No matter how the world changes, at all times a person who correctly speaks and writes without errors causes, if not admiration, then at least a pleasant surprise. Today, when people spend a lot of time on social networks, where they constantly write messages to each other, the question of how to do it competently becomes more relevant than ever.
There are certain words that most people make mistakes when writing. The term “scrupulous" also refers to these. How to write: meticulous or meticulous? Why exactly, where did this word come from in Russian, and what does it mean?
Why the question often arises: how to spell the word "meticulously" or "meticulously"
Unlike Ukrainian words, most of which sound and spell, Russians often contain letters that are not pronounced at all or sound slightly different.
For example, the word “holiday”, beloved by many, according to modern orthoepic norms of the Russian language, will be pronounced [brazhnik]. And the owl’s favorite word from “Winnie the Pooh” “for free” will sound like [b'zvaz'm'ezna].
In the term “scrupulously”, despite the fact that three consonants immediately sound in a row, they are all pronounced [scrupul'esna]. At the same time, many, by virtue of habit, believe that one of the letters should drop out, although this is not so.
The appearance of the spelling variant “meticulously”, in which the letter “u” is transferred between the consonants “k” and “p”, is a consequence of such a phenomenon as “metathesis” (when a word is rearranged in a different place). This rearrangement is quite common in many Slavic languages, adding a headache to those who want to write correctly. There are a number of problematic words that are difficult to remember because of an ingrained metathesis. So, the question often arises: how to: meticulously / scrupulously, colander / drushlag, institution / institution?
The reason for such errors is the prevalence of open syllables in the Russian language, making it pleasant to hear. Therefore, most of the terms “borrowed” from less melodic languages ​​(where three or more consonants in a row are normal), Russian-speaking people are necessarily “diluted” with additional vowels. So, the above word “colander” comes from the German “durkslag”, but such a sound did not really take root and therefore many still make a mistake when writing - “drushlag”.
Origin of the word
Before you consider how scrupulously / meticulously spelled, it is worthwhile to find out how this term appeared and what it previously meant.
This word also came into the Russian language from another, however, not from German, like a colander, but from Latin through the mediation of French.
In ancient Rome, small sharp pebbles lying on the road were called "scrupulus". Later this word migrated to most European languages.
It got into Russian thanks to the French term “scrupuleux” (thorough) and soon became the name for the measure of weight of scrupules (1.244 g), which was actively used in Russia in pharmaceuticals. And since the life and health of his patients depended on the accuracy of the amount of the necessary drug measured by the pharmacist, the adjective “scrupulous” arose from the noun “scruples”, which contributed to the appearance of the term “scrupulousness”.
Meaning of the word
The noun "scrupulousness" means incredible accuracy and accuracy, one can even say meticulousness in the details. A synonym for it is "thoroughness", sometimes - "good faith."
Scrupulousness as a disease
Many believe that such a quality of personality as scrupulousness is akin to a mental disorder. It is sad to admit, but there is some truth to this. Scrupulous people, on the one hand, are very good workers (surgeons, scientists, engineers), but dealing with them is not easy, often they are prone to asociality. Such persons are accustomed to noticing the shortcomings and mistakes of others, and the good memory that scrupulous people often possess does not allow us to forget about it.
Two types of scrupulousness are known: protracted and short-term. It is almost impossible to get rid of the first, it is a fundamental personality trait and only worsens over time. The second is not amenable to correction and is able to help its owner achieve success in his chosen field, but at the same time not affect his social life.
How to write: meticulous or meticulous
Oddly enough, many educated Russian-speaking citizens still sacredly believe that the spelling “meticulous” is the correct option.
However, this is the wrong opinion: this option does not meet the standards of the modern Russian language.
Perhaps in the future, linguists will meet people and make this term more pronounced, or at least allow both options to be used. But today, choosing "meticulous" or "meticulous": how to write correctly - preference should be given to the second option.
How to accustom yourself not to be confused
Having learned about the causes of the problem, as well as about the origin of the term itself, its meaning and spelling, it is time to learn not to make mistakes.
If, nevertheless, the question: "Meticulous or meticulous - how to write correctly?" arises often, you can use several tricks so as not to be mistaken.
Many users, when they want to quickly find out how to spell a particular word, simply look for it in their favorite search engine. This method is pretty fast and efficient. With it, you can find out: meticulous or meticulous - how to spell the word. Since the second option is correct, there will always be more results with it.
You can just remember that the word "cereal" is used as a test of spelling. Of course, it is not one-root, since it came to Russian from the Proto-Slavic language, but in meaning it is closely connected with the “meticulous” (collecting to the grains).
As you know, only a dead language is invariable, and in other cases it is constantly changing, enriched with new words and adapting for the convenience of its speakers. Scrupulous or scrupulous - how to write? The appearance of this problem in most Russian-speaking people is connected with the desire to adapt a foreign word to the peculiarities of their native language and indicates that Russian continues to develop actively today.