What Are Some Common ICT Spelling Mistakes

How does Google^™ know what you're looking for, even when what you've typed in the search bar has typos? With one-in-10 searches misspelled and new words being constantly flagged, how does someone find what they're looking for if it's not spelled correctly? New words are regularly being introduced, along with new ways to misspell them. We've all done it. We misspell a word in the search bar and yet, we get what we're looking for anyway! Let's take the information and communications technology (ICT) industry, as an example. As the preeminent resource for the ICT profession, BICSI has an acronym that's often difficult to remember. BICSI stands for the Building Industry Consulting Service International, Inc. But when searching for this highly respected professional association, people tend to take a stab at what those letters are and in which order when coming across this preeminent ICT resource for the Connected World. Here are some examples of how people search for BICSI on Google:

• BISCI: bis-ci – A leading American Building Industry Consulting Service founded in 1977 (*even spelling it wrong, they got it right!)
• BIXBY: bix-by, b-IH-k-s-b-ee – A virtual assistant working with a wide range of Samsung products.
• BICSII: bic-sii (not a word)
• BICSES: bic-cies – Ella S Kitchen Parsnip Poppy Seed Savory Biccies (sounds yummy, I might have to try those)
• BIXIE: bix-ie – Chinese originated, it's a word that means a mythological animal with a lions body

Our spelling mishaps tend to fall into two categories: conceptual and slip-of-the-finger mistakes. We make conceptual mistakes when we're unsure how to spell something and try and take our best guess. Slip-of-the-finger spelling errors happen when we know how to spell what we're looking for, but our fingers accidently hit a key next to the correct key on the keyboard. What other words in the ICT/BICSI world are commonly misspelled? Here are a few examples:

• Cabling mantinence
• Tecnician
• Crtifications
• Labling
• Cabel
• Instalation

Fortunately for BICSI, Google has us covered. When Google shows results on what it thinks you mean, a note will flag under the search bar to let you know, as well as give you the option to see search results for the original query.

And that takes us back to our name: BICSI. Do you have a unique or interesting way to remember how it's spelled? Let us know in the comments.