the mispeling vyrus

Why is it so many fanfic writers spell "discreet" wrong? "Discrete" is a competely different word and does not mean to keep things quiet or secret. Or maybe I'm being unfair and all these writers actually do mean to have their characters keep their relationships in separate and distinct packets.

And while I'm on the subject, who decided that sulfur and fosforous were acceptable spellings for sulphur and phosphorous? Fosforous looks so incredibly supid I can't quite believe people use it, but apparently it's true. Ick. It's not like they are spelled with a ph just to make things difficult either. "Phosphorous" is from two Greek words, "phos" meaning light and "phorous" meaning bringing (because it luminesces, ie. glows), "sulphur" is from Latin with a root meaning to burn (which is why it used to be used in matches), they're words that have a history and meaning. What do "fos" and "forous" mean? Nothing.