English is definitely not among the languages where words are spelled phonetically. In phonetic languages, spelling errors are probably much rarer than in English, where they’re depressingly common. One of the problems with spelling in English is homonyms — words that sound exactly the same, but are different words.
There are some unusual homonyms lurking in the attics and corners of English. Take, for example, “conqueror.” It’s a relatively common word, and most people are familiar with it — and many can even spell it. But fewer people know that there’s another word that sounds just like it: “conkerer.”
While a “conqueror” is someone who wins a battle or war, a “conkerer” might be a winner or a loser at the game called “conkers.” It’s a children’s game from the 1800s (possibly earlier) and the rules are pretty simple. There are two players, and each one has something like a chestnut shell, a snail shell, or really any kind of shell. Each player has to have the same kind of shell, by the way. The game simply consists of “conking” the two shells together until one of them cracks. The holder of the intact shell is the winner.
It’s not entirely clear where the name “conkers” came from; it might be from the slang word “conk,” meaning to hit, or it might be from one of the regional dialects in which snail shells are called “conks.” There’s even a chance that it could be from the word “conqueror” — the winner, with the stronger (or luckier) shell, has conquered the other player, becoming a conkerer conqueror. Then, of course, if you were to beat that winner in the next round, you’d be a conkerer conqueror conqueror. But you wouldn’t have to spell it.
