Worshiping and Kidnapping

Worshiping and Kidnapping Worshiping and Kidnapping Worshiping and Kidnapping By Maeve Maddox The recent post on when to double the L when adding an ending to words like cancel prompted this question from David: What about the p in worship. Is it worshiping or worshipping? Like cancel, the word worship gets different treatment in British and American usage: British usage: worship, worshipped, worshipping American usage: worship, worshiped, worshiping This difference applies to most spellings of this sort, but not all. For example, take the spellings kidnapped and kidnapping. According to what weve been saying about British and American usage, kidnaping ought to be the preferred American spelling, but it isnt. Merriam-Webster does acknowledge the single p spelling, but gives kidnapping first. In the case of cancel and worship, the single consonant spellings are given first and the double letter spellings are the variants. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, when Merriam-Webster follows one spelling with a variant, the first spelling is the one to use. When I typed kidnaping into my American version of Microsoft Word, the software immediately changed it to kidnapping. Spelling rules are useful guides, but they do not and cannot apply to every word. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:30 Synonyms for â€Å"Meeting†Ten Yiddish Expressions You Should KnowPassed vs Past