Talk:accidently


 * From: WT:RFC

The page itself is fine (it is an obsolete spelling or misspelling of "accidentally") but, as it is obsolete and a misspelling, we should not be using it in definitions. A search on "accidently" shows that there are many pages that include it. These need to be changed to "accidentally" (except where the obsolete spelling or misspelling is what is required). &mdash; Paul G 09:05, 8 January 2006 (UTC)


 * A note to whoever takes this on - to find the pages affected, type "accidently" in the box in the left-hand margin and click "Search". Don't go to "accidently" and click "what links here", as there are no doubt many instances of the word that are not linked.  A search will find all of them. &mdash; Paul G 09:27, 8 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I searched the way you described and all I get are instances of accident. Is my search box wrong or am I? Vildricianus 23:29, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Hm, I see what you mean. Perhaps the software is being too clever.


 * The thing to do then is to go to "accidently" and click "what links here", and also to do a Google search for "accidently" in the en.wiktionary.org domain (via the "Advanced Search" link). This will probably give most of the pages that need to be updated. &mdash; Paul G 17:03, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Those so inclined to fix spelling errors might do well to work on User talk:Connel MacKenzie/typos as well. --Connel MacKenzie T C 01:09, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I finally got around to refreshing the list, this last time around. --Connel MacKenzie 21:11, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
 * is this really a mispelling and not a variant? 76.26.189.65 11:24, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I've never heard it as a variant. What makes you ask this?    D b f  i  r  s   11:31, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
 * (later) Oh, I see why you ask. Lots of bloggers have accidently deleted their files.  I don't think I would rely on such people for accuracy of spelling, any more than I would for making backups.  The OED records accidently as obsolete, the last recorded use being in 1864, and, even then, it meant by chance, not the modern meaning of by accident.    D b f  i  r  s   11:53, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Neither a misspelling nor obsolete
By accident means by chance ... They are synonymous ... So it doesn't matter whether one thinks accidently means "by accident" or "by chance" ... from the Oxford Dict:


 * by accident unintentionally; by chance: she didn't get where is today by accident / nomadic hunters probably ended up on the new continent by accident

Thus accidently means by accident or by chance or unintentionally.

Maybe the OED needs to update its corpus since 1864 was not the last usage of it. I eathly found it in 1869 and many since then:  … but as he was preparing to give a deadly stroke, the point of the sword accidently struck her a violent blow, — Harper's Young People, November 4, 1879.

A look at Google's Ngram Viewer shows continuous use in both AmE and BrE.

The 1995 [http://books.google.com/books?id=2yJusP0vrdgC&pg=PA16&dq=accidently&hl=es-419&sa=X&ei=3AeaT4P7M8qFgwfykp2mDw&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=accidently&f=false M-W Dict. of English Usage] has this to say: The spelling accidently is not an illiteracy, but it is much less frequent than accidentally, and even though it has some reputable use.

The 1998 Columbia Guide to Standard American English goes further and says: Indeed, many conservative people consider accidently a misspelling, and some conservative dictionaries do not even record it as a variant, though it has been accepted off and on for many years.

It is listed alongside accidentally as a variant at both The Free Dictionary and Merriam-Webster.

Thus accidently is neither a misspelling nor obsolete. It's a variant that has been noted since Middle English. --AnWulf ... Ferþu Hal! (talk) 17:56, 14 May 2012 (UTC)


 * You present a good argument, but I cannot agree that "by chance" is an exact synonym of "by accident" in most modern usage. The majority of the recent uses I find in Google Books are by writers for whom English is not their first language, hence I incline towards the OED's "conservative" approach, but perhaps our entry does need some adjustment.  What does anyone else think?    D b f  i  r  s   07:36, 15 May 2012 (UTC)


 * About the only time I can think of off the top of my head where they aren't truly synonymous is when "by chance" means possibly ... As in, You weren't, by chance, thinking of me were you?. Otherwise by chance and by accident can mostly be swapped without loss meaning. But that is a side point ... the true frain here is whether accidently and accidentally are synonymous which I think they are. In my neck of the woods, folks mostly say accidently. They may write accidentally owing to the spell-check on their computer, but in speaking, it is accidently. It has a hella long history and a continuous use. Soothfast, I eathly found in a CPA study guide just released this year (2012). If I ever get the net working at my house again, I'll rewrite the entry unless someone has some real heartburn about it. --AnWulf ... Ferþu Hal! (talk) 22:00, 21 May 2012 (UTC)


 * I don't think they are synonymous. "I fell down a hole by chance" (it was random, a coincidence). "I fell down a hole by accident" (it was unintentional, I didn't mean to; maybe I knew the hole was there). Equinox ◑ 22:11, 21 May 2012 (UTC)


 * So you want to take out the meaningby chance from accidentally as well? My main point here is that accidently = accidentally. The meaning by chance is one of the meanings of accidentally. If yu hav a beef with it, then yu need to take it out of accidentally as well. Yu can't take it out of one and leave it in the other. --AnWulf ... Ferþu Hal! (talk) 14:49, 18 August 2012 (UTC)


 * The fact that people where AnWulf lives abbreviate their pronunciation of the word "accidentally", doesn't mean that they are using the obsolete word "accidently" as it was used in Middle English. I wouldn't be happy with a re-written entry along the lines AnWulf suggests.    D b f  i  r  s   17:10, 25 May 2012 (UTC)


 * I'v rewritten the entry. It is, more or less, the same as accidentally. I put the meanings under one def rather than two. If someone wants to split 'em out, that ok by me. So if yu hav a beef with the meanings, then yu'll need to change accidentally also. I also put in a ME shape of it. --AnWulf ... Ferþu Hal! (talk) 14:49, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Sorry but this is wrong. OED.com clearly says accidently is "now nonstandard" and arcane: http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/1066?redirectedFrom=accidently#eid

Modern uses of "accidently" are spelling mistakes, which coincidentally match a spelling from centuries past - just like "disasterous" etc. The discussion here re "by accident" or "by chance" isn't relevant. However we define it, its correct spelling is "accidentally" unless a writer is deliberately trying to invoke an olde worlde style in their prose.

PRL1973 (talk) 11:07, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

Latin origin not indicated
The Latin origin of the word shall be indicated in entymology. 94.79.3.84 11:38, 30 April 2020 (UTC)