Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: Incorrectly
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This is a popular trick riddle about language. At first, it sounds like a spelling or vocabulary question, but it is actually a play on words. The key is to understand that the phrase “always spelled incorrectly” may not be referring to a mistake but to the literal spelling of a specific word. Recognizing this twist is important for verbal reasoning and exam style puzzle questions.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
The trick lies in interpreting “incorrectly”. Instead of asking for a word that people always spell in a wrong way, the riddle uses “incorrectly” as the name of a specific English word. The word “incorrectly” is always spelled I N C O R R E C T L Y whenever it appears. Therefore, the only word that is literally always spelled “incorrectly” is the word “Incorrectly” itself.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Notice that many options are odd spellings, such as “Schezwan” or “Psycologically”, which look like misspelled versions of real words.
Step 2: Realize that the riddle is probably not asking about common spelling mistakes, but about a pun on the word “incorrectly”.
Step 3: Understand that whenever you write the word “Incorrectly” correctly, you have literally “spelled incorrectly”.
Step 4: Choose “Incorrectly” as the answer because it matches the joke in the question.
Verification / Alternative check:
If we were to read the riddle as a serious spelling question, none of the other words are always spelled wrongly in all contexts. “Schezwan” can be an informal variant of “Sichuan”, “Yorker” is a cricket term, and “Psycologically” is just a misspelling of “Psychologically”. However, the riddle format strongly suggests a wordplay answer. The word “Incorrectly” is unique because the sentence “This word is always spelled incorrectly” is true both as a joke and as a literal statement when we read “incorrectly” as the specific word.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
“Schezwan”, “Yorker”, and “Psycologically” are not inherently always wrong. A person can choose to spell them correctly or incorrectly in different contexts, and some may be dialectal or variant spellings. The riddle is not about judging their correctness in dictionaries. It is about the special property of the word “Incorrectly” when used inside the question.
Common Pitfalls:
Many learners initially look for the most obviously misspelled word and pick it as the answer, treating the problem as a spelling test. This misses the logical twist. In tricky verbal riddles, always consider whether a word in the question itself might be the answer, especially if the phrasing feels unusually clever or playful.
Final Answer:
The only word that is always spelled “incorrectly” is the word Incorrectly itself.
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