>One of the worst spelled word in the English language (depending on where you live) has to be 'Colonel'. Where the heck's the 'R'?

The lack of the "R" bothers you but not the fact that "colon" if pronounced "Ker". Does it take a lot of guts to be a "colon-el"? :-)

It seems that many words coming from the original French (where this word is pronounced correctly) get corrupted in English. Another rank, "lieutenant" is pronounced "left-tenant" in Britain. There is a stately home called "Beaulieu" -"bo-lyuh" you'd think? - no, "byew-lee". Go figure.