There is no question about it: Proper usage of the English language is difficult. English is also full of unpronounced letters: silent e’s, c’s, not to mention virtually all h’s. It is understandable that people would have a hard time using it properly. You’ve got sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, diction, context and the most aggravating one of all, the king of finicky language restraints: spelling.

After all of the exercises we slaved over in junior high school language arts and the countless spelling quizzes and spelling bees in elementary school, as a result of e-mail and electronic spellcheck software, we have effectively unlearned how to spell.

Spellcheck programs have undone years of grammar study. I find that when I am typing I no longer bother adding apostrophes because the computer does it for me. Forget about capitalizing i’s. It’s a waste of energy; the computer’s got it covered. When I misspell a word a squiggly red line alerts me of the fact and all I have to do is right-click for a list of alternatives.

With frequently misspelled words, if you invert a commonly mistaken letter, as in the case of “recieve” and “percieve,” the computer changes it for you without even asking for permission. So, at this stage, the computer is correcting your errors without your knowledge. That computer is very considerate. It doesn’t want to embarrass you.

Melville Dewey was the Amherst College librarian who invented the Dewey Decimal System, which is used in more than 96 percent of all libraries in the world. Dewey, who legally changed the spelling of his name to Melvil Dui, was also the founder of the Spelling Reform Association. Mr. Dewey and his cohorts didn’t believe in extraneous letters cluttering words and sought to do away with them. As early as 1898, there were reformers promoting a list of 12 alternate spellings. Included were tho, altho, thru, thruout, thoro, thoroly and thorofare.

President Theodore Roosevelt also supported simple spelling, issuing an order to the Government Printing Office to comply with a list of 300 simplified spellings. However, resisters in Congress overturned Roosevelt’s order and the complication endured. And with the advent of other software on computers, we have gotten sloppy.

Is it the fault of Mr. Spellcheck or an overall informality in our culture? I look to our government for answers. We learn something from each person that sits in the White House. Ronald Reagan taught us that ketchup was a vegetable. George Bush, Sr. taught us that it wouldn’t be prudent. Clinton taught us that oral sex is not sex. And the great George W. has taught us that American English is not the native tongue. That not only do you not need to know how to spell, but apparently you don’t even need to know how to speak to get by anymore.

A few of my favorite Bushisms for your reading pleasure:

“Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.” Agreement?

“More and more of our imports are coming from overseas.” Uh-huh?

“I am a person who recognizes the fallacy of humans.” Fallibility?

“They said this issue wouldn’t resignate with the People. They’ve been proved wrong, it does resignate.” Resonate? I wish he would RESIGNate.

“This is what I’m good at. I like meeting people, my fellow citizens, I like interfacing with them.” Interacting?

“I don’t need to be subliminabable.” I rest my case.

Someone who is well spoken can get away with not being a bad speller because no one necessarily reads his or her words. But someone who can’t speak reveals his weaknesses outright through his communication. When you are president, you don’t have to be able to spell, speak coherently and you are allowed to invent new words.

Basically, as long as W. inhabits the White House, spelling is the least of our concerns. In fact, his presence in the White House alone is proof that almost anything is possible.

A couple spelling errors here and there certainly aren’t going to kill you or determine your fate. In conclusion, don’t worry about it. Take a page from our fundamentally illiterate president. You shouldn’t be judged for your youthful indiscretions.

“I’m not going to talk about what I did as a child. What I am going to talk about – and I am going to say this consistently – [is that] it is irrelevant what I did 20 to 30 years ago. What’s relevant is that I have learned from any mistakes I made. I do not want to send signals to anybody that what Gov. Bush did 30 years ago is cool to try.”

Information from www.bushisms.com and www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk was used in this column.

Frannie Carr is a Collegian columnist.