Short Stuff: Simple Spelling Movement

English spelling has long frustrated learners due to its inconsistencies, prompting repeated pushes for phonetic simplification. In this Short Stuff episode, hosts Josh and Chuck explore historical efforts to reform it, from Teddy Roosevelt's bold but failed experiment to ongoing debates about literacy and practicality.

Roosevelt's 1906 Experiment

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt, riding high in popularity, backed the Simplified Spelling Board, founded by figures like Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain, William James—the father of psychology—and an unnamed Supreme Court justice. This progressive group aimed to accelerate English spelling's natural simplification. Roosevelt issued an executive order to the U.S. Government Printing Office, mandating phonetic spellings for 300 common words in all federal documents—an "experiment," as he later called it.

Public and political reaction was swift and harsh. Newspapers mocked Roosevelt with political cartoons, like one depicting a dictionary knocking him out in a boxing ring. Congress, irked by the sidestep of their authority, passed a bill requiring federal documents to follow Webster's or other standard dictionaries. Facing an election, Roosevelt rescinded the order. The episode notes the irony: Noah Webster and Benjamin Franklin had earlier championed similar reforms but met resistance too.