Mixing
Is “commerical” a valid and different word from “commercial”? [closed]
Googling, I see many places using the spelling commerical, but I don't see that spelling in any dictionaries at all. Is it a mistake for commercial, or are these two different words?
orthography writing is-it-a-word typographical-errors
edited Jan 19 at 20:38
tchrist♦
109k30292468
asked Jan 19 at 17:50
ElmahyElmahy
1144
closed as off-topic by lbf, TimLymington, tmgr, Jason Bassford, Ellie Kesselman Jan 21 at 9:42
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Please include the research you’ve done, or consider if your question suits our English Language Learners site better. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic." – TimLymington, tmgr, Jason Bassford, Ellie Kesselman
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
|
show 3 more comments
Googling, I see many places using the spelling commerical, but I don't see that spelling in any dictionaries at all. Is it a mistake for commercial, or are these two different words?
orthography writing is-it-a-word typographical-errors
edited Jan 19 at 20:38
tchrist♦
109k30292468
asked Jan 19 at 17:50
ElmahyElmahy
1144
closed as off-topic by lbf, TimLymington, tmgr, Jason Bassford, Ellie Kesselman Jan 21 at 9:42
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Please include the research you’ve done, or consider if your question suits our English Language Learners site better. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic." – TimLymington, tmgr, Jason Bassford, Ellie Kesselman
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
3
It's a chimera of commercial and comical.
– Hot Licks
Jan 19 at 18:02
so what does it mean then ?
– Elmahy
Jan 19 at 18:11
3
@linguisticturn I feel this is obviously a typo because the Levenshtein distance between beefalo and buffalo is much greater than the one between commerical and commercial. Beyond that, the QWERTY keyboard layout requires subtle agility and coördination within the left hand and deft balancing against the right hand to pull off: 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒐≕ʀ4ꜛ, 𝒎𝒎≕ʀ3ꜜʀ3ꜜ, 𝒆≕ʟ3ꜛ, 𝒓≕ʟ2ꜛ, 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒊≕ʀ3ꜛ, 𝒂≕ʟ5, 𝒍≕ʟ4. Compare escalating error rates in books of 1800/1900/2000 to see the clear effect of the typowriter vs manuscript originals.
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 20:58
1
@tchrist Incidentally, according to this Levenshtein distance calculator, 'buffalo,beefalo' and 'commercial,commerical' have the same Levenshtein distance, 2.
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:50
1
@tchrist On the other hand, they do differ in their Damerau–Levenshtein distance, which is still 2 for 'buffalo,beefalo' but is 1 for 'commercial,commerical' because transposition of two adjacent characters counts as a single operation in that metric (see e.g. this calculator). Be all that as it may, thank you for suspending your disbelief regarding this question!
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:54
|
show 3 more comments
Googling, I see many places using the spelling commerical, but I don't see that spelling in any dictionaries at all. Is it a mistake for commercial, or are these two different words?
orthography writing is-it-a-word typographical-errors
edited Jan 19 at 20:38
tchrist♦
109k30292468
asked Jan 19 at 17:50
ElmahyElmahy
1144
Googling, I see many places using the spelling commerical, but I don't see that spelling in any dictionaries at all. Is it a mistake for commercial, or are these two different words?
orthography writing is-it-a-word typographical-errors
orthography writing is-it-a-word typographical-errors
edited Jan 19 at 20:38
tchrist♦
109k30292468
asked Jan 19 at 17:50
ElmahyElmahy
1144
edited Jan 19 at 20:38
tchrist♦
109k30292468
asked Jan 19 at 17:50
ElmahyElmahy
1144
edited Jan 19 at 20:38
tchrist♦
109k30292468
edited Jan 19 at 20:38
tchrist♦
109k30292468
edited Jan 19 at 20:38
tchrist♦
109k30292468
109k30292468
asked Jan 19 at 17:50
ElmahyElmahy
1144
asked Jan 19 at 17:50
ElmahyElmahy
1144
asked Jan 19 at 17:50
ElmahyElmahy
1144
1144
closed as off-topic by lbf, TimLymington, tmgr, Jason Bassford, Ellie Kesselman Jan 21 at 9:42
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Please include the research you’ve done, or consider if your question suits our English Language Learners site better. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic." – TimLymington, tmgr, Jason Bassford, Ellie Kesselman
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
closed as off-topic by lbf, TimLymington, tmgr, Jason Bassford, Ellie Kesselman Jan 21 at 9:42
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Please include the research you’ve done, or consider if your question suits our English Language Learners site better. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic." – TimLymington, tmgr, Jason Bassford, Ellie Kesselman
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
3
It's a chimera of commercial and comical.
– Hot Licks
Jan 19 at 18:02
so what does it mean then ?
– Elmahy
Jan 19 at 18:11
3
@linguisticturn I feel this is obviously a typo because the Levenshtein distance between beefalo and buffalo is much greater than the one between commerical and commercial. Beyond that, the QWERTY keyboard layout requires subtle agility and coördination within the left hand and deft balancing against the right hand to pull off: 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒐≕ʀ4ꜛ, 𝒎𝒎≕ʀ3ꜜʀ3ꜜ, 𝒆≕ʟ3ꜛ, 𝒓≕ʟ2ꜛ, 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒊≕ʀ3ꜛ, 𝒂≕ʟ5, 𝒍≕ʟ4. Compare escalating error rates in books of 1800/1900/2000 to see the clear effect of the typowriter vs manuscript originals.
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 20:58
1
@tchrist Incidentally, according to this Levenshtein distance calculator, 'buffalo,beefalo' and 'commercial,commerical' have the same Levenshtein distance, 2.
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:50
1
@tchrist On the other hand, they do differ in their Damerau–Levenshtein distance, which is still 2 for 'buffalo,beefalo' but is 1 for 'commercial,commerical' because transposition of two adjacent characters counts as a single operation in that metric (see e.g. this calculator). Be all that as it may, thank you for suspending your disbelief regarding this question!
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:54
|
show 3 more comments
3
It's a chimera of commercial and comical.
– Hot Licks
Jan 19 at 18:02
so what does it mean then ?
– Elmahy
Jan 19 at 18:11
3
@linguisticturn I feel this is obviously a typo because the Levenshtein distance between beefalo and buffalo is much greater than the one between commerical and commercial. Beyond that, the QWERTY keyboard layout requires subtle agility and coördination within the left hand and deft balancing against the right hand to pull off: 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒐≕ʀ4ꜛ, 𝒎𝒎≕ʀ3ꜜʀ3ꜜ, 𝒆≕ʟ3ꜛ, 𝒓≕ʟ2ꜛ, 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒊≕ʀ3ꜛ, 𝒂≕ʟ5, 𝒍≕ʟ4. Compare escalating error rates in books of 1800/1900/2000 to see the clear effect of the typowriter vs manuscript originals.
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 20:58
1
@tchrist Incidentally, according to this Levenshtein distance calculator, 'buffalo,beefalo' and 'commercial,commerical' have the same Levenshtein distance, 2.
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:50
1
@tchrist On the other hand, they do differ in their Damerau–Levenshtein distance, which is still 2 for 'buffalo,beefalo' but is 1 for 'commercial,commerical' because transposition of two adjacent characters counts as a single operation in that metric (see e.g. this calculator). Be all that as it may, thank you for suspending your disbelief regarding this question!
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:54
3
3
It's a chimera of commercial and comical.
– Hot Licks
Jan 19 at 18:02
It's a chimera of commercial and comical.
– Hot Licks
Jan 19 at 18:02
so what does it mean then ?
– Elmahy
Jan 19 at 18:11
so what does it mean then ?
– Elmahy
Jan 19 at 18:11
3
3
@linguisticturn I feel this is obviously a typo because the Levenshtein distance between beefalo and buffalo is much greater than the one between commerical and commercial. Beyond that, the QWERTY keyboard layout requires subtle agility and coördination within the left hand and deft balancing against the right hand to pull off: 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒐≕ʀ4ꜛ, 𝒎𝒎≕ʀ3ꜜʀ3ꜜ, 𝒆≕ʟ3ꜛ, 𝒓≕ʟ2ꜛ, 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒊≕ʀ3ꜛ, 𝒂≕ʟ5, 𝒍≕ʟ4. Compare escalating error rates in books of 1800/1900/2000 to see the clear effect of the typowriter vs manuscript originals.
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 20:58
@linguisticturn I feel this is obviously a typo because the Levenshtein distance between beefalo and buffalo is much greater than the one between commerical and commercial. Beyond that, the QWERTY keyboard layout requires subtle agility and coördination within the left hand and deft balancing against the right hand to pull off: 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒐≕ʀ4ꜛ, 𝒎𝒎≕ʀ3ꜜʀ3ꜜ, 𝒆≕ʟ3ꜛ, 𝒓≕ʟ2ꜛ, 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒊≕ʀ3ꜛ, 𝒂≕ʟ5, 𝒍≕ʟ4. Compare escalating error rates in books of 1800/1900/2000 to see the clear effect of the typowriter vs manuscript originals.
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 20:58
1
1
@tchrist Incidentally, according to this Levenshtein distance calculator, 'buffalo,beefalo' and 'commercial,commerical' have the same Levenshtein distance, 2.
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:50
@tchrist Incidentally, according to this Levenshtein distance calculator, 'buffalo,beefalo' and 'commercial,commerical' have the same Levenshtein distance, 2.
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:50
1
1
@tchrist On the other hand, they do differ in their Damerau–Levenshtein distance, which is still 2 for 'buffalo,beefalo' but is 1 for 'commercial,commerical' because transposition of two adjacent characters counts as a single operation in that metric (see e.g. this calculator). Be all that as it may, thank you for suspending your disbelief regarding this question!
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:54
@tchrist On the other hand, they do differ in their Damerau–Levenshtein distance, which is still 2 for 'buffalo,beefalo' but is 1 for 'commercial,commerical' because transposition of two adjacent characters counts as a single operation in that metric (see e.g. this calculator). Be all that as it may, thank you for suspending your disbelief regarding this question!
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:54
|
show 3 more comments
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
In virtually all cases, commerical is simply a misspelling of commercial. (Your question is a rare—and perhaps only—example where it is not!).
Many of the hits that show up in the google search you linked to are obviously misspellings of commercial. Consider this one, for example. The title says Commerical DNA Testing, but in the text it says To order tests, download the AGA Commercial DNA Testing form and follow these instructions. Similarly here: commerical in the title, but commercial in the text.
Let's also look at the twitter hashtag #commerical. Again, most of the tweets there clearly meant commercial but misspelled it. This is particularly clear in cases where the word commercial appears in the body of the tweet, e.g. here. Some tweeter users have pointed out such mistakes, e.g. this one. One tweeter user, 'Roto-Rooter Plumbing', frequently tweets both with #commercial and with #commerical (see here), but I can't see any difference between the two sets of posts.
In short, while it's hard to prove a negative, what I've seen so far leads me to believe that commerical is in virtually all cases simply a misspelling of commercial (there is at least one exception: your question). So far I see no evidence that commerical is some sort of neological portmanteau of commercial and comical.
What if commerical were a real word (which it does not appear to be)
Having said all that, Hot Licks's comment is correct (even if it was meant mostly as a joke) when it says that commerical could be such a portmanteau. In fact, there are arguably situations in which it can be quite tempting to think that commerical could be such a portmanteau, for example when considering odd, surprising, or funny facts having to do with commercial activity or with advertising. For example, this page is about an unexpected fact concerning retail, and it originally contained the typo commerical. In the comments, we find the following exchange:
A commenter:
Commerical = Commercial + Comical
or just a typo?
The blogger:
Typo. Will fix.
The commenter was confused because, in the particular context of that blog post, it was entirely believable that someone could invent and use such a portmanteau, and moreover it is more or less clear what it would mean if it were used.
(At this point one may do a google search for 'commerical AND comical' to see if anyone commented on such usage. There are only 162 hits as of the time of this writing, and so it is possible to scan them all. I've done this, and it seems that in all of them commerical is a typo after all. This strengthens the case for claiming that commerical is always a typo.)
So let me try to flesh out what the meaning of commerical might be if it were a real word. It would probably be an adjective, and it might denote several different things.
One possibility would be a humorous commercial (advertisement). Sample usage: that new commerical Pepsi advertisement uses humor to good advantage.
Another meaning could be some action that some business took that inadvertently turned out to be funny in an embarrassing way. Sample usage: They tried to appear serious in their sales pitch, but their presentation ended up being a prime example of a commerical misstep.
To repeat, I see no evidence that commerical actually is used by anyone in either of the ways presented above. And I don't think it will be, for the simple reason that commerical and commercial are simply too similar and so too easily confused when written (though, admittedly, not when they are spoken).
answered Jan 19 at 18:39
linguisticturnlinguisticturn
5,4161332
1
As policy is unclear, and perhaps merits, I’ve cancelled my close vote to let the community have their say about this. Happy Levenshteining and fingerpoking!
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 21:06
add a comment |
"Commerical" is a typo for "commercial". Link.
From the Cambridge dictionary:
related to buying and selling things
Example uses:
Unlike the other commercial states of the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.,
e.g.
Then I got smart and checked all non-commercial vehicles.
In addition to the storage buildings, he owns an insurance agency, a bank
and a bunch of commercial real estate.
answered Jan 19 at 18:38
D ManokhinD Manokhin
2528
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
In virtually all cases, commerical is simply a misspelling of commercial. (Your question is a rare—and perhaps only—example where it is not!).
Many of the hits that show up in the google search you linked to are obviously misspellings of commercial. Consider this one, for example. The title says Commerical DNA Testing, but in the text it says To order tests, download the AGA Commercial DNA Testing form and follow these instructions. Similarly here: commerical in the title, but commercial in the text.
Let's also look at the twitter hashtag #commerical. Again, most of the tweets there clearly meant commercial but misspelled it. This is particularly clear in cases where the word commercial appears in the body of the tweet, e.g. here. Some tweeter users have pointed out such mistakes, e.g. this one. One tweeter user, 'Roto-Rooter Plumbing', frequently tweets both with #commercial and with #commerical (see here), but I can't see any difference between the two sets of posts.
In short, while it's hard to prove a negative, what I've seen so far leads me to believe that commerical is in virtually all cases simply a misspelling of commercial (there is at least one exception: your question). So far I see no evidence that commerical is some sort of neological portmanteau of commercial and comical.
What if commerical were a real word (which it does not appear to be)
Having said all that, Hot Licks's comment is correct (even if it was meant mostly as a joke) when it says that commerical could be such a portmanteau. In fact, there are arguably situations in which it can be quite tempting to think that commerical could be such a portmanteau, for example when considering odd, surprising, or funny facts having to do with commercial activity or with advertising. For example, this page is about an unexpected fact concerning retail, and it originally contained the typo commerical. In the comments, we find the following exchange:
A commenter:
Commerical = Commercial + Comical
or just a typo?
The blogger:
Typo. Will fix.
The commenter was confused because, in the particular context of that blog post, it was entirely believable that someone could invent and use such a portmanteau, and moreover it is more or less clear what it would mean if it were used.
(At this point one may do a google search for 'commerical AND comical' to see if anyone commented on such usage. There are only 162 hits as of the time of this writing, and so it is possible to scan them all. I've done this, and it seems that in all of them commerical is a typo after all. This strengthens the case for claiming that commerical is always a typo.)
So let me try to flesh out what the meaning of commerical might be if it were a real word. It would probably be an adjective, and it might denote several different things.
One possibility would be a humorous commercial (advertisement). Sample usage: that new commerical Pepsi advertisement uses humor to good advantage.
Another meaning could be some action that some business took that inadvertently turned out to be funny in an embarrassing way. Sample usage: They tried to appear serious in their sales pitch, but their presentation ended up being a prime example of a commerical misstep.
To repeat, I see no evidence that commerical actually is used by anyone in either of the ways presented above. And I don't think it will be, for the simple reason that commerical and commercial are simply too similar and so too easily confused when written (though, admittedly, not when they are spoken).
answered Jan 19 at 18:39
linguisticturnlinguisticturn
5,4161332
1
As policy is unclear, and perhaps merits, I’ve cancelled my close vote to let the community have their say about this. Happy Levenshteining and fingerpoking!
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 21:06
add a comment |
In virtually all cases, commerical is simply a misspelling of commercial. (Your question is a rare—and perhaps only—example where it is not!).
Many of the hits that show up in the google search you linked to are obviously misspellings of commercial. Consider this one, for example. The title says Commerical DNA Testing, but in the text it says To order tests, download the AGA Commercial DNA Testing form and follow these instructions. Similarly here: commerical in the title, but commercial in the text.
Let's also look at the twitter hashtag #commerical. Again, most of the tweets there clearly meant commercial but misspelled it. This is particularly clear in cases where the word commercial appears in the body of the tweet, e.g. here. Some tweeter users have pointed out such mistakes, e.g. this one. One tweeter user, 'Roto-Rooter Plumbing', frequently tweets both with #commercial and with #commerical (see here), but I can't see any difference between the two sets of posts.
In short, while it's hard to prove a negative, what I've seen so far leads me to believe that commerical is in virtually all cases simply a misspelling of commercial (there is at least one exception: your question). So far I see no evidence that commerical is some sort of neological portmanteau of commercial and comical.
What if commerical were a real word (which it does not appear to be)
Having said all that, Hot Licks's comment is correct (even if it was meant mostly as a joke) when it says that commerical could be such a portmanteau. In fact, there are arguably situations in which it can be quite tempting to think that commerical could be such a portmanteau, for example when considering odd, surprising, or funny facts having to do with commercial activity or with advertising. For example, this page is about an unexpected fact concerning retail, and it originally contained the typo commerical. In the comments, we find the following exchange:
A commenter:
Commerical = Commercial + Comical
or just a typo?
The blogger:
Typo. Will fix.
The commenter was confused because, in the particular context of that blog post, it was entirely believable that someone could invent and use such a portmanteau, and moreover it is more or less clear what it would mean if it were used.
(At this point one may do a google search for 'commerical AND comical' to see if anyone commented on such usage. There are only 162 hits as of the time of this writing, and so it is possible to scan them all. I've done this, and it seems that in all of them commerical is a typo after all. This strengthens the case for claiming that commerical is always a typo.)
So let me try to flesh out what the meaning of commerical might be if it were a real word. It would probably be an adjective, and it might denote several different things.
One possibility would be a humorous commercial (advertisement). Sample usage: that new commerical Pepsi advertisement uses humor to good advantage.
Another meaning could be some action that some business took that inadvertently turned out to be funny in an embarrassing way. Sample usage: They tried to appear serious in their sales pitch, but their presentation ended up being a prime example of a commerical misstep.
To repeat, I see no evidence that commerical actually is used by anyone in either of the ways presented above. And I don't think it will be, for the simple reason that commerical and commercial are simply too similar and so too easily confused when written (though, admittedly, not when they are spoken).
answered Jan 19 at 18:39
linguisticturnlinguisticturn
5,4161332
1
As policy is unclear, and perhaps merits, I’ve cancelled my close vote to let the community have their say about this. Happy Levenshteining and fingerpoking!
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 21:06
add a comment |
In virtually all cases, commerical is simply a misspelling of commercial. (Your question is a rare—and perhaps only—example where it is not!).
Many of the hits that show up in the google search you linked to are obviously misspellings of commercial. Consider this one, for example. The title says Commerical DNA Testing, but in the text it says To order tests, download the AGA Commercial DNA Testing form and follow these instructions. Similarly here: commerical in the title, but commercial in the text.
Let's also look at the twitter hashtag #commerical. Again, most of the tweets there clearly meant commercial but misspelled it. This is particularly clear in cases where the word commercial appears in the body of the tweet, e.g. here. Some tweeter users have pointed out such mistakes, e.g. this one. One tweeter user, 'Roto-Rooter Plumbing', frequently tweets both with #commercial and with #commerical (see here), but I can't see any difference between the two sets of posts.
In short, while it's hard to prove a negative, what I've seen so far leads me to believe that commerical is in virtually all cases simply a misspelling of commercial (there is at least one exception: your question). So far I see no evidence that commerical is some sort of neological portmanteau of commercial and comical.
What if commerical were a real word (which it does not appear to be)
Having said all that, Hot Licks's comment is correct (even if it was meant mostly as a joke) when it says that commerical could be such a portmanteau. In fact, there are arguably situations in which it can be quite tempting to think that commerical could be such a portmanteau, for example when considering odd, surprising, or funny facts having to do with commercial activity or with advertising. For example, this page is about an unexpected fact concerning retail, and it originally contained the typo commerical. In the comments, we find the following exchange:
A commenter:
Commerical = Commercial + Comical
or just a typo?
The blogger:
Typo. Will fix.
The commenter was confused because, in the particular context of that blog post, it was entirely believable that someone could invent and use such a portmanteau, and moreover it is more or less clear what it would mean if it were used.
(At this point one may do a google search for 'commerical AND comical' to see if anyone commented on such usage. There are only 162 hits as of the time of this writing, and so it is possible to scan them all. I've done this, and it seems that in all of them commerical is a typo after all. This strengthens the case for claiming that commerical is always a typo.)
So let me try to flesh out what the meaning of commerical might be if it were a real word. It would probably be an adjective, and it might denote several different things.
One possibility would be a humorous commercial (advertisement). Sample usage: that new commerical Pepsi advertisement uses humor to good advantage.
Another meaning could be some action that some business took that inadvertently turned out to be funny in an embarrassing way. Sample usage: They tried to appear serious in their sales pitch, but their presentation ended up being a prime example of a commerical misstep.
To repeat, I see no evidence that commerical actually is used by anyone in either of the ways presented above. And I don't think it will be, for the simple reason that commerical and commercial are simply too similar and so too easily confused when written (though, admittedly, not when they are spoken).
answered Jan 19 at 18:39
linguisticturnlinguisticturn
5,4161332
In virtually all cases, commerical is simply a misspelling of commercial. (Your question is a rare—and perhaps only—example where it is not!).
Many of the hits that show up in the google search you linked to are obviously misspellings of commercial. Consider this one, for example. The title says Commerical DNA Testing, but in the text it says To order tests, download the AGA Commercial DNA Testing form and follow these instructions. Similarly here: commerical in the title, but commercial in the text.
Let's also look at the twitter hashtag #commerical. Again, most of the tweets there clearly meant commercial but misspelled it. This is particularly clear in cases where the word commercial appears in the body of the tweet, e.g. here. Some tweeter users have pointed out such mistakes, e.g. this one. One tweeter user, 'Roto-Rooter Plumbing', frequently tweets both with #commercial and with #commerical (see here), but I can't see any difference between the two sets of posts.
In short, while it's hard to prove a negative, what I've seen so far leads me to believe that commerical is in virtually all cases simply a misspelling of commercial (there is at least one exception: your question). So far I see no evidence that commerical is some sort of neological portmanteau of commercial and comical.
What if commerical were a real word (which it does not appear to be)
Having said all that, Hot Licks's comment is correct (even if it was meant mostly as a joke) when it says that commerical could be such a portmanteau. In fact, there are arguably situations in which it can be quite tempting to think that commerical could be such a portmanteau, for example when considering odd, surprising, or funny facts having to do with commercial activity or with advertising. For example, this page is about an unexpected fact concerning retail, and it originally contained the typo commerical. In the comments, we find the following exchange:
A commenter:
Commerical = Commercial + Comical
or just a typo?
The blogger:
Typo. Will fix.
The commenter was confused because, in the particular context of that blog post, it was entirely believable that someone could invent and use such a portmanteau, and moreover it is more or less clear what it would mean if it were used.
(At this point one may do a google search for 'commerical AND comical' to see if anyone commented on such usage. There are only 162 hits as of the time of this writing, and so it is possible to scan them all. I've done this, and it seems that in all of them commerical is a typo after all. This strengthens the case for claiming that commerical is always a typo.)
So let me try to flesh out what the meaning of commerical might be if it were a real word. It would probably be an adjective, and it might denote several different things.
One possibility would be a humorous commercial (advertisement). Sample usage: that new commerical Pepsi advertisement uses humor to good advantage.
Another meaning could be some action that some business took that inadvertently turned out to be funny in an embarrassing way. Sample usage: They tried to appear serious in their sales pitch, but their presentation ended up being a prime example of a commerical misstep.
To repeat, I see no evidence that commerical actually is used by anyone in either of the ways presented above. And I don't think it will be, for the simple reason that commerical and commercial are simply too similar and so too easily confused when written (though, admittedly, not when they are spoken).
answered Jan 19 at 18:39
linguisticturnlinguisticturn
5,4161332
edited Jan 20 at 7:46
answered Jan 19 at 18:39
linguisticturnlinguisticturn
5,4161332
answered Jan 19 at 18:39
linguisticturnlinguisticturn
5,4161332
answered Jan 19 at 18:39
linguisticturnlinguisticturn
5,4161332
5,4161332
1
As policy is unclear, and perhaps merits, I’ve cancelled my close vote to let the community have their say about this. Happy Levenshteining and fingerpoking!
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 21:06
add a comment |
1
As policy is unclear, and perhaps merits, I’ve cancelled my close vote to let the community have their say about this. Happy Levenshteining and fingerpoking!
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 21:06
1
1
As policy is unclear, and perhaps merits, I’ve cancelled my close vote to let the community have their say about this. Happy Levenshteining and fingerpoking!
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 21:06
As policy is unclear, and perhaps merits, I’ve cancelled my close vote to let the community have their say about this. Happy Levenshteining and fingerpoking!
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 21:06
add a comment |
"Commerical" is a typo for "commercial". Link.
From the Cambridge dictionary:
related to buying and selling things
Example uses:
Unlike the other commercial states of the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.,
e.g.
Then I got smart and checked all non-commercial vehicles.
In addition to the storage buildings, he owns an insurance agency, a bank
and a bunch of commercial real estate.
answered Jan 19 at 18:38
D ManokhinD Manokhin
2528
add a comment |
"Commerical" is a typo for "commercial". Link.
From the Cambridge dictionary:
related to buying and selling things
Example uses:
Unlike the other commercial states of the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.,
e.g.
Then I got smart and checked all non-commercial vehicles.
In addition to the storage buildings, he owns an insurance agency, a bank
and a bunch of commercial real estate.
answered Jan 19 at 18:38
D ManokhinD Manokhin
2528
add a comment |
"Commerical" is a typo for "commercial". Link.
From the Cambridge dictionary:
related to buying and selling things
Example uses:
Unlike the other commercial states of the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.,
e.g.
Then I got smart and checked all non-commercial vehicles.
In addition to the storage buildings, he owns an insurance agency, a bank
and a bunch of commercial real estate.
answered Jan 19 at 18:38
D ManokhinD Manokhin
2528
"Commerical" is a typo for "commercial". Link.
From the Cambridge dictionary:
related to buying and selling things
Example uses:
Unlike the other commercial states of the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.,
e.g.
Then I got smart and checked all non-commercial vehicles.
In addition to the storage buildings, he owns an insurance agency, a bank
and a bunch of commercial real estate.
answered Jan 19 at 18:38
D ManokhinD Manokhin
2528
answered Jan 19 at 18:38
D ManokhinD Manokhin
2528
answered Jan 19 at 18:38
D ManokhinD Manokhin
2528
answered Jan 19 at 18:38
D ManokhinD Manokhin
2528
2528
add a comment |
add a comment |
3
It's a chimera of commercial and comical.
– Hot Licks
Jan 19 at 18:02
so what does it mean then ?
– Elmahy
Jan 19 at 18:11
3
@linguisticturn I feel this is obviously a typo because the Levenshtein distance between beefalo and buffalo is much greater than the one between commerical and commercial. Beyond that, the QWERTY keyboard layout requires subtle agility and coördination within the left hand and deft balancing against the right hand to pull off: 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒐≕ʀ4ꜛ, 𝒎𝒎≕ʀ3ꜜʀ3ꜜ, 𝒆≕ʟ3ꜛ, 𝒓≕ʟ2ꜛ, 𝒄≕ʟ3ꜜ, 𝒊≕ʀ3ꜛ, 𝒂≕ʟ5, 𝒍≕ʟ4. Compare escalating error rates in books of 1800/1900/2000 to see the clear effect of the typowriter vs manuscript originals.
– tchrist♦
Jan 19 at 20:58
1
@tchrist Incidentally, according to this Levenshtein distance calculator, 'buffalo,beefalo' and 'commercial,commerical' have the same Levenshtein distance, 2.
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:50
1
@tchrist On the other hand, they do differ in their Damerau–Levenshtein distance, which is still 2 for 'buffalo,beefalo' but is 1 for 'commercial,commerical' because transposition of two adjacent characters counts as a single operation in that metric (see e.g. this calculator). Be all that as it may, thank you for suspending your disbelief regarding this question!
– linguisticturn
Jan 20 at 4:54