Forfill / fulfill ? Why do people say forfill sometimes?

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HellBender

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Nov 3, 2006
Hi everyone! I have hard problems with the word FORFILL, does it even exist or is it a miss spelled version of FULFILL? I know fulfill is spelled with 1 or 2 L's depending on the UK/US region.

Anyway my friends claim the word FORFILL exist and I have asked my American friend and he says there is no such word. Then I browsed like 3 different lexicons and didn't find it.

Then I browsed google.com and found this word in situations dealing with religion and sexual situations, such as forfill you dreams. So does this word exist for "real”? Is it an ancient version of fullfill, is it an Australian word? Or why do people use it if it doesn’t exist?

So even if this word not is used today I'm still interested in if it has existed or where it comes from?

Thanks in advance!
 

Mariner

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Oct 4, 2006
Hi, and welcome aboard :hi:

Forfill doesn't exist in the Oxford English Dictionary, and if it doesn't exist there, it means that it doesn't exist ;-)

Of course, a quick google search revealed the truth...
[SIZE=-1]I have a mission to forfill for and with God.[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]

[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]So, I guess it's an alternative spelling for fulfill, not standardized of course (i.e. Standard AmE or BrE consider this a spelling mistake). I don't think there's any connection with religious or sexual semantic fields; just a coincidence
[/SIZE]
 

HellBender

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Nov 3, 2006
Thanks for your replay! Well I wonder how I should proceed then because I need to know for a song text that shall be printed on our next record release. Would be a mess if I spell wrong and we do sing forfill but I still have the possibility to write fulfill. It drives me nuts! :-D
 

Mariner

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Oct 4, 2006
Ah! Now you're adding a very interesting factor...

It's a matter of choice, balancing a lot of things. I would guess that it depends on the style of your album, the style of your music, etc. If you do pronounce it "forfill" in the song, as I've understood, and since we're talking about modern music (wild guess here:cool:), I see no reason why not writing "forfill". It really is a matter of style here... A quick google search for lyrics+forfill revealed a respectable 1240 hits with songs from various artists. So, why not yours ;-)
 

HellBender

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Nov 3, 2006
I guess you're right mate. Thanks for the search I didn't know it was so many lyrics just by google that had the word forfill.

Anyway if someone know the reason / background to why some use the word forfill when it's not the correct word it would be really fun to know.

Thanks again Mariner! :-D
 

MikeNewYork

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I guess you're right mate. Thanks for the search I didn't know it was so many lyrics just by google that had the word forfill.

Anyway if someone know the reason / background to why some use the word forfill when it's not the correct word it would be really fun to know.

Thanks again Mariner! :-D

As far as I am concerned, "forfill" is just a mistake. If you use it, expect criticism.
 

HellBender

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Nov 3, 2006
Hi Mike and thanks for your replay. I guess you're right but it's amazing in my eyes that so many still use a miss spelled word don't you think ?
 

MrPedantic

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Hello HB

Some people are not as good at spelling as they are at other things, and spell as they speak. Then too, you often find misspellings on sites with religious or sexual content¹; members are often in a state of extreme excitement.

I would use the correct spelling myself. You refer to the lyric sheet when you can't understand the song; you will only create more confusion if you put "forfill" for "fulfill". The net result will be a hundred more threads like this one, on various forums, asking "what does forefill mean?".

All the best,

MrP

¹ Or so I'm told.
 

Philly

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Jun 3, 2006
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I agree with MrP and Mike. To me "forfill" is simply a spelling error.
It reminds me, for example, of what some people write intead of "should've". People who spell badly often write "should of" (because that's what "should've" sounds like when spoken).
.
 

HellBender

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Nov 3, 2006
Now when I have replays from Finland, UK and USA I feel convinced! Thanks for all replays and I will use fulfill! ;-)
 

MikeNewYork

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Now when I have replays from Finland, UK and USA I feel convinced! Thanks for all replays and I will use fulfill! ;-)

Good for you! We don't need any more bad spellers. :-D
 
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