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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 22, 2009

Most Americans are lousy spellers

By John MacIntyre

  • Percentage of Americans who had problems with one or more spellings in a test of 10 everyday words, according to a survey by Ipsos MORI for the Spelling Society: more than 50%

  • Percentage of respondents who initially believed they would have a problem spelling: 25%

  • Percentage who rely on spell-checkers for tasks such as job applications or writing important letters: 33%

  • Ranks of women and men when it comes to spelling: 1, 2 (The only word that men spelled better than women in the U.S. test was "liaison.")

    CAR BUYER REGRETS

  • Percentage of car buyers who said their worst mistake was overpaying for a new car that quickly depreciated in value, according to a survey by Ipsos Public Affairs for CarMax: 26%

  • Percentage who said their worst mistake was not doing enough research: 22%

    OFFICE DATING

  • Percentage of workers who have dated a co-worker at some time, according to www.CareerBuilder.com's annual office romance survey: 40% (18% did it twice or more)

  • Percentage of male workers who currently work with someone they'd like to date: 14%

  • Percentage of women who said the same: 5%

    ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

  • Percentage of alternative energy investors and analysts who expect those stocks to outperform the broader markets in 2009, according to a survey by Waggener Edstrom Worldwide: 50%

  • Percentage who see the Obama administration as a "positive" or "very positive" performance catalyst: 82%

    THE WORRIERS

  • Percentage of affluent Americans (income over $100,000) who say the economy is their greatest concern, according to an Ipsos Mendelsohn survey: 60%

  • Percentage who cited unemployment and jobs: 30%

    DATA BREACHES

  • Cost per compromised customer to U.S. companies of data breach incidents, according to PGP Corp. and the Ponemon Institute, which examined 43 organizations in 17 industry sectors: $202

  • Since the U.S. Cost of a Data Breach Study's inception in 2005, estimated growth per victim of this cost (nearly a 40 percent increase): $64

    CAREGIVING STRAIN

  • Percentage of baby boomers caring for an aging parent who say that has put a strain on their marriage, according to a study by www.Caring.com: 80%

  • Percentage of divorced baby boomers who said caregiving played a major role in their divorce: 25%

    IDLE THOUGHT

    "This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in."

    Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president

    Contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.