Gilmore, Gillmore, Gillmoor…. um Gillmor?

Why do so many people have problems spelling Gillmor? I have noticed that oftentimes Steve Gillmor is spelled wrong, but it seems his brother Dan suffers from the same problem.

Its “Gillmor” folks. double “l”, no “e” on the end…

The latest post that reminded me Gillmor is tough to spell came from Tom Coates. I wonder if he got taken in by wikipedia, which oddly has the entry identifier spelled wrong, although the entry itself is all present and correct. As usual folks, wikipedia is useful, but you have to add some of your own context to ensure accuracy.

Any number of examples of Gillmoritis- check out the first trackback on this post.

Evidently Sally Falkow corrected this entry on her own blog.

I am not trying to be a wise acre here, and my intention is certainly not to tell people to buck up their spelling or editing, but rather to point to the name. Its rich and full of potential imagery. I wonder if that’s at at the root of the problem.We get carried away with our mental associations and or pictures, which then dictate the spelling.

A Moroccan guy who can breathe underwater… would lead to a spelling error.

Hey Dan and Steve: what is the origin of Gillmor, anyway?

One name I have a real problem with is – John Loiacono, EVP Software at Sun Microsystems. I always have to look that one up. Maybe I need one of those identity aggregators Stephen is talking about.