You Thought You Knew: Is It 'Worshipping' or 'Worshiping'? One p or two?
The other day my son popped his head into my office and asked how to spell “worshipping”. I spelled it w o r s h i p p i n g. He told me that his brother’s teacher said it was with one p. I was like no, it’s two ps. Obviously. I mean *I* would know, right? But then I was like “Hold up, let me Google this because maybe I am wrong”.
What I learned blew my ever loving mind.
Actually, no, it wasn’t quite so extreme as that. But I mean, I was a little surprised. Basically the spelling of ‘worshipping’ with two ‘p’s is considered British English and the spelling of a single ‘p’ is American English. Because, of course it is.
But I can’t recall ever seeing ‘worshipping’ spelled with a single ‘p’. So I took to twitter with a poll to see how others spelled it.
I tweeted “vote the correct spelling. Comment with what you voted and what country you live in.”
My polls typically get a 100 votes-- give or take 50. This poll quickly amassed 537 votes. People are passionate about their spellings. I tallied the answers and here are the results:
According to my Google research a single ‘p’ is a 50/50 split in the USA. While the poll answers I received didn’t quite indicate that—it does show that the preference is for the double ‘p’. However, neither is wrong.
Whatever version you go with, remain consistent.
If you spend any time studying the English language and its rules you’ll learn it’s never straight forward! It has rules that contradict itself. Rules that only apply to a small fraction of the language. And most of the grammar that grammar snobs lob at insolent language users who dare break the precious rules of English are style preferences. So if a grammar snob snobs at you, just tell them that your grammar style sheet has different guidelines. Then stick your tongue out and run away.
Jeannette is the Lead Editor at Polar Bear Editing.
Her favorite things are being difficult, wearing make-up, talking to her children, and spending too much time hanging out on twitter.
Follow on twitter: @Polar_Bear_edit
