Why do so many people write Mastadon instead of Mastodon?
This has become a pet peeve of mine and as a non-native English speaker I just don't understand why so many people make that typo in the first place- what is it?
Yes, words have etymology, but it doesn't really change anything and doesn't make latin, french, whatever-origin loanwords not be english or whatever the language is they're loaned to. You can't say "...well ackshually guillotine isn't english, it's french".
Yeah to add to that it is pronounced more like "Mass-tah-don" rather than "Mass-toe-don". The "tah" portion makes people think it's spelled with a "ta" since that would give you that pronunciation normally instead of "to". One of the many insane quirks of the English language stealing from other languages over the centuries.
English speakers, especially Americans, don't put much value in spelling, especially on the internet. Can't be arsed to Google it, or even look at the logo on the page they're on. Just wing it because it sounds right and they've never actually read it.
Then they do read it and continue to get it wrong anyway, because fuck you that's why, I guess?
Native English speaker here. Although I pronounce it Mast-a-don, I spell it Mastodon because that’s how it’s spelled and I know how to read and write. Also, I’ve never seen it spelled like that. English speaking or otherwise.