ of 155, have a college degree, wrote volumes of term papers, essays, professional emails, and now home school my children. Ok, I am not bragging….I am just dumbfounded as to how I could have made it through school, and lived until I was 41 years old and NEVER once doubted the spelling of ‘DILEMNA’. So today, as I am writing an email, and get the red dotted line from spell check…I arrive at this forum. I can’t even imagine spelling the word any other way. Have I never used dilemna in any of my emails, term papers, iphone texts, over the last 20 years–and been caught by spellcheck??? Obviously not.
Not only have I always spelled DILEMNA with an ‘n’, but I have this weird habbit of pronouncing words the way they are spelled…for no reason at all…maybe I get bored. So I will purposefully say, ‘Ans Wer me this’, or, ‘I do not KNOW’ (pronouncing the K)…and of course, ‘What a Dilem Na’. So, somewhere along the way, I must have learned that the word was spelled with an ‘n’, otherwise I would never have purposefully pronounced it this way. (What child would add a silent letter?…spelling is hard enough as it is).
So….now I feel slightly illiterate, and just really surprised (and I mean–really) that I haven’t seen the ‘correct’ spelling before. Because being super picky about my spelling, I would have corrected this somewhere along the way. And I would have argued with a teacher for correcting my spelling of this word–WHICH NEVER HAPPENED.
Just my 2 cents.
I was educated in California and had never seen the “dilemma’ version of this word. Has been and will always be for me, D-I-L-E-M-N-A>
Even if all the evidence (etymology, usage and every dictionary in the world) says that you’ve got it wrong?
This reminds me of the psychology experiment where a group of people are asked to look at a series of lines on paper, and asked if they are the same length or different. Four of the lines are the same, but one is different. However, it is preplanned that all of the people but one will answer that the lines are all the same. The last person knows he sees one different line, but answers that they are the same, purely from the pressure to conform. The conclusion was that people will conform, even if they know something is wrong. It is very difficult to stand your ground under that kind of pressure. Yet, that is exactly what we need to do.
Being taught things a certain way at a young age, it is ingrained in your head. I was taught DILEMNA and I know this is a FACT. I cannot change the spelling, because my subconscious still says it is DILEMNA no matter what.
It’s like.. I was taught that stealing was wrong at a young age and if someone suddenly said it was OK, I still wouldn’t be able to do it.
I’m sure it’s probably the same with the others who were taught this way.
cant we just spell it both ways it is hard to mistake the meaning it truly is a dilemna,oops gave myself away
It’s not like it’s SACRILEGIOUS to spell it the other way. By the way, Gene, were you joking when you said you alwyas ‘spelt’ it that way?
I am positive I learned it dileMNa in a northern Indiana elementary school in the seventies (and I was a good speller). The english language has so many exceptions; I prided myself in being able to just memorize what I did not understand. That’s a trap. Critical thinking needs a comeback in the classroom – on both sides of the desk (I happen to be a teacher).
I’ve always spelled it dilemna. I was educated in: Grade School: Illinois; High Shool: Illinois, New Mexico; College: Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico. AND my Mother was an English teacher!
Right now I have a bet riding on the correct spelling and I’m frustrated that it is spelled incorrectly in so many sources – even printed dictionaries!
Diane, you sound like a difficult person to win a bet with (or, if you prefer, with whom to win a bet). If you bet on ‘dilemna’ as the ‘correct spelling’, and by that you meant the spelling that is recommended by all authoritative sources on English usage, I’m afraid you lose. Were I on the other side of this bet, I would have limited sympathy with your contention that all these sources are in fact at fault.
I’m with Chris on this. The fact that *nobody* who has commented on this post has been able to find a dictionary (new or old) that spells the word “dilemna” must surely indicate that – rather than them ALL being wrong – that the spelling in question isn’t standard.
The oldest dictionary I have is a Chamber’s Dictionary from 1929 a reprint of the 1901 edition – it’s spelled “Dilemma” in it. I can provide scans if anyone wants.
But if we want to bet…find me a dictionary that spells it “dilemna” and I’ll match the value of the bet you’ve got with someone else! 🙂
1658 philosphy book showing the spelling as dilemna:
http://books.google.com/books?id=EgSyAAAAIAAJ&q=dilemna&dq=dilemna&hl=en&ei=pbmcTdbwFJC3tgeMnLm8Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFUQ6AEwCTha
There are over 9000 results of books with the word spelled dilemna.
*philosophy, I hit enter too fast, sorry. 🙂
Yes, there are over 9000 hits of that (quite a few replicas in there as well). I gave links to the diagrams of usage in a previous comment, but here’s the one comparing the two spellings again:
http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=dilemma%2C+dilemna&year_start=1600&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=10
Blue for two m’s. Red for mn.
I’m not saying it’s never been used in the past – it undoubtedly has. (Though some of these cases could have simply been bad typesetters.)
Usage in old books is all very well, but none of them appear to dictionaries.
“Dilemna” isn’t a standard spelling and never has been. Etymology, usage and every dictionary in the world (it appears) confirm that.
It’s not rebellious to spell it differently – just very odd to those who spell it in the standard way. So odd, in fact, that they might say it was wrong.
I could, for example, decide to write “comment” as “comnent”. I’ve no evidence it was ever spelled that way, it’s not in any dictionary but – hey! – I’m sure I was taught that way. However, people who spell it the standard way would soon tell me that I was mistaken.
David, it should be set in all dictionaries that this ALTERNATE SPELLING exists, because it very plainly DOES exist since most of us commenting on this blog and many other places on the internet were all taught to spell it DILEMNA and continue to use it.
If you are trying to insist on saying DILEMMA is the only way, then you might want to consider what it is exactly you are trying to prove. There is no logical reason to think that way.
Pashta, at no point have I “insisted” that “dilemma” is the only way to spell it. I’ve continually said that it’s the standard spelling and has always been used much, much more than the alternate spelling of “dilemna”. And while it is an alternate spelling, it is nowhere near noteworthy enough to go in a dictionaries. Hence why it’s not in any. (Just like my hypothetical “comnent”.)
Out of interest, let’s compare the results at Google books:
dilemna – 9,540 results
dilemma – 2,360,000 results
As a percentage, the use of “dilemna” is statistically insignificant (0.4% compared to 99.6%).
(Though as an example of how we maybe shouldn’t trust “misspellings” in Google Books – “comnent” gives 6,770 results.)
However, I’m no prescriptivist – if the English speaking world decides that “dilemna” is to be the standard spelling, so be it. I’ll change and write it that way. But it hasn’t and I doubt that it will. I can’t see “dilemna” being used more in the future despite an obviously vocal minority of MN-ists. Therefore, it’ll stay out of dictionaries.
I think the problem that MM-ists here have is the inability for some MN-ists to accept that maybe – just maybe – somewhere in the past someone made a mistake and that that mistake has been passed on. Sometimes teachers can pass on erroneous information. (I’ve been a teacher in the past – maybe I passed on something that was untrue? It’s not unlikely. Though I hope I didn’t… :s )
So, after all that… what am I trying to prove? This:
– “dilemna” has *never* been the dominant spelling;
– the section of MNists who claim that MMists have “dumbed down” the language are wrong – (several of them have posted on this page).
Pretty much, that’s it. And I think I’ve done it.
Well David I believe you are just nit-picking and/or trolling. A well-known philosopher would not publish a book with a mis-spelling in it, and in the MULTIPLE reprints since 1658 I am quite sure someone would have noticed it if it were so wrong.
There are two versions of this word being taught, even today, due to many famous books having the word spelled DILEMNA. I just saw something published very recently that has that spelling. I also read a very interesting story on how dictionary makers were battling it out in the late 1800’s, and changing word definitions however they damn felt like it.
I don’t believe any ONE dictionary or company should have that much power. If the people say there are two spellings, then there ARE. Period.
Pashta, I would respectfully submit that people are fallible – even famous philosophers. Dictionaries are fallible too – I’ve located typos in both Chambers and the epic 20-volume OED 2nd ed., albeit both in etymological notes rather than in headwords.
However, consider how the OED establishes its headwords. Everything is based on citations: variant forms are listed where these are attested. To convince the lexicographers there to list ‘dilemna’, you need to demonstrate its provenance as an intentional spelling, rather than just the result of error. The statistics quoted elsewhere in this thread suggest that it is not significantly more common than other ‘typo’ spellings, despite the existence of a geographically diverse community who consider it standard.
In practice, it’s very difficult to establish a new alternative form to the satisfaction of lexicography. Were I proofreading a manuscript of yours, or peer-reviewing a journal paper you’d written, I would ‘correct’ the spelling to ‘dilemma’, and strongly expect the editor to insist on this if there were a conflict. Consequently it’s difficult to see how you could get ‘dilemna’ into print: or at least it should be no easier than getting ‘teh’, ‘waht’, ‘seige’ etc. into print (this last being the Chambers typo).
If it were just a typo, it’s from a very long time ago and has found its way into literature. Since it has been taught to be spelled this way by many teachers, as proved here and other places on the internet where people are discussing this very same thing, the dictionaries should include it. They included “ain’t” and “ginormous” (hey look at that, the spell check underlined the word even though it IS in the dictionary spelled that way!) and many other words that were NOT words but were used so much by the public that they were finally added. I see no reason why they can’t add this one.
Hi everybody, thank you all for your comments. Chris and David and Pashta, let’s call a cease fire in my comment section, okay? Thanks! 🙂
Sorry, I didn’t mean to be hostile – it’s been an interesting conversation, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute. Inasmuch as I have an agenda, it’s a placatory one: to try to convince people that the things they observe in the world aren’t the outcome of a creeping philistinism or some kind of anti-intellectual conspiracy against them. I think the points already made on this thread exhaust the full range of relevant arguments (and then some), although some have been made in a rather confrontational fashion, which seems a pity. I’ll let others handle the next batch of angry contributors.
I’m with Chris on this. It wasn’t my intention to appear a troll nor to be “nitpicking”. I don’t think I was, but apologies if that’s how it’s seemed.
All-in-all, I’d say this is a subject that is more interesting than how one not-that-commonly-used word is spelled!
This won’t be the end of it… but it will be the last comment from me. 🙂
I did get the distinct hostile vibe, and that’s why I commented in a defensive manner. I have said what I had to say, thanks for the interesting topic. 🙂
I don’t have time to read 215 comments today – I found this b’cuz I had a brain fart – you know how the simplest word you’ve known all your life, like ‘cat,’ suddenly looks completely alien? … and God bless Google! I’m another who learned mNa more than 40 yrs ago in California. MMa looks bizarre to me & it’s so hard to believe that’s correct, no matter how logical it seems. But 2+million ppl can’t be all wrong, so I’ll try to adapt. After all, language is a living, breathing entity. Words I grew up with have been hijacked & I can’t use them the same way anymore (e.g., ‘gay’ got lost when I was still a child; now marriage is being re-defined) and amazing new terms are now standard in the lexicon. Adapt or be hopelessly archaic! And please, let’s all get along? There are far more urgent issues to be resolved if we want to save humanity and/or the planet. 😉
My spell checker complained about “dilemna” and I thought “That can’t be right”.
I grew up as a military brat in the 80s, living on both Canadian and American bases, as well as moving every 2 years across Canada.
I learned to spell this word as “dilemna” and pronounce it as dilemma. Clearly I have had every opportunity to come across the spelling as “dilemma” in all of the various locations I attended school, but never did.
It’s also kind of hard to believe that this is the first day that this has been brought to my attention.
Dilemma looks ‘wrong’ to me. My only observation is that I live in Ireland, would read fairly widely and dilemna is the form that I recognise as ‘correct’. I reckon there are close ties between how we perceive correct spelling and reading – so the form dilemna must be in fairly widespread use, in Ireland at any rate.
I’ll be sixty in September, 2011. I attended public schools in eastern Montana from first grade through tenth grade, then finished high school in northeastern Washington. I am quite sure that I learned “dilemna” in school, but I don’t remember where. It would be interesting to find an old spelling book with that spelling.
It is indeed “dilemna”. The “n” is silent. End of story!
I too was educated in the Midwest in the mid-late ’70s and had always thought it was “dilemna”. I’ve used it this way for my entire life until about a year ago when I learned of this. I know simply refuse to use that word and I correct everyone who spells it incorrectly. For what is worth, I have looked at dictionaries from the 60s and 70s and every one of them has it spelled with two m’s. I can’t explain how we all got it wrong, but I’m told that no one has ever been able to produce a dictionary with the “mna” spelling….
Well, only today when I typed it out in Word, as DILEMNA, I noticed the red line under it. I am 30 and I’m from India. Thats how we were taught to spell it – DILEMNA – and pronounce it with a silent N. I wonder when it changed to DILEMMA
So, I was prompted to have a look because of the Vince Vaughn flick, “The Dilemma.” I felt like I was taking crazy pills when I noticed the double m’s, and no one else was in agreement that the spelling was wrong! I looked back at an old Merriam-Webster’s dictionary circa 1983 (after not finding the answer I expected online), and sadly it lists “dilemma.”
I went to grade school in norther NJ. I cannot see myself ever succumbing to the double m’s.
The real mystery here is why “dilemna” is not listed as an alternate spelling in any dictionary (digital or on my bookshelf). If you Google “dilemna,” you will find hundreds of books published in the nineteenth century using that spelling (including such noteworthy literary works as Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson and Fielding’s Tom Jones). For the record, I was educated in Ohio in the 1970s and was taught “dilemna.”
I am doing a Uni assignment on the Facebook dilemna. If the University of South Australia spells it with an n I would imagine it must be the correct spelling. I have always spelt it with an n too, it wasn’t until i gave my assignment to a friend to check over, that the issue came up so i thought i had better google. Fancy submitting an assignment and the very first word has a spelling mistake in it. Uhoh.
I was born in 1956, which may or may not matter in your research. As I’ve written in my FB account, I have spelled it the way you’ve done it so many times over…dilemna. In fact, in order to remember this when I was a young boy, I used to pronounce it in my head phonetically, the way it is spelled. I pronounce it with the “na”. No one has corrected me except this computer. Not even my professors in the university. I am from the old school. So, I have decided to spell it the way I was told so many years back. Damn the correct spelling! LOL!
I was born in 1990 and also learned it as dileMNa with a silent n and then this movie, “The Dilemma” came out out and every time I see the preview and tell my friends it is spelled wrong, everyone thinks I’m crazy. Rgardless, I will always continue to spell it dilemna.
I too was taught to spell it as dilemna with a silent “n”
I was taught to spell it with an “mna”.. The only reason I found this site is because I looked up the spelling after seeing an ad for the Movie “The Dilemna”. Is this one of these words the dictionaries have changed because too many people don’t bother to learn how to spell? The dictionaries have added Travelling as alternate to original spelling of traveling. They have added Cancelling as an alternate to canceling and gave the spelling dryer (as in clothes dryer) to mean the same as drier. I am going to look in my Mother’s collegiate dictionary from the early 1900’s to verify that dilemna is the correct original spelling. Pretty soon everything will be kidspell and no one will know how to spell anything!
LOL I meant “The Dilemma” Hard to retrain the finger to spell incorrectly!
hard to believe that i’ve read almost all these comments, but now i deserve to add my own:
i spoke greek at home and was very focused on words as a child. i have no doubt that i was taught “mn” as the correct spelling of dilemna. after 58 years, i refuse to consider changing the way i spell it now. my compromise is this: i will accept another spelling for dilemna and not seek to impose my own. that’s the best i can do, considering that i usually have to correct someone ten times a day. lol BTW, i am still researching this issue. it may be that the spelling follows a different greek word and that caused the confusion.
Salam(peace),
I was also taught dilemna, at least that is what I remember, and I studied in the Philippines, never knew it was wrong until I saw the red line, and decided to check it, that’s why I’m here. I don’t think I would ever have bothered to know if it were not for spell check, so I suppose it has some use after all.
I think this is a really good research topic, how a misspelled word could reach global proportions, and not be known as a mistake till technology/internet arrived. Any takers? I might send this to my Professor, am 46 years old and trying to study TESOL.
Like most others who’ve commented above, I stumbled upon this post after doing an online check for the word… i was just typing out a text message to a friend, when the nokia device i was typing on also showed dilemma! I clearly remember being taught to spell it as ‘dilemNa’, with the silent ‘n’… and I went to a Catholic school in India, in the 90s! So I’m sure this is not a country-specific spelling!
never really understood why we need to have ‘silent’ letters in a spelling… There are so many words whose spellings we don’t think twice about. i.e. honest, knight, and so on. Any explanation on that?
Great forum and possibly the longest I have come across!
My wife, who is Chinese asked me and without thinking I told her it was MNA but she couldn’t find this word in her translation dictionary so I checked on google.
Glad to find that my memory isn’t so badly affected by age… Born in England in 1960, MNA is definitely what I was tought.
Although the Americans have simplified many English words over the years and I have to admit that British-English spelling sometimes seems quite ludicrous, I cannot bring myself to use US-English spell-checkers and if forced to do so by the application, I will stubbornly refuse to ammend the red-lined spelling “mistakes” that are highlighted purely because I haven’t written them in “American”…
I too learned to spell dilemna. I am Canadian and went to school in the 80s and 90s. If possible, just add dilemna to the spellcheck dictionary (by right clicking on the underlined word and choosing the appropriate selection) and the red line will disappear (nevermore to return). Otherwise, simply ignore it
Thanks for that, Susanna.. I didn’t know we could add words to the spell check so easily. 🙂 That’s taken care of!
Non-violent opposition. Ghandi would be proud of your solution. I like it too.
I too came across this subject whlist doing a crossword…..dilemna just wouldn’t fit!
I was grammar school educated in the late 70’s early 80’s in England and pride myself in my spelling skills. we were definately taught to use “MN” at the end of the word…………..Hate puzzles anyway!
Steve Wolverhampton, UK
I was another top speller in my class and remember distinctly the word ‘dilemna’ being used a lot in spelling tests specifically to catch people out – as many would ‘forget’ it had a silent n…
It does seem weird that the ‘mn’ spelling is ‘wrong’ as it would actually make more sense the other way round?
Anyway I like the suggestion by someone that all us mn’ers actually grew up in a parallel crossover universe where all dictionaries have always shown it as mn, but not this universe we’ve slipped into….. it’s the only logical explanation!
Count me in the “mna” club. I graduated high school in 1991, and was well into my adult life before I ever bought my first computer or dealt with spell checker. I am also someone who has prided myself in spelling. I find myself getting irritated with the common spelling mistakes that other people make (to/too/two, it’s/its, etc.). I can’t quite pinpoint where I learned to spell “dilemna,” but you can bet that I am going to raid my fathers book case the next time I visit him. I am certain there must be an old dictionary there, and I want to see what spelling it shows. Does anyone have a full copy of an Oxford dictionary in which to check this?
Hi Dave
You can search the full OED online. Here’s the entry for “dilemna”:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/noresults?dictionaryVersion=region-uk&isWritersAndEditors=true&noresults=true&page=1&pageSize=20&q=dilemna&searchUri=All&sort=alpha&type=dictionarysearch
Well that is just frustrating 😦
I have been a world traveler and only this year learned that people spell this word with two m’s. As someone stated, it looks wrong. I remember working so hard at remembering how to properly spell it. (Yes, I’m a conscious speller and usually recognize if I spell it wrong. That doesn’t always mean I know how to spell it, but I recognize it’s wrong.) I wonder if it’s educators on the West Coast that taught this way? I went to school in Oregon and Alaska 1980-92. I know I’ve seen this word printed and it has always been the ‘mn’ spelling. Only this year, have I run across this new spelling of ‘mm.’ Every research I’ve done since seeing this ‘mm’ spelling, does just as they’ve stated above, makes me look foolish as though I’m the crazy one and that no one has ever spelled this word with an ‘mn!’ I do wonder if there must have been a period of time when our teachers were reading British dictionaries? I’m very disappointed. I have an early 1900’s dictionary and will look, but I think I will find that we’ve been trained with an incorrect spelling. There is no evidence in our known world, to substantiate ‘mn’ spelling. I will probably spell it with two m’s now that I’ve learned this, but it will always haunt me, that it SHOULD be ‘mn!’
Just to add to the international flavour of this discussion . . I am Australian and I also learned the NA spelling at school in the 70’s. Most Aussies seem to use the MA spelling.
I was also educated in the 70s and 80s (born 1971) and learned MNA. I went to school primarily in Texas.
I am so happy that this post is still going! I was born in 1970, educated in Indiana, and I am a spelling champ (literally). I know it was taught to me as ‘dilemna.’ I don’t think it – I know it. We are not wrong.
Add one vote for “dilemna” from the UK educational system.
I googled this website when I too encountered the wrath of the spellchecker.
And just remember, if enough people spell it wrong it becomes correct!
Perhaps the next poll should be “What is the plural of dilemna’?”, as that is what I am struggling on now!
I grew up in Sri Lanka, in the 70’s and 80’s, and I was taught to spell it with the “n” – so, it is not a “local” phenomenon!
However, even the Oxford dictionary now spells it with the “mm” – oh well, too bad, I will stick to my original spelling!
Long live “dilemna”
Me too! I’m in my fifties and was astonished to find the word came up in my spellchecker. I was educated in Scotland in the fifties. It appears to have been taught this way all over the world – surely we’ve not all been spelling it wrong for years?
Educated in the ’60s and ’70s, in the US (upstate NY), I was shocked to see “dilemna” come up as a misspelling on my computer.
It was always pronounced as “mma” but *never* written that way – as others here pointed out, the “n” was silent as it is in “condemn,” or like the “b” is in “comb.”
I think this is another example of majority rule in the evolution of language. All those people who hated spelling tests outnumber those of us who learned little tricks to remind ourselves of correct spelling – like saying the “n” to myself silently when spelling the word, or like silently saying the letters to myself when writing the word “rhythm” because it’s spelled so differently from the way it sounds.
Now we have the internet as an overwhelming force for peer pressure telling us things which may not be true at all, but the waves wash over us and we few, we steadfast few, are left to fight the currents!
This is a lot like the egregious misuse of the word “impact” these days. At some point people started talking about things “impacting” other things and now, online dictionaries blithely tell us it is a verb when I grew up using it exclusively as a noun. Only two things could be impacted, as I learned. One was wisdom teeth, impacted (an adjective) when they were stuck and could not move out as intended. The other I found out about when I worked in a hospital and I’d rather not go into detail except to say it’s a very different part of the body that gets impacted and I hope it never happens to any one of you!
Now, when I hear news commentators say a storm impacted people, a very odd and not exactly pleasant image comes to mind.
😉
PS – I’ve added “dilemna” to my computer’s dictionary and it no longer scolds me for spelling it that way!
…HOWEVER….
Just checked the dictionary I grew up using, a 2000 page Webster’s published in 1957.
“dilemma – from the Greek ‘di’ meaning ‘two’ and ‘lemma’ meaning proposition (from lemmanien)…” and nary an “n” to be seen. How can it be that we all remember the “n” but Webster’s doesn’t mention it?
The mystery deepens…
And yet no-one here has been able to find a dictionary (of any) age with the mn spelling… etymology suggests the greek word was spelled with two mms… you can’t find a book in a bookshop or library with the mn spelling anywhere in it… the vast majority of the world spells it mm….
It is a mystery. Whatever can it all mean?
There are plenty of books with instances of the mn spelling – but none of them dictionaries, primers or textbooks. I went to NY public schools in the 1960s-70s…. I am as sure of dilemna as I am of frog. Yet no dictionary that I would have consulted during those decades contains any other spelling than dilemma.
It really is a wonderful mystery.
I’m a Sophmore in high school, and I spell it “mn” also. Just opened up my spelling book and it was spelled “mm”. I was like that looks wrong, so I typed it into my writing program which underlined it. I looked it up to see if it was a British spelling or something, since I’m always slipping into British spellings (I read a lot of British books). I have no idea where I learned it like this, but it was probably some book I read. I can’t imagine for various reasons that I learned it in school, but I am an avid reader, so that could be it. That’s the way I have always spelled it, so I was really surprised.
I’ m so relieved to find this site. Many years ago my son laughed at me when I spelled the word “dilemna,” and he still needles me about it 25 years later. I grew up in southern Illinois, attended Catholic schools, and was always the spelling champ in grade school and high school. “Dilemma” still looks silly to me. With a Master’s Degree in English and having nearly completed a Ph.D., I can’t believe that I invented the “mn” version of this word.
I am 60 years old now. My grade school teachers were all educated by Thomasites in one way or the other. I have always known the word and spelled it with MNA, definitely not a typo error. I have never been corrected for using it. Precisely, I think I was taught to spell it that way. Dilemna suits perfectly well with me.
Dilemna, dilemna, dilemna! I learned it that way and I’m sticking with it! It’s not nearly as interesting a word when it’s spelled with two “mm”s! I just typed it, did that google search after recalling I’d been spellchecked before into believing I’d misspelled it and decided, based on this blog, to keep the spelling I like.
I’ve always spelled it “dilemna” as well and was recently at a trivia night where they asked for the spelling and had the answer as “dilemma” but then quickly recanted and said it could be spelled either way….i’m like you, a stickler for spelling so this is confounding me!
I am devastated to think that I’ve been spelling “dilemna” incorrectly all these years! I am a HUGE spelling freak and now I’m embarrassed. Bah – I feel cheated in some way 😛
i thought i am the only one who is having a dilemna/dilemma of how this word should be spelled. it has been 2 years (almost) since this article was written and yet people are still having dilemna/dilemma.
for me, i learned to spell it with MNA and not MMA. oh well! might as well look for the synonym of that word to use just in case 🙂
So where’s the results of the voting?
On the ABC tonight, they showed the word “dilemma” and both my wife and I looked at each other … we were both taught to spell it with an N. We’re both in our 50’s and I’m a retired airline pilot and she was a barrister who initially qualified in the UK, where you’d think they at least spoke – and taught! – the Queen’s English.
As it is, we’ll both be spelling it “incorrectly” in the future, as much as we both hate spelling mistaeks, because that’s how we were taut. I mean, taught. Any other errors in their?
Seriously, I’m not gonna get my knickers in a knot over this, but it’s the incorrect spelling for us, please. 😉
I believe the results are on the polls page. 🙂
I can’t find a polls page. 😦
Okay, to everyone who has asked about poll results: they are now visible. I apologize. I thought they were visible all along! 🙂 Now you can see the results. I had no idea so many folks had voted (over 1500!)
Like many others here, I consider myself a stickler for language. For example, my text messages are correctly spelled, capitalized, and punctuated. Yet, the etymology of di + lemma clearly illustrates the errant form pounded into my brain in fifth grade using an en is not “correct”.
Yet, I will continue to misspell dilemna because 1) it marks be as belonging to the select club of people specifically taught to use this quirky and bizarre form, 2) no one can possibly misconstrue my meaning, and 3) after forty years two ems just look wrong.
As an aside, I cringe whenever I hear people pronounce “nuclear” with the incorrect (alternate) pronunciation. However, if you check the citations in the wikipedia entry “nucular”, this has become accepted in modern dictionaries. Apparently, one person’s abomination is another’s dictionary entry.
This is hilarious! I ended up on this site because I emailed my best friend and told her I was having a “dilemna”. She replied to my email correcting me by saying she would call me later about the “dilemma”. My first thought was I know I spelled it correctly – but could I be wrong? I’ve always spelled it with a “n”. So you are not alone.
funny how this post is over 2 years old and the discussion is well and alive. i also grew up with the MNA version of this word, and as of today over 76% of the poll takers agree with this as well. 🙂
With regards the poll results of 76%… not really a random sample as the majority of people who have found this page will have done so to find out if others spell the word with an “mn”. Those who spell it with an “mm” (probably most of the world) would have no particular need to look for any alternate spelling online – unless they discovered someone spelling in “mn”.
I have long been aware of both forms, and I am 66. I have been educated in various states and territories of the United States. I was intrigued when I first found that dictionaries did not carry the “-mna” variant. My wife, an English teacher, immediately spelled the word “dilemna,” as that is how she has always spelled it. She, too, believes the two words are variants.
This debate reminds me of the toilet paper debate: “Which way should the paper unwind?” That issue, too, occasions much animated discussion.
Thank you for putting this up, i am 18 years old, and just found out, by being corrected by my parents that i was spelling this word incorrectly, this surprised me as I am a HUGE stickler for correct spelling of words. I feel less alone now, and am still trying to get over the fact that i was taught how to spell this troublesome word incorrectly.
Wow! The very same scenario as described so many different ways in the above comments just happened to me. I was composing an email and typed ‘dilemna’ as I have done for YEARS (I am 41, taught the elementary grammar and spelling in the late 70’s in a small country township in Southern Oklahoma)& the Microsoft Word spell-check apparently is programmed to spell it differently, although I was 100% certain that I had used the correct spelling. Just like many others here, I am extremely confident in my application of English – very meticulous in my grammar and spelling and have this annoying little habit of correcting anyone, anywhere when they misspell, misspeak or incorrectly write something in English. I can’t help it – I am a perfectionist with O.C.D. & English was my most favorite subject even through college! Anyway, when the little red underline appeared under my word ‘dilemna’, well let’s jsut say that I was disturbed to say the least :-0 so I googled it and found this discussion. I think the most important comment/point was made here when he/she said that the spelling with two m’s was derived from laziness – KUDOS to you! It’s getting harder and harder for someone like me to cope with today’s slang language as it is no longer words that are ‘created’ or used as a different meaning that the original “Websters” meaning (ie groovy, dope, fat), now slang language has taken words and misspelled them out of laziness?! Really? Too lazy to use your God-given brain cells and recall what you were TAUGHT!?!? I’ll go ahead and say ‘pardon me’ to the up and coming youth/middle aged society, because this is certainly NOT a dilemna for me as I also have this little habit of using my brain and recalling my excellent education, therefore you young-un’s are going to have to just ‘deal with it’, know what I mean?! Ha Ha!
I came here because I typed dilemna into a tweet and it underlined it in red and I got confused. I specifically remember being taught that dilemna had an n in it while I was at school, probably aged 5-8 somewhere around there, I was a fairly smart kid and a stickler for spelling (though these days I play it pretty fast and loose with the grammar and syntax.. tut tut).
So strange that it’s been incorrect this whole time!
I was educated in Wisconsin during the 1980’s and early 1990’s. I was not even aware of the fact some people thought dilemma was spelled with an “n” until someone told me about it after I graduated from college. I currently teach English in Wisconsin, and whenever I tell my students that there is a whole group of people out there who have been taught to spell dilemma with an n, they are completely mystified and (sorry to say) amused. So I guess we have escaped this phenomenon somehow!
I am 52, born in the UK and never realised there was a dilemna about this until a very rude spell checker insisted I was wrong today. I thought dilemma was some US aberration like center (only joking!) but it seems from the posts that this is not the case. Dilemma just looks completely wrong to me.
Educated in the Philippines, 1970s to 90s. DileMNA. And sticking with it because dilemma just hurts my eyes. 🙂
Raised in central California, schooled in the 50’s and 60’s. I always thought the dilemma people were being lazy when they pronounced it. I didn’t think anything about the people that misspelled it as dilemma. At least I learned something at 60 years old, even if the learned thing is wrong.
I can’t remember the day I was taught to spell “dilemna” with an “n”, so put it this way: I managed to make it to age 60 before anyone ever corrected me! And then I was caught red-handed by a wavy line. If there weren’t some broad acceptance of the -mna spelling, I don’t think that my misspelling – according to the dictionaries – , otherwise would have gone uncorrected for so long. BA in English, offspring of a PhD in English literature, with schooling in the 60s, mostly California, also in the Midwest.
This isn’t my first time posting on this thread but I wanted to suggest that we all try and find a dictionary with this spelling in it. I mean we can’t all be imagining this can we? Perhaps we and others like us have slipped into a parallel universe where the only difference is the spelling of dilemna…
i just texted someone and looked up how to spell dilemna because I didn’t have spell check on and wanted to double check, so I was surprised I was wrong and i changed it to dilemma but that looked even “wronger” so i kept reading and found this blog. I now think dilemna looks way more correct.
After reading this I am going to stick with the “n” – I am 63 and went to catholic schools in Philadelphia!!! fun to read this!!!
Some grassy knoll grazers would have us believe there was never an ‘n’ – they weren’t there. The venerable Mr. Addison spelt it Dilemna at my English Grammar School in the 60’s; good enough for me.
Is denial a consequence of ‘progress’?
I grew up in Indiana–grade school, high school & college, though grad. school in Kansas. Except for a year in DC I’ve lived in Ohio the rest of my life & never heard of “dilemna” until I saw my husband’s misspelling in an email. He grew up in New Jersey. We’re both in our mid-70’s.
Thanks for posting, Becca. I was raised in Alabama in the 80s-early 90s and couldn’t believe it when I saw the word on a commercial to be- as I thought- misspelled. So now, at least I can point people to your blog when they blame it on my “bama learnin'”
Sad day for me in the loss of such a fun word to pronounce in my head with the silent “n”.
“dilemNA”.
The correct spelling is dilemma.
A lemma is a proposition or logical choice. A dilemma is a dual proposition.
John, I don’t think the etymology is in question. The weirdness is that a large group of people spread out across the world were taught “dilemna”. I for one would like to know why.
di-lemma
Dilemna is socially acceptable but it is a perversion of the source word.
Dilemna is superior and correct I’m sure. It was a word often used in spelling tests in the 60s in Scotland anyway, as it would catch many out with the silent N. The argument that the double M version is correct because it comes from the Greek is nonsense because many words that come from other languages have their spelling changed when used in English.
A search on Google for books containing the spelling Dilemna brings up 42,700 results…, one of them being a 1730 dictionary… http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tPaSRYRFVJUC&pg=PT639&dq=dilemna&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_QmjT5mHLJO38QOKh7nDDg&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=dilemna&f=false
Mike, you say: “The argument that the double M version is correct because it comes from the Greek is nonsense because many words that come from other languages have their spelling changed when used in English.”
What possible reason would there be to insert a silent “n” into a word? That seems perverse… there are silent letters in English words, yes. But this reflects the fact that these letters were once pronounced. “Knight” for example was once pronounced “k-nicht” with a “ch” as in Scots and German. We changed the pronunciation, but sadly not the spelling.
So I’ll ask again: why would an “n” be inserted into a word (when borrowed into English) to act as nothing more than a silent letter? That, to me, is a ludicrous suggestion. It would be like deciding that in English we spell it “rentdezvous” (silent t) instead of the original French “rendezvous”.
And who, then, decided that the “n” should be in there?
I can also suggest that this was *not* a common spelling in Scotland in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, present. I’m Scottish – I wasn’t alive in the 60s.
And I’m with Eric – the fact that this certainty of “dilemna” exists is by far the most interesting thing here. Many people who insist on this spelling have stated that they were taught in Catholic schools – was there a standard text book used fairly worldwide that caused this?
@DS. I was taught in public schools in Kentucky in the 1950’s. I was also taught the
mn spelling. I did not come to the same conclusion as you did regarding this being an error taught in Catholic schools. There are comments here from people all over the world having learned the mn spelling and most do not indicate what type of school they attended. There are just a few people who made a POINT of mentioning Catholic schooling.
Well I graduated high school in 2010, and I have always also spelled it with an mna ending. While searching for an answer when outlook corrected me I saw that the word is derived from the root lemma so I’m on the fence. On one hand it’s been taught to so many people for so long and on the other, the root is lemma. Not sure how to spell it anymore. Might just avoid it 🙂
My son recently had to learn a list of spelling words which included the word ‘dilemma’. Not my spelling – I was outraged and subsequently confused after consulting a dictionary and the ever reliable google! I have always spelt it as dilemna and learnt it this way in Australia . Also a stickler for spelling I then questioned the teacher and had to concede defeat – well sort of. It will always be dilemma for me at the age of 42! Ps focussing vs focusing……..
Huh. I came across this page today when my mom asked my dad and I how to spell the word– he said “mna” and I said “mma,” which made me curious. I’ve done a random sampling of dictionaries around my house (both French and English, as the error appears in both languages), as well as old scans from the Internet, and I haven’t yet found one that mentions that -mna spelling. The closest thing I’ve seen to a mention of it is in my French-only 1998 Le Robert Micro, which says “dilemme -s’ecrit avec mm” (translation: written mm) followed by the definition. So far I’ve checked dictionaries from 1760, 1835, 1876, 1908, 1921, 1971, and 1998.
A strange thing indeed. My dad was totally shocked when he found out that I was right about the spelling– he, like most of you, was absolutely positive that the word contained an n. Quite a dile– conundrum!
I am in the dilemna camp. I was taught to spell it that way. I am 35 and I was educated in private schools until 9th grade in California. I am a grammar amd spelling Nazi and my entire childhood I would make jokes about having a dilem-NA and I would pronouce the N, which is silent and everyone would chuckle. Now, that spelling has been wiped away. It’s a conspiracy I tell ya! Dilemna-spellers unite!!!!! Can I get a whoop whoop! D-I-L-E-M-N-A! This spelling’s not going away!!!!!
I’m 35 and I spell it DILEMNA. I am from Southern CA and have won many spelling bee medals over the years 😉
Do not let dilemna die!!!
I took 4 years of Latin, 7 years of French, one of Spanish, then 7 years after high school. Many of our words are imported and have unusual spellings (a “tsunami” 20 years ago was a “tidal wave”). Dummying down leads to more phonetic spellings, e.g. I bought a gardening magazine, the cover referred to “hardy roses”, not “hearty roses”. DAB from Toronto.
Your comment reminded me of a conversation 30 years ago with a teenage co-worker at Dunkin’ Donuts. The correct spelling of doughnuts was being dumbed down by the commercial enterprise for which we worked.(Spell-checker didn’t like dumbed down, either. Pffft!) We were bothered by it. We vowed to use the correct spelling from then on. When I did a Google search on ‘donuts,’ I found that spelling to be considered a “variant spelling of doughnut, mainly in the U.S.” No mention of incorrectness due to commercial use. Also, no little red line from spell-checker. When I searched for ‘hardy,’ I found that it was in use since the 13th century. ‘Hearty’ seems to have been in use since the 14th century. They have the same definitions, but are not listed as synonyms. Odd. Neither one is a new variant to our language. Dilemna, by contrast, is only being given mention as the “incorrect spelling of dilemma.” Perhaps it is because no commercial enterprise has used it as their name, nor has it been in use for centuries. But, if we all keep using dilemna in our correspondence, we can elevate dilemna to it’s rightful place of “a variant spelling of dilemma, used throughout the world.” I’m in.
http://www.dilemna.info/
Is a great website with a parallel universe theory attached. We are not alone I spell it dilemna and I went to school in the 60’s in Australia.
From a 1720 Dictionary: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tPaSRYRFVJUC&dq=dilemna&pg=PT639#v=onepage&q=dilemna&f=false
And yet, when you got to the entry for “Dilem(x)a” in this dictionary from 1720 it is spelled “dilemma”.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tPaSRYRFVJUC&dq=dilemna&pg=PT223#v=onepage&q&f=false
As the main entry spells it “dilemma” I’d be tempted to say that the “dilemna” reference under “Horned Syllogism” is a problem caused by a compositor.
The example given of a dilemma in the dictionary is quite entertaining:
“If he be a good Man, why d’ye bespatter him? if naught, why d0 you converse with him?”
(Also note the use of “naught” for “not” – should we spell it that way simply because it was in an old dictionary?)
Old English is DILEMNA. Changed to DILEMMA. Soon to be YO DALEMA.
English is the true bastardized language.
Holy Shit! I just was writing an email, my spell checker checked dilemna (to my surprise) so I was checking and came here. Whoooaaaaa……..
Such a dilemmma
I have always wondered if I was taught to spell this word correctly. Growing up in the caribbean and loving reading and writing I pride myself on spelling words correctly. I wanted to find out when and how it got changed and I cannot find any info on that part except that we have “alternate” spellings for the word and some of us refuse to change against what we were taught.
I was educated in 1980’s Ireland and was taught to spell it with an ‘n’ – I always assumed ‘Dilemma’ was the Americanised spelling.
I always spelled it with an n until this last year. Oops. Can’t find the origination of it either but I was definitely taught this spelling. There’s probably one teacher somewhere who started this entire thing. I would love to know the history.
I know that I am very late, but I was born in the 80s and I would consider myself an excellent speller and for some strange reason I thought this word was spelled with an “n” also.
I just asked my boyfriend how to spell this word & we both thought it had a silent ‘n’ dilemna. We were both educated in the 60’s, he in Canada & I in England. We both love words & are fascinated by this subject, & because we are committed iconoclasts still plan to spell it dilemna! Ha ha lol
I see this question was responded to a long time ago; but if the author is still receiving replies, I have something to note. 1st, Im not sure a poll answers any question re: the spelling of dilemna; the poll would simply enumerate those for whom the agreeable spelling was one way or another. This is my theory and the bit of history behind it: I always double check spellings and definitions even if I am quite sure of them, but not completely positive. I have always spelled dilemna this way–with the “n”
Until the red underlining thingy on computers, I would never even have looked it up; I was that sure. “Dilemma” looks absolutely foreign to me. While I don’t have the time to look up the etymology right now; I expect the following is true: I believe at one time it was spelled with the “n” –I was raised without Television and read a great deal as a youngster–4-5 hours a day. Much of that reading was old books collected by my dad, much of it old English Literature–and even the kids books and fairy tales , fables and the like, were copies of books written in the 19th century and early 20th. So, I think at one time it was spelled “dilemna” and colloquially became to be spelled with the 2 “m’s” which is foreign to me. Due to the early editions of books I read I spent my life with the problem of spellings requiring endings of ise vs ize and the like. Also, If you think about it carefully, what are the odds of people disputing the spelling of a word where the disputed spelling had a silent letter: dilemna would be spelled “dilema” –no extra m necessary, if spelled wrong, and that would be the thing looked up. But the fact that there is a great many people who think it is spelled with an “n” leads me to believe that both spellings are correct, although one is becoming archaic–even if I’ve never seen it spelled that way. And let’s not forget–the accuracy of any information or site on the internet is subject to the quality of the data input to begin with. My guess? Dilemna is the correct spelling and is being phased out by the colloquial spelling of people who were unaware of it’s once upon a time previous spelling: “dilemna.” I hope this helps. –A
I’ve never seen an ongoing blog this long, it’s been going on for more than three years! I too have just queried the spelling after the red wiggly thing, though my dilemna (damn the spell checker), was regarding the initial vowel – I had typed an “e”! I referred to the built-in Mac Dictionary and it replied with “dilemma”. Huh? Should be with the “mna” ending, surely. A check of a paper dictionary (Pocket Oxford, 1966, with first edition – 1942, giving the dreaded “mma” ending. More huhs, and further checking of an Australian Macquarie Dictionary”, Pocket ed. 1982, first edition, also gave it as “mma”. (I’m debating as to whether I even need to ever buy another “up-to-date” dictionary, as I too am of the opinion that what I learnt will change arbitrarily anyway. And I too was educated in the 50s, but can not remember specifically ever having to deal with the word “dilemna”, just lumped it in with “column”, “solemn”, “damn”, etc. Re the etymology, I see that the Greek origin root has a double “m”, so that is a minus for me, but there is also the pervading issue of the American Newspaper Sub-editor practice of shortening words dramatically, and specifically for headlines and the posters for the latest edition at the newsstand. They would/should argue that doubling letters is superfluous, a waste of ink and rendering the word less noticeable. Also there was that directive last century to simplify spellings, but “dilemna” and the like, missed out. Another factor in favour of the double “m”, is the pronunciation of the word. If you slow it down and enunciate the syllables, you will hear “dillemm” – “muh”, a distinct double “m” sound. So that is another minus to me. But it is and will always look wrong to me and I will always use the “mna” ending. I finally realise I have no dilemma. I am wondering though, how many contestants in Quiz Shows and Spelling Bees have been denied justice or the million dollars, all because they were gonged off, due to the choice of a referring Dictionary and/or Quizmaster’s opinion!
I have always spelled it MNA as have both of my parents and both of my brothers; along with pretty much everybody else I have asked. I disagree with the Catholic school notion–I am an army brat and grew up everywhere, and went to school at many–at least 14–different schools before I even reached high school. I know my grandparents also spelled it MNA. My mother and grandmother, and aunt, were all English teachers, and my father has his MA in Russian, my brothers and I are all college-educated, and we have never run across such a dilemna as this!
Also, when I slow it down and pronounce it syllable by syllable, I actually DO pronounce the N, unlike you, Ivan, LOL
I have always spelled it as “Dilemna”. When I slow it down in my head I have always pronounced the silent “N”. This is how I remember just how to spell the word. On a similar note, I found another site that goes into depth about the subject and contains an extraordinary explanation for this spelling “error”:
http://www.dilemna.info/index.php
Thanks for sharing that blog link….I need to check my passport and see if I’m from that alternative dimension. 😉
I’ve posted here before, but as a refresher, I’m male, 57, raised in NJ (USA), college educated at a military college, a Corporate Director, and I’m also dyslexic so I’ve always had to be very cautious regarding spelling. It was drilled into me (and I learned to say it in my head as Dilem-NA) so I would remember how to spell it…correctly.
The REAL Question is…how are we going to get all the “MM” people to re-learn the word and to spell it correctly?
Funny thing about the alternate universe explanation is if you scroll up through the comments you’ll see I said the same thing. I mean if two universes existed slightly out of phase from one another it may be feasible to slip from one to the other assuming your life energy (soul) is linked. Okay, I’ll slip back into my nerd cave now…LOL
By the way, I am from Indiana.
You guys are really all cracking me up! I’m Becca, the author of the blog. I know I don’t respond to most of the comments and not everyone will be notified of my comment but I greatly enjoy reading them!
I have always spelled it with the “n” and don’t intend to stop.
Damn the Defiant! Full speed ahead! 😉 (Hmmmm….maybe it should be Damm the Deviant!)
Jesus christ, im totally in a dilemna (yes thats what i learnt n remember since i was a kid-m 40 now) as to whats the spelling of dilemma 😛
I had never heard of “dilemna” until today, when someone mentioned that his spell checker wanted him to spell it that way. I guess you MNA folks are having some influence. It makes no sense to me, however. My mother has a doctorate in English, and I was thus taught the reasoning behind every non-phonetic spelling as a child. I was definitely taught “dilemma.” All of the silent N MN words (damn, condemn, etc) have a pronounced N when suffixes are added (damnation, condemnation, etc.), whereas dilemma isn’t a terminal m sound to begin with, and does not have an n sound when suffixed (dilemmic, etc.).
Well that’s just a dilemnation!
LOL
Do you happen to remember which spell checker wanted to have it spelled the correct way with the MNA included? Sincerely would like to know.
I’m Mike from the website dilemma.info
Just to say that after a lot of research I’m none the wiser!
Interesting that many comments made are from folk who refuse to accept that MN is incorrect and just assume it has somehow been corrupted into MM over the years – I wish that were true!
It has always been MM though, with never even a dictionary mention of a possible MN alternate spelling, and that’s going back several hundred years.
Frequently I come across sensible explanations for DILEMNA put forward which seem very plausible at first until you start to think it through and serious flaws appear.
There are many flaws in a parallel universe theory too of course but although I initially put it on the website just as a tongue in cheek suggestion, I’m kinda staggered to realise it still remains the theory that best explains it all. Particularly the really weird part where many MN spellers absolutely hate seeing it spelled with MM as it looks totally wrong, and yet cannot remember ever seeing that MM spelling previously in their lives – including well educated proof readers now in their 80s and 90s…
Yikes!
that should be website dilemna.info of course – it got ‘corrected’…
This subject is absolutely rife for professional investigation…it’s just mind-boggling that so many people in so many regions and across such a timeframe were TAUGHT by professional educators this misspelling. I 100% was taught that spelling in a Catholic grade school in the Midwest in the ’70s.
DilemnaMike says even old proof readers can’t recall seeing dilemma.
Any aspiring documentary film makers out there? Really would love to hear an explanation that rings true…it’s just not THAT uncommon of a word that so many of us wouldn’t ave encountered and noticed the ‘new’ spelling, even given the typographic similarity of mm and mn.
I want answers!
I never knew ‘MN’ spelling and it is not etymologically correct. I would like to know how Dilemna got into education with no reasonable explanation for ignoring Greek origins.
Educated in Australia in the 70s and 80s and today is the first time I can recall seeing the “D” word with mma. Oh, the dilemna….
I am 69 years old. I was educated between 1951 and 1973 all in New York state. I have an MA in mathematics education. I am 15 years retired after having taught junior high school and middle school mathematics in public schools on Long Island. I definitely was taught that the proper spelling is DILEMNA.. It seems to me that the spelling controversy originated around the time that “spell check” software began being used and eventually became popular. I would think it an easy task for someone with the proper resources at his disposal to investigate those early spell-check software documents and discover some evidence as to the given spelling dilemma/controversy. I would love to come back to this website and this thread of questions and answers and find to my delight that someone has done this very research and put an end to at least the mystery of the original of this debate.
I am 69 years old. I was educated between 1951 and 1973 all in New York state. I have an MA in mathematics education. I am 15 years retired after having taught junior high school and middle school mathematics in public schools on Long Island. I definitely was taught that the proper spelling is DILEMNA.. It seems to me that the spelling controversy originated around the time that “spell check” software began being used and eventually became popular. I would think it an easy task for someone with the proper resources at his disposal to investigate those early spell-check software documents and discover some evidence as to the given spelling dilemma/controversy. I would love to come back to this website and this thread of questions and answers and find to my delight that someone has done this very research and put an end to at least the mystery of the original of this debate.,
LOL….I was raised in Canada, England and the U.S. I’m a professional editor, and, until today, I always spelled it ‘dilemna’. Who knows why? A dictionary error, propagated by those of us for whom the spelling ‘dilemma’ looks infantile? I guess someone must have started it and all of us followed. We’re just a bunch of lemmings. (or maybe ‘lemnings’? I think it looks better.)
No dilemna here! It is “dilemna”, was “dilemna”, and will always be “dilemna”!
I spelled it “dilemna” all my life. While i am a bad speller, this was one word i was always sure was correct, because i would dry it myself as de-lem-nu. I was hoping to find the answer here. 😞
From what i have learned from “A Way With Words,” the common denominator is Catholic grade school. I don’t know why we would have had a different book, but i hope find out someday.
If people really want to keep spelling it with MN do not be statled when you have a red line. Deal with it or ‘add word to dictionary’. I have no problem with people using it but I DO have a problem with the categorisation of ‘MM’ being ‘incorrect’, ‘dumbed down’ and any other ageist slurs one wants to put forward unto the newer generations. The older ways clearly didn’t always know better, get over yourself.
Excuse me, but, I’m no spring chicken. I’m 42 and was taught dilemna. Watch your nasty attitude.
I remember being taught to spell ut with an n in junior school in the eighties. I can even picture it in the spelling text book we used, so whether that was the origin of the mistake or it it was definitely spelt incorrectly in at least one old text book. In that school we still used some pretty old, out-dated text books, so although I was using that book in the eighties the book itself may have been from the forties.
Ps I grew up in England and went to Catholic junior school
The debate on this website has gone on for over 6 years. In that time there have been numerous anecdotal instances of people, of different ages, from a range of ages and education systems, spelling the d word ‘dilemna’.
English is a living language and spelling and usage evolves over the years. Surely it is time that the ‘mn’ spelling be accepted as a legitimate alternative.
So, those who decide these things (including the manufacturer of the i device on which I am writing this post) need to accept the change and to move with the times.
It’s still going on, but I haven’t noticed until now. I saw “dilemma” in a blog post by someone I consider to be a good writer, and it hurt my eyes. So I searched and found that I’m not alone. “Dilemna” was the way I learned it, as well. Born in the 70s, educated in Texas, Oklahoma, Washington, and Canada.
Public elementary and high school education from San Diego, here, another dilemna speller. I didn’t learn any mnemonic technique for remembering the spelling, and, like so many, came only because me spell-check prompted me to correct it.
One thing I do not understand is people re-iterating the assertion that no spelling text contains the misspelling, when there is a clear instance of that spelling in the 1868 Civil Service Spelling Book – https://books.google.com/books?id=uMADAAAAQAAJ&lpg=PA26&ots=SYSq53Hn7V&dq=spelling%20textbook%20dilemna&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=spelling%20textbook%20dilemna&f=false
The alternate universe theory makes sense to me. =D
It’s “n” from me, without question,
“mm” unthinkable.
So pleased to have so many “n’s”
on my team.
At 80 years of age, surely you would
not question my State School education
at Tallangatta, Victoria, Australia.
So excited to find that there is so much interest in this dilemna about the correct
spelling of this word. I have been very unhappy about the double m for many years.
The spelling Dilemma is quite a dilemma isn’t it? I have no doubt that in my early years it was spelt
D-I-L-E-M-N-A. I never did understand why alot of words have ‘silent’ letters in them, but Dilemna was fun to say by giving the n a voice. To this day (despite the fact that NO dictionary has it spelt that way) I still pronounce the n in dilemna. Its a little scary to KNOW this word has changed in spelling somehow, and brings up the question:
What else has changed?…….
I always spelled it dilemna and I am an avid reader. I’ve been noticing lately that when I go to type or write the word, I’m always hesitating! So I checked it!! I guess I absorbed the dilemma spelling over the years and it finally got me (I am 79 years old). I could swear I learned it wrongly in school. I will try a poll this evening with four of my friends who are great at English!
What did your friends say? And please see the comment I just posted (below)…you didn’t learn it wrong. “Just when we learned all the answers, they changed the questions!” That is a true statement!
*Dilemna
*Already (which at some point started being spelled “allready,” by some folks…same with:)
* Alright (allright)
*Noone (when I was growing up in the 70’s, 80’sand 90’s, but now is often spelled as two words)
*Preventive vs. Preventative (look that one up)
Okay (nowadays [nowdays] “OK” is acceptable
Grey and Gray
Can anyone think of more of them? This is not a matter if being taught to spell “it” incorrectly years ago…. We all know language evolves…this is about that (evolution of language). (The use of the elipse is another perfect example
And while I’m at it, let me add that a lot of these evolutions occur, because someone who isn’t that great of a speller spells it wrong, (and doesn’t care [nor even bother to look it up]) and then others see that incorrect (new) spelling and everyone is thinking they are the ones who are wrong and begin to doubt until now everyone is spelling it the new way.
I completely agree with you. Language evokes from the bottom up, i.e from the people who don’t know what is correct. Hence rather than have a conversation, Americans now conversate.
I completely agree with you. Language evolves from the bottom up, i.e from the people who don’t know what is correct. Hence rather than have a conversation, Americans now conversate.
THANK YOU FOR THIS POST!!!
thanks for sharing!
The English language is always changing. Some even say that the American accent is the original English accent but I find that hard to believe since the Australian accent sounds much closer to the variety of British accents than American. I am willing to accept the common and modern spelling of dilemna, but I was taught to spell it with an “n” as have ma y others my age. To be told it was never right is baloney, and a very mainstream theme of our times to say that something never was that way or this way. Change is inevitable but I refuse to spell it wrong just on the basis that it makes younger people uncomfortable enough to tell us we were always wrong. No, dilemma is the NEW way to spell it. If an editor tells me to change it, I will. But I was taught this way, and all the literature I grew up with supported ot. Google and Microsoft can red line it all they like, but I almost never have spelling errors in my writings when I check, so I know that for my generation and previous generations, dilemna was correct. The poll above bears that out.
Well said!
Glad to see like minded people!
I still like my idea that we are from the “dilemna” universe and we have accidentally slipped into the “dilemma” universe.
I should add: I hardly have spelling errors unless typing a long comment on a phone as I did for this one.
I’m from the parallel dimension where we spell it
d i l e m n a . I always have and always will regardless of anything.. lol
I’m not sure how the 2 dimensions came to overlap, and I really don’t care. 😜