English

a while - How long is it exactly? A second? A minute? A day? It’s a tad vague, perhaps, but just think of “while” as a period of time like any other, and you’ll know that “a while” is two separate words. After all, you wouldn’t say “asecond” or “aday,” now, would you?
absence - The letter [e] is the only one repeated in this word. You’ll notice the absence of any other recurring letters.accelerate - One [c] makes the /k/ sound while the other [c] makes the /s/ sound. Then, you want to say the word fast, so don’t waste time on any extra [l]s. And finally, there are two [e]s in the middle of the word, just like in the word “speed.”
accomplish - Any college basketball fans out there? If so, you’ll be well aware of the accomplishments of ACC teams, UNC, Duke and UVA.
accumulate -“Accumulate” wanted to accumulate a few more [c]s, but the Letter Rationing Authorities said two was plenty.
acknowledge - Most verbs that start with “ac-” refer to something being gained. “Accelerate” means to gain speed, “accomplish” means to gain status or achieve a goal, and “acknowledge” means to gain knowledge (see “knowledge” below).
acquaintance - It’s time to get acquainted with the word“acquaint.” It comes from the Latin word, accognoscere, which is a combination of ad (“to”) and cognoscere (“come to know”).
acquire - Again with the “ac-,” this one just means to gain, well, anything.
across - If you’re talking about an ancient Roman means of capital punishment, you mean “a cross,” but if you mean “on the other side of a defined space,” then it’s just one word, across.aficionado - This word comes from the Spanish verb, aficioner, which means “to become fond of.” It was originally applied to bullfighting fans.
anoint - When you rub or smear something, especially oil in connection with a religious ceremony, that’s anointing. You can remember that it only has one [n] by thinking that you might rub an ointment onto your body.
apology - “Appall” has two [p]s and two[l]s, but if you put two of each into “apology,” people will be appalled, and you’ll need to apologize.
axle - An axle is a rod on which two wheels spin. An axel is a jump done by a figure skater. And Axl was the lead singer of Guns-N-Roses.
accordion - The accordion is portable, so you can play it while riding in your Honda Accord.
B
barbecue - You go out, eat some pulled pork and play somepool, but you have to get the gear from the bartender, so behind the bar, there’ll be a cue, a rack and some balls.
beginning - Well if it only had one [n], then the [i] would have to say its own name, and then we’d be saying “be guy ning,” which is just silly.
broccoli - Better than E. coli any day, even if you hate vegetables.
business - The bus driver conducts his business all day long.Get it? Conducts? Business? Get it?
C
camouflage - This is what we get for stealing words from French – extra letters and [g]s that make a soft /j/ sound.
candidate - Candi has a date. She might even marry him one day. He’s handsome, intelligent, gentlemanly and funny, and he can bench press 300 pounds – a strong candidate indeed.
cantaloupe - Originally from Armenia, the cantaloupe gets itsEnglish name from Cantaluppi, the Italian town where it was first grown in Europe in the late 18th century.
carburetor - This word uses all the vowels once, except for [i]. You can save that one for when you say, “I don’t know what in the world a carburetor does.”
Caribbean - What? You’ve never heard of the California Rib Bean? Why, it’s only the best bean on earth. Don’t let the name fool you,though. The CA Rib Bean can only be found on a remote island about half-way between Cuba and the northern coast of Honduras. (*Note: There is no such thing as a CA Rib Bean, but that imaginary island would be located in the Caribbean.)
cartilage - Many believe that elderly people should only drive a car ‘til age 75 or so, but with plastic surgery and the ground-breaking technology...