How do YOU spell...

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: TheKub
Little back-story:

I work in IT, and recently created a new generic user account for one of the departments I support to be used with an extra laptop. So I create the account, set the password, write it down, and leave it on the manager?s desk. After I get back the office I see I have a voice mail. It?s the manager who is asking if I purposely spelled ?lightning? (the password) wrong. It think WTF was going through my head, I know I spelled it right when I set the password because I had to login several times to set stuff up, so I think maybe I had a brain fart when I was writing it down.

So I ask him how did I write it down and he says ?LIGHTNING? at that moment my brain does a double take and worries that I have spent the past 26 years of my life spelling it like a retard. So as I start the admin tools to reset the password I open Google and type lightning and sure enough millions of hits (including wiki). Puzzled I ask him how he spells it and he says it is spelled ?LIGHTENING?. I quickly type lightening into Google and low and behold ?Did you mean: lightning?. Yes! Vindicated! At this point he quotes Webster as stating the spelling is lightening. So I quickly do a poll of my coworkers 3 for lightening and 1 for lightning.

Now given that there is a reasonable chance that this problem would reoccur when telling users the password we selected a new one to bypass the confusion.

So how do you spell it?

Edit: To clarify it is lightning as in from a storm cloud.

Cliffs:

Set user password to lightning
Manager asked if I meant to spell it wrong (supposed to be lightening)
Google/wiki confirms my spelling
Quick poll of coworkers shows mixed results in spelling

You are in violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: TheKub

Originally posted by: mugs

Oh, it's Wikipedia and lo and behold. 😉

I took a gamble on Wiki being an acceptable abbreviation, and as for the other one?

Spelling is not in my top 10 best skills, hence my initial panic when I was told that I spelled it incorrectly.

"Wiki" is accepted by most, but it really seems to put a bug up mugs' arse when people use it 😛

Truth. 🙁

But it's stupid! It's the equivalent of abbreviating "Toyota Camry" to "car." You lose any kind of specificity about WHICH car you're talking about. Or in another sense, it's like abbreviating "Toyota Camry" to "engine," because wiki is just the type of software that Wikipedia uses.

Wikipedia is not the only wiki, it was not the first wiki, and it makes no sense to abbreviate it to just "wiki." 🙂

 

[Captante]

Lightning


Lightening

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: mugs
But it's stupid! It's the equivalent of abbreviating "Toyota Camry" to "car." You lose any kind of specificity about WHICH car you're talking about. Or in another sense, it's like abbreviating "Toyota Camry" to "engine," because wiki is just the type of software that Wikipedia uses.

Wikipedia is not the only wiki, it was not the first wiki, and it makes no sense to abbreviate it to just "wiki." 🙂

If 99% of cars on the road were Toyota Camrys, then it would be a valid analogy. And I bet most people WOULD abbreviate "Camry" as "car", and specify if it's another brand.

 

[aplefka]

Your boss is an idiot. Unless maybe the way you said it sounded like you meant lightening as in the verb that means to lighten.