Are you interested in a 10 year discussion on the subject? Then go directly to (or don’t go to) Pain in the English, the home of a proofreading service founded by Dyske Suematsu.
I was looking for an answer to that question and stumbled upon a helpful discussion in its forum. Though I haven’t used their services, I adding the link to my resource list in case one of my regulars isn’t available.
Here’s how they describe their services: “We have a pool of highly qualified proofreaders in New York City who are going to eradicate your errors like they are plagues. So, stop asking your friends for favors. They are busy too. Who knows when they’ll get around to it. We’ll get it done within 24 hours, so just consider it done!”
What is the word for intentionally incorrect spelling? After reading all the back and forth, I decided on “intentionally misspelled wording.” Sleeper huh?
How the proofreading services work…
As it turns out, Dyske Suematsu is a principal of the digital marketing firm: Cycle Interactive…
I have no answer on the intentional misspelling, but want to ramble on nonetheless about things I think I know(!)…
One of my go-to words is sic (literally “thus”), which indicates (after the fact) that a misspelling is intentional—or more commonly that an error in text you are reproducing was not yours but existed in the original source. You know sic from your work, but also from the flag of the commonwealth, “Sic Semper Tyranus” translating to “Thus be it ever to tyrants” or “We kick tyrants’ butts, so don’t even think about tyrannizing us”.
Linguistics focus on the spoken word. Intentional “mistakes” in speaking are extensively cataloged and have their own names. For example, “elision” describes leaving out a sound (phoneme) such as saying “wanna” instead of “want to”. Extending “mistakes” beyond spelling to grammar, there’s a whole world of terms defined. For example, Willy Sutton’s “We was robbed” or my friend’s declaration “I write good” are examples of “enallage”. One of my favorite sources on all this is “Figures of Speech: 60 Ways To Turn A Phrase” by Arthur Quinn. See also “How to Misspell Words and Ignore Grammar Like a Pro” at https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/schemes.html.
Finally, a game you may be familiar with to pass time is “one letter off”: you can do it with movies, tv shows, books, and so on. For example, “The Big Shart” or “Stall Alice” or “Gone With The Rind”. If you google it you’ll find people have created movie posters, comedy bits, and all kinds of related stuff.
Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.
A word that doesn’t exist, but should? A perfect time to create a new word!
So how about: badspelment? (As in, bad spell meant — but misspelled itself, of course!) Badspelment is an example of badspelment…