The one word Mainers just can’t spell

(Washington Post photo by Michael DiBari Jr.)

(Washington Post photo by Michael DiBari Jr.)

The news explainer website Vox is celebrating this week’s National Spelling Bee with an Internet analysis of which word most vexes spellers in each of the 50 states.

Vox used the ever-popular research tool Google Trends to find out which word residents in each state have been most likely to spell-check using the ubiquitous search site.

People in Arkansas have been running to their computers to figure out how to spell “diarrhea,” while Georgians need help writing about their “pneumonia” problems. Folks from Delaware, strangely enough, keep needing to look up the spelling of the toenail fungus infection “paronychia” — although they keep writing it as “parynichia”… duh.

But at least Arkansas, Georgia and Delaware residents have some idea what’s afflicting them. In Montana, they haven’t figured it out: They’re all looking up how to spell “diagnose.”

(Sarah Dussault/Sun Sentinel/MCT)

(Sarah Dussault/Sun Sentinel/MCT)

A whopping 12 states are confused about the spelling of “grey,” which is technically correct with either an “E” or “A,” although American English typically prefers “gray” over “grey,” despite the popularity of the television show “Grey’s Anatomy” and the kinky book/movie “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Residents of Maryland get caught up on the spelling of the word “sincerely,” while Hawaiians are apparently writing a lot about dinosaurs, and need help spelling “pterodactyl.”

Want to use people’s spelling errors to map out a romantic multi-state vacation? Start in Texas or Nevada, where they can’t spell “beautiful” or “gorgeous,” respectively, and move over to Alaska to help them with “desire.” Then go to Washington, D.C., where they’re twisted up on “tongue,” and finish your trip in Wyoming or Kentucky, where they’ve got trouble with “jealous.”

But what about up here in Maine?

The word we get stuck on the most is “frustrated.” Or, as we’ve apparently been spelling it, “frusterated.”