The correct spelling of this word is espresso, deriving from the Italian cafè espresso ‘pressed-out coffee’. However, it is regularly assimilated to the
more common English word express,
giving the incorrect, yet increasingly frequent, spelling expresso. This spelling is now sufficiently common to have been accepted as a variant in a
number of dictionaries. Merriam-Webster labels
it a ‘variant of espresso’, much to the chagrin of many of its readers. Comments added to the online entry voice an
outraged hostility to the acceptance of this incorrect spelling. One commentator is saddened that the spelling
is common enough to be adopted by the dictionary, while another refuses to
accept it: ‘No, it’s simply and only ESPRESSO! EXpresso...is only a variant
because the clueless masses have used it so much its nearly been accepted as an
alternative spelling!’. (Note the
inevitable misspelling of it’s!) For
most opponents of expresso it is simply
a badge of stupidity: Gene
Weingarten of the Washington
Post considers expresso the ‘idiot’s
coffee-bar order’.
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| Spelling Trouble enjoys a coffee with friends |
In response to a question about the correct spelling
and pronunciation of this word on a bulletin board, most contributors oppose
the expresso spelling. For one it is ‘like nails on a chalkboard’;
for another there is no debate: ‘It’s espresso. It just is. Go to Italy.’ While this may seem a logical and
incontrovertible argument, it’s worth recalling that many foreign words in
English have not preserved their original spellings. Supporters of the expresso spelling note that in French the word is spelled express, while one hazards the more
dubious suggestion that drinking expresso
makes you go faster! This folk
etymological justification of the expresso
spelling by associating it with speed lies behind one of the definitions
offered by Urban Dictionary, which
describes it as ‘any fancy coffee’ ordered as a take-away. The association with quick service implied by
the expresso spelling is deliberately
invoked by owners of the ‘Speedy Expresso’ café. Various establishments play on the
association with the verb express,
encouraging their customers to expresso
themselves. Whatever we might think of
these rather tortuous puns, it is evident that the opportunities the expresso spelling allows us to associate
it with other genuine English words means that this spelling error is here to
stay.