Passed/past

[seun]

I think my brain has gone on holiday. Either that or I've been looking at this line for so long it now means nothing.

Not a foot from him, a screaming woman runs past.

Or

Not a foot from him, a screaming woman runs passed.

[Kitty Pryde]

Past.

[seun]

Thanks. I thought it was, but like I said, my brain didn't want to know. :D

[Kitty Pryde]

If you stare at a word for too long, you can reach the point where you don't know if it's the right one, you don't know what it means, and you don't even think it's a real word. I've been there :)

[RJK]

I'll bet you've passed this test in the past.

[melaniehoo]

I think my brain has gone on holiday. Either that or I've been looking at this line for so long it now means nothing.

Not a foot from him, a screaming woman runs past.

Or

Not a foot from him, a screaming woman runs passed.

I have had this exact same dilemma. I looked it up and still wasn't convinced I was using correctly. I think I switched my line to read "a woman ran by." :)

[Maryn]

This is one of the very rare times when I might put that one sentence into its own document and let Grammar Check tell me. The rest of the time, I keep it locked in a box which I've wrapped with heavy chains.

I've had similar issues, of course. Maybe not those two words, but the same damned thing.

Maryn--or is it Marin, or MaryN, or Marine, or MareIn...

[Medievalist]

I'm not being facetious here, but more often than not, these questions can be answered by the dictionary--speaking as someone who is profoundly dysphonetic.

[Perks]

If you stare at a word for too long, you can reach the point where you don't know if it's the right one, you don't know what it means, and you don't even think it's a real word. I've been there :)
Somehow, once, I typed the word 'was' and the Devil on my shoulder planted the niggle that it was spelled wrong. I looked and looked and looked until w-a-s became completely meaningless.

It was actually a scary moment, in some small way.

I think, perhaps, I am a tiny bit crazy.

[Chase]

This thread has me peeked. Peaked? Piqued!

Where's that damn dictionary? Dammed? Damned!

Shouldn't have gone their. They're? There, may be . . . May bee. . . .

[Medievalist]

Somehow, once, I typed the word 'was' and the Devil on my shoulder planted the niggle that it was spelled wrong. I looked and looked and looked until w-a-s became completely meaningless.

It was actually a scary moment, in some small way.

I think, perhaps, I am a tiny bit crazy.

There are words I can't spell. Ever. I have a list where I can see them.

And yeah, there are times when a really simple word just looks wrong. And sometimes, it is wrong, but a lot of times I'm just insane.

[seun]

There are words I can't spell. Ever. I have a list where I can see them.

And yeah, there are times when a really simple word just looks wrong. And sometimes, it is wrong, but a lot of times I'm just insane.

That's what happened to me in this case. It's happened a few times before. Nice to know it's not just me. :)

[backslashbaby]

:D

'School' got me the other day. I thought I was losing my mind.

[scarletpeaches]

I once forgot how to spell 'any'.

"E-n-n-y? E-n-ey? No, wait..."

I blame the migraine meds.

[KTC]

I once forgot how to spell 'any'.

"E-n-n-y? E-n-ey? No, wait..."

I blame the migraine meds.

I blame your accent. (-;

[scarletpeaches]

You don't know what you're talking aboot.

[seun]

You don't know what you're talking aboot.

I had to read that twice before I realised. Maybe I'm just a bit of a thicky.

[davidnowlin]

The sensation that one has never seen a common word before is called Jamais vu. Tom Stoppard described it memorably in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead:
Has it ever happened to you that all of a sudden and for no reason at all you haven't the faintest idea how to spell the word "wife"--or "house"--because when you write it down you just can't remember ever having seen those letters in that order before...?
Jamais vu is often described as being 'the opposite of deja vu,' according to Wikipedia. There's also a third 'vu': Presque vu. The sensation that the knowledge is there, but it just can't be accessed. The 'tip of the tongue' sensation.

Each of these, I think, is just a minor, temporary neuro-chemical glitch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamais_vu