Yet certain spellings are deliberately incorrect. In English literature incorrect spelling is used to signal dialect or non-standard speech, such as wot or ‘im, even when the spelling corresponds to the normal standard pronunciation /w‰t/ and /’m/, sometimes called ‘eye-dialect’^2/3. This article looks at deliberately incorrect spelling in two registers of English, namely pop music with names such as the Beatles and business with names such as Loktite. These will be called ‘funny spelling’.

The source of funny spellings in pop music is a sample of the musical press in England in 1997-98, namely: Time Out, a weekly listings magazine for London; The Eye a weekly supplement with the Independent newspaper; and New Musical Express and the Melody Maker, two pop music weeklies. Most examples are names of pop groups with funny spellings; some are names of DJs and clubs, some titles of pop songs, amounting to 268 examples in all. The funny spellings are assumed to be intended rather than accidental, i.e. not mistakes by typist or type-setter. Some examples interpreted here as funny spelling might in fact be unusual proper names, for example Mariah, Numan or Jayson.

A few funny spellings reflect purely visual aspects of the word. The Artist formerly known as Prince has chosen an unpronounceable character for his name. It is not clear how the <@> in The B@D Sound System is supposed to be pronounced. The group Motörhead add an umlaut to the <o> in their name. Word spaces are sometimes omitted, though the capital letter is usually preserved, ShortKut, SexLoveBuster and Magicdrive. Occasional eccentric use is made of capital letters, lower case and missing word spaces, for example the group hKippers, the singer k.d. lang and song titles GongYOUreMIXED and everydayifallapart. Hyphens are used to separate syllables, Torna-K, A-Cyde, Fun-Da-Mental, as described below. However the vast majority of funny spellings utilise the correspondences between spoken sounds and written letters rather than visual form.

Several English words for numbers have homophones that are ordinary words of the language. These are often substituted for them in pop, for example <4> for <for> in 4-Hero and Out 4 Just Iz, and <2> for <to> in R U Still In 2 It. The Roman number <II> also overlaps with <to> in such names as Boyz II Men and Bhang II Rites.

More frequently, capital letters are used to represent words or syllables, as in the group YB Sober. <C> stands for <see> in C U When U Get There, <N> for <en> Ntyce, N-Trance, and <U> for <you> U Sexy Thing, Nothing Compares to U. <X> substitutes for initial <Ex> in Xsive, XTC and Bugaloo Xpress, occasionally in the middle of the word as in INXS. <R> also stands for <are>, a usage that can be traced back in the non-pop example of the familiar sign in British pubs R U 18, revitalised by the shop name Toys ‘R’ Us. Examples are song-titles or club-names rather than groups: Fridays R Firin’, R U Ready and R U Still In 2 It.

Other letter names sometimes correspond to whole syllables, Pearls B4 Swine and Torna-K. The aim seems to be to preserve the pronunciation while substituting capital letters for syllables, usually separated by hyphens, Whirl-Y-Gig. Another variant of syllable-based spellings can be seen in Fun-Da-Mental and Pom-E-Granite, where each syllable is spelled out or D-ream where an extra syllable is created.

In funny spelling certain substitutions of one letter for another are common in particular words.

<ng> à <n’>. The use of <n’> for <ng> is pervasive in titles of pop songs, Marchin’ Already and Fallin’ From Planes, and common in the names of groups, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Cruisin’ Mooses and Screemin’ Ab-Dabs. It attempts to suggest the /’n/ pronunciation of <ing> as a verb ending rather than the more standard /’„/. It extends to some uses of <n’> with nouns in <ing>, Hello Darlin’.

<and> à <’n’>. The reduction of <and> to <’n’> has several variants: <‘n’> Drum ‘n’ bass for Papa and Guns ‘n’ Roses; <‘N’> Salt ‘N’ Pepa; <-N-> Thugs-N-Harmony; and <n> Rock n roll animal. These spellings reflect the reduced spoken syllabic form /nÚ/.

<ight> à <ite>. Spellings in informal notices such as nite notoriously remodel <ight> as <ite>, eliminating the redundant <gh> and inserting <e> to maintain the pronunciation of /ai/ before /t/. The only pop music examples are Go Litely, Howlite and Bhang II Rites.

<low> à <lo> and <high> à <hi>. More frequent is the use of <hi> for <high> Columbian Hi-Rise and Quick Hi, and <lo> for <low> Lo-Fidelity Allstars.

<new> à <nu>. A similar substitution is <nu> for <new> as in Gary Numan, Nu-birth and Nu Troop, presumably suggesting an American /j/-less pronunciation /nu:/ rather than /nju:/.

<er> à <a>. The combination <er> is often rendered as <a>, Killa Instinct, Muthafunk and Slaughta, with <az> occurring for the plural <ers> Headrillaz and The Gravediggaz. The <a> spelling extends to other spellings of /‘/ such as <ar> Soula Power and Intastella, and <our> Funked up flavas.

Because the relationship between English speech and writing is not one-to-one, a particular sound can be represented in several ways. Kenneth Albrow describes English in terms of three systems, the basic, the Latinate, and the exotic⁴. For example <g> corresponds to /g/ get in the basic system, to /d½/ gem in the Latinate system, and to zero in the exotic system gnu. Some variants are also determined by their position in the word: /k/ corresponds to <k> key or <c> care at the beginning of the syllable but mostly to <ck> muck finally. Hence funny spelling can exploit both alternative, less expected, correspondences and letters in the wrong position in the word.

<s>/<z>. The plural “s” attached to nouns is spelled constantly as <s> despite its different pronunciations, as in bits /s/, jugs /z/, and batches /iz/. <s> is a frequent casualty in pop-group names, where <z> commonly corresponds to /z/ in plural forms: Jazzie B and The Boyz, Metalheadz and Jewelz, and even to third person “s” as in Dadi Waz A Badi. <z> also sometimes replaces <s> for medial /z/ as in The Noize, Kizmet and Reprazent.

<k>/<c>. <k> is often found for <c>, Invisible Skratch and Statik Sound System; <k> for <ck> Daddy Ruffnek, Blak Twang; and <c> for <s> A-Cyde. This instability of <k>/<c> spellings is a familiar feature of funny spelling in English⁵.

<ph>/<f> and <pys>/<psy>. <ph> normally corresponds to /f/ only in the Latinate part of the English vocabulary. Some groups extend this to other /f/s as in Phish and Puppy Phat No 1. One example of <pys> for <psy> is found in Pyscho Daisies and one example of <ff> for <gh> Daddy Ruffnek.

<j>/<dg> alternation. /d½/ normally corresponds to <j> at the beginning of words, but to <dge> at the end, both seen in judge, and to /g/ in the middle, as in logic. Pop groups break all three requirements: initial <dj> Peter Djonz, final /j/ Queen Madj, Roxi and Mirrir Imij, and medial <j> J Majik, Danjerous.

<i>/<y> alternation. Typically the modern English /i/ corresponds to <y> at the end of words (easy) and to <i> in the middle (sin). Pop groups vary final <y> with <ee> as in Dazee and Nellee, and with <i> as in Dadi Waz A Badi, Joi and Ugli. They also substitute <y> for medial <i> as in Fybre and Mynk, and <ys> for final <ies> The Jellys and Dust Junkys. Both alternates combine in one word in Wylie Coyote.

A simple method of producing funny spelling is to omit or add letters that do not affect the sound/letter correspondence. <h> may be added as in Bhang II Rites and Propa-Ghandi, or omitted as in Ryme Nor Reason, sometimes overlapping with the category of pun. Vowels may be dropped, <e> in Joy Disco Kollektiv and <a> in Hedspace. Consonants may be doubled, exploiting the convention of doubling consonants in proper names: Catt Ballou, Fopp and John Foxx.

A more complex category exploits the spelling to produce a second meaning, i.e. a pun. Simple examples are Boyzone (Boys Own), Outcaste Sound System and Beat Route (Beetroot). A more complex example is Bhang II Rites (Bang to rights), suggesting the genre of Bhangra-rock as well as a word for marijuana. A separate category consists of cover groups punning on the celebrated bands they are based on, such as Bjorn Again (Born Again), an Abba-clone band punning on the name of one of the singers, No Way Sis (not the group Oasis) and Foney M (not the group Boney M).

Funny spelling functions frequently as a source of business names amounting in the corpus collected by Jan Praninskas to about 30% of the total⁶. The sources here are business phone-books for the Islington, Colchester and Liverpool areas in England, and the Directory of UK Trade-names, from which one funny spelling was taken per page⁷. The total was 641 examples..

A common business trick eliminates word spaces while preserving the capital letter as in HebrewWare and PizzaExpress, familiar particularly from 1980s business names such as NatWest or SmithKline Beecham. Interesting one-offs include: Skoob Books with letter reversal, though this may be a factor in other names such as Skram; and Duuo Motors where the double <u> suggests duality. Needless to say, even more than pop-groups, the actual typographic form of the word is distinctive, most famously in the instantly recognisable logos for Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and, at least in London, Harrods.

The use of numbers to represent syllables or words is common in business names, in particular <4> for <for>, 4 U Employment Agency and Best 4 Glass, <2> for <to> Back 2 Back, and even the Roman <IV> Four IV Design Consultants. The use of capital letters as words or syllables is equally rife; <B> for <be> B-secure Locksmiths; <C> for <sea> The Four Cs; <U> for <you> Pizza-U-Like; <X> for <ex> Xpert Stationers, EXS; <f> for <ef> File FX, Just Fx; <Q> for <cue> Q The Music. There were four examples of <R> for <are>, including CDs-R-Us and Hairs ‘R’ Us; an interesting back-formation from <R> is Keys is Us. Some names that give the illusion of belonging to this pattern are in fact only the letter name used as a syllable, as in Compute ‘R’ epair Zone and Pow-R-Jac.

In addition the letter names of an acronym are sometimes spelled out to get a new name. Examples from the oil industry are Esso (SO, i.e. Standard Oil) and Q8 (Kuwait). Several shop names spell out two initials Bejay News, Jaycee Fruits and Efes Property, sometimes linked by <an> to represent <and>, Essanelle Hair and Emangee Clothing; this practice dates back at least to the early Hollywood film company Essanay. Other syllabic forms are found in Ease-E-Load, Cafeo ‘Le, Hip-Nosis and I’Sys Ltd.

The letter substitutions in business are mostly similar to those found in the pop groups:

<ng> à <n’>. Only two examples substituted <n’> for <ng> Stormin Records and Talkin’ Loud.

<and> à <‘n’>. The use of <‘N’> for <and> was prevalent, having twenty-five examples such as This ‘N’ That, Heads ‘N’ Extras and Plain n Fancy. One example Cush-N-Tred deceives the eye by appearing to be this form but in fact using syllabic spelling.

<ight> à <ite>. The use of <ite> for <ight> is so common that it might almost be called standard, totalling sixty-two examples or 9.6% including: <lite> Avonlite, Hi-Liting Ltd; <brite> Scotchbrite, Staybrite; <rite> Mister Byrite, Rite Bite Restaurant; <tite> Checktite, Vari-Tite Clip; and <nite> Nite Star Restaurant.

<high> à <hi> and <low> à <lo>. <hi> occurred in fifteen examples, Toyota Hi Lux, Hi-Power and Hi-Style, and frequently goes with <Tec> Hi Tec Autos and Hi Tech Photos. <lo> occurred 4 times as in Lo Cost Foodstores and Hilo Offset. In addition <flo> substituted 10 times for <flow> Flo-Rite and Crossflo.

<new> à <nu>. The only two examples of <nu> were Nuchem and Nuvox Electronics.

<er> à <a>. Some use of <a> for <er> is found, though less often than in pop, as in Betaware, ComputaTune and Mastascrew, particularly with <super> Supa Shop, Supadriv and Supatravel, with one use for <ar> Solaglas Windscreens. More distinctive is perhaps the use of <o> as a linking syllable, sometimes clearly related to “of” Bags O’ Fun and Wood-O-Cork. Often, however, the relationship between the two nouns connected by <o> is unclear, as in Cleen-0-Pine or Rentokil (pest control), though the latter may be a reduction of two <t>s to one Rent-to-kill. The expected syntactic relationship for “of” can be reversed; Kard-o-Pak presumably means a pack of cards, not a card of packs. Perhaps this <o> derives from its use in some ‘scientific’ compounds such as pedometer and thermometer. Sometimes <o> is also used for the <our> noun ending Flav-o-Lok and Glamo-Nit.

<s>/<z>. Plural “s” is sometimes shown by <z> in tradenames, as in Footprintz Records and Boyz, but less often than in pop groups; medial <z> is sometimes found as in Rozetta Ceramics, Lazertype, Aztek Signs, and doubled <zz> in Sizzers. An example of <z> corresponding to /½/ is seen in Vizion Sounds.

<k>/<c>. The use of <k> is the most obvious characteristic of the funny spelling of business names, some 147 examples occurring, 22.9% of the total. Word initial capital <K> for <C> is common, Klipp Joint, Krazy Kids, Kingkone, particularly in <Kar> Kans Kar Wash, Kardex Systems, Kerry’s Kars, and in <Kwik> for <Quick> Kwick Art, Kwik Serve and Kwik Strip. Final <ck> is reduced to <k>, particularly in <lock> (13 examples) Bordalok, Gyrolok, <stick> (5) Bostik, <brick> (3) Brikmax, Brikskip, and <pak> (12) Westpak, Floppipak. The <ch> of <tech> changes to <c> Hi-Tec Electrics, Moretec Electronics, or to <k> Eltek Ltd, allowing for variations such as Hi Tec Autos, Hi Tech Photos, Hitec Printers, Hytek Windows and Hytex Communications. Some examples occur of <ck> reducing to <c>, partly in the same group of words Aeropac, Markloc, but also in others Bac to Bac and Runamoc (shoes). <ik> is also common for <ic> Kinetik Promotions, Electronik Direkt, Optik International; <ix> is sometimes found for <ics> or <acks> Klassix Clothing, Snax Sandwich Bar and Graphix.

<ph>/<f>. <f> occurred for <gh> corresponding to /f/ in a few words such as Eat-E-Nuff, Ruff E Nuff and Tuffpail. <f> replaces <ph> in Foto Plus, Fazer Force and Freefone Taxis. Virtually the standard spelling of <Effects> is <fx> as in File FX, Just Fx and Phantasm Fx. No uses of <ph> for <f> were found, perhaps because this would convey illiteracy rather than individuality.

<j>/<dg> alternation. No business examples of this were found.

<i>/<y> alternation. <i> and <ee> were used for final <y> in Ganntri-Tilt, Wishee-Washee, Andeecrafts, and <ie> for final <y> Tastie Pizza, as well as some substitution of <y> for <i> within the syllable Tymes Electric Ltd, Chyk and Granyte, and of <i> for <y> Hip-Nosis, Daylay Eggs, Chymical Management.

<h> seems to be omitted only in the various forms of <tech> such as Craftec Paper. The most common factor is the doubling of letters as in Allways Hairstylists and Klipp Joint and the reduction of two identical letters to one in Bal-Stik and Hairaisers. <a> is also dropped occasionally from <ea> as in Dedpan (vibration damping), Shock-Eze and Ledkore.

The terrible pun is as frequent in business as in pop music, particularly in names for restaurants such as Pieseas Chippy, Sam Widges, Cafeo ‘Le, Chip Ahoy Fish and Chips and Stuff Itt Inn Cafe. Other puns feature hairdressers Curl Up and Dye, car accessory shops Carnoisseur, stationers The Write Place, shoe shops Happy Sole and some mysterious establishments such as Bear Faced Cheek and Ruff E Nuff. This convention particularly affects fish and chip shops such as Ron’s Plaice (plaice is a flat fish equivalent in American English to flounder), as does the spoonerism seen in Chish ‘N’ Fips. More serious establishments are unlikely to adopt this approach; no undertakers call themselves Fun-E-Rals or The Grave Place, even if Shakespeare was fond of this pun; the late departed Polonius is ‘most grave’ (Hamlet III.iv.214).

The examples from both areas clearly show that funny spelling can be varied only within strict bounds: funny spelling is systematic rather than random deviation. Overall pop music and business seem to be drawing on the same possibilities for funny spelling, whether syllabic spelling or alternate forms of <k>. Apart perhaps from the fairly rare pop use of final <j> and <ph>, all the types of funny spelling could be duplicated in both forms of English. The differences are a matter of frequency - the massive use of <k> and <ite> in business-names versus their low frequency in pop or the high frequency of <n’> in pop versus its low frequency in business. Apart from the reasons discussed below, this could be due to the vocabulary areas used: pop may be more likely to have <ing> verb forms than business, and business more likely to have forms with <ight>.

To be able to point to possible sources does not mean that the originators of funny spelling are for a moment aware of them but are using conventions now available for funny spelling in English. Bearing this in mind where could these alternative funny spellings have come from originally?

Several peculiarities of funny spelling can be related to the history of English spelling. One case is the letters <i> and <y>; though these may have corresponded to different sounds in Old English to start with, by the end of this period the two letters were virtually interchangeable, as they still are in a few words such as gipsy/gypsy⁸. Middle English started the convention of using <y> at the end of words day versus <i> in the middle daily, though internal <i> and <y> were still interchangeable up to Jacobean times in words like eie and myne. Pop groups like Mynk and the Hybirds and businesses like Granyte and Holliwood show that this alternation is still very much alive.

There was also historical variation between <c> and <k>. Old English used the letter <c> exclusively to correspond to /k/ in cyssan (kiss), to /t§/ in cild (child) and to /§/ in the combinations <sc> or <sch> scyrte (shirt). Middle English not only imported the letter <k> from French in the thirteenth century to correspond to /k/, so that folc became folk and cyning became king, but also introduced the combination <qu> to correspond to /kw/ cwen>queen and <que> to final /k/ antique. The digraph <ch> came to be used for the /t§/ correspondence, as in chin and corresponds also to /k/ in some words of Greek origin such as chemistry. The digraph <sh> came to correspond to /§/, as in ship. Initial <c> now corresponds both to /s/ before <e>/<i>/<y> as in cycle and to /k/ elsewhere as in cat and clean; final <k> became mostly <ck> as in back, partly because final <kk> does not occur in English.

The history of <k> in English shows then a fluctuation between different conventions. Some variation exists also between British and American spelling in words such as cheque/check and disc/disk. Using the Oxford English Dictionary⁹ as source, the word black was spelled bl¾c by King Alfred in 890, blake in 1205, blac in 1380, blacke by Shakespeare in 1588; black first occurred in 1674. Logic occurs in the 14th century as logyk, logik and logique, and Francis Bacon used logic in in 1605. Romantic was recorded as romantick from 1659 to 1749, though romantic started to occur from 1665 and Pepys used romantique in 1667. The funny spellings in the pop groups Statik Sound System, A-Cyde, Blak Twang and the business groups Estetik Leather, Kall Kwik Printing and Kinetik Promotions exemplify the different historical alternatives for <k>, even if the users are quite unaware of it.

Simplified history of <c> and <k> in English
(º means corresponds to)

Source O l d E n g l i s h Greek Latin/French
<c>º/k/ <c>º/t§/ <sc>º/§/ <cw>º/kw/ <c>º/k/ <c>º/s/
Old English cyssan cild scyrte cwen crist circul
fom


Modern
English <k>º/k/ <ch>º/t§/ <sh>º/§/ <qu>º/kw/ <ch>º/k/ <c>º/s/
form kiss child shirt queen Christ circle

Some spellings reflect informal speech through eye dialect, such as <wimmin> in Jon Pleased Wimmin, <hevvy> in Its hevvy in here and <wot> in Wot The Dickens and Wotsits. <to> changes to <na> in <wanna>, The Wannadies, We Just Wanna, and in <gonna>, Never Gonna Let You Go. The use of <‘N’> for <and> in Salt ‘N’ Pepa, Cards ‘N’ Candy and This ‘N’ That also reflects the everyday syllabic /nÛ/ pronunciation of and; would Rock ’n’ Roll be the same if it were called Rock and Roll?

The spelling of some pop groups, but few business names, suggests non-standard pronunciation. The modern group, The Bruvvers, or their 1960s ancestors Joe Brown and the Bruvvers attempt to reflect the London pronunciation of /v/ for /¶/. A business example Wot-A-Gem Jewellery hardly suggests high-class jewellery.

A more widespread feature is the spelling of the verb ending “ing” as in He is running. In spoken English women tend to use the more standard /i„/ form and men the more working class /’n/ form¹⁰. Funny spelling exploits this through the <in’> spelling in Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Screemin’ Ab-Dabs and Confuzin’ Jack. It also occurs in business names such as The Famous Bakin’ Boys and Talkin’. It seems that this spelling carries across the male working-class effect from speech.

There is also some attempt to mirror certain accents. The /j/-less spelling <nu> for <new> in Numan and Nuvox implies an American accent to a British eye. The <a> for <er> in pop groups such as Gravediggaz or Funked up flavas suggests a Jamaican accent where /Š/ would be found instead of standard British /‘/.

As Sven Jacobson points out, the English writing system has never been syllable-based¹¹, unless one counts the occasional use of runes in Old English such as for ¾thel ‘noble’ in Beowulf. The syllabic spellings in E-Z Rollers or J’Raff (access equipment) have no obvious historical source. The use of letter-names as words is always in a sense potentially available in English, as in Malvolio’s double entrendre about Olivia’s handwriting ‘thus makes she her great Ps’ (Twelfth Night, II.v.88).

There is an obvious parallel with children’s early attempts to spell English through letter-names¹². One child wrote YUTS A LADE YET FEHEG AD HE KOT FLEPR (Once a lady went fishing and she caught Flipper). The spelling of <lady> as <LADE>, of <caught> as <KOT> or <Flipper> as <FLEPR> are similar, though not identical to funny spelling. Certainly the drink Irn Bru or the group Pearls B4 Swine might easily be children’s spellings. It may be that syllabic spelling through letter-names, numbers and initials depends on memories of this stage of spelling development.

Clearly funny spellings are not the same as spelling mistakes. Neither pop groups nor businesses want to give an impression of being illiterate. Deviant as the mistakes may be, they seldom overlap with the spelling mistakes that people actually make. Funny spelling needs to give the impression of deliberate breaking of the rules rather than illiterate ignorance. Exceptions might be the Pheonix band, Atmosfear and the beer Theakston’s Old Peculier.

Most funny spellings represent the sounds of speech in one way or another. One type reflects the standard spoken form in a less usual way, whether through syllabic spellings like Grand Master G Whizz, through substitution of letters that are less common correspondences such as Masterslax, or through letters in the wrong position Pat the Kat. A second type aims to suggest non-standard pronunications whether the conventional eye-dialect forms such as <‘n’> Stretch ‘N’ Vern or non-standard accents such as Slaughta. A third type exploits the visual form itself to give rise to puns as in T-Rextasy or Born and Bread Sandwich Co.

Presumably one motive for the funny spelling of pop groups is to provide a unique name that sells records and attracts the public. A good name is also crucial to the existence of many businesses. Hence funny spelling functions frequently as a source of trade-names, amounting in Praninskas’ corpus to about 30% of the total¹³..

Though the judgements have to be highly subjective, it seems that much funny spelling tries to convey a certain type of image. Pop groups want to appear daring and youth-culture oriented: hang the fuddy-duddy conventions, we spell as we like! Media businesses want to seem modern and revolutionary, Xcell Communication, Mikro Reprographics. More traditional firms seem to be characterised by the <ite> forms, Walkrite Shoes, by <lo> Victory “Evenflo” or <k> Rok-Crete.

Funny spelling thus illustrates the complexity of the English spelling system and the cleverness with which its users can exploit it. A system that relies only on one-to-one correspondences between letters and sounds is incapable of such use. The conventions found in the names of pop groups and businesses undoubtedly have parallels in other areas of funny spelling, for example notices Bar-B-Q Tonite!, advertisements A sippin’ whiskey, and poetry by e.e. cummings. Funny spelling obeys conventions of its own, which often have a long history in English, and which creates a rich source for pop groups and poets, businessmen and small children.