Mischievous, Mischievious

Is There Some Mischief in Being Mischievious?

I like Wuggle Pets! They’re cute. I think I’ll order the mischievious monkey. What’s that? You say that there is no such word as mischievious.

Well, listen to this commercial. This word is used here at 0:47, so it must be right. [English Essay Writing Tips derives no income from this commercial. There is also no guarantee that it will still be available for you to hear.]
The truth is that there is mischief here. Regrettably, it is not as much in the cute monkey as it is in the wrong pronunciation of the word mischievous.

The wrong pronunciation, which is becoming quite common, has an extra syllable that leads to the incorrect spelling of the word. 

The following table compares the correct and incorrect pronunciations and spellings:

Mischievous versus Mischievious
	Incorrect	Correct
Pronunciation	mis – chee’ – vee – uhs Note: - The emphasis is on the second syllable. - The third syllable is an intrusion.	mis’ – chi – vis Note: - The emphasis is on the first syllable. - The i’s in the second and third syllables are half-vowel sounds.
Spelling	mischievious or mischevious	mischievous

Click here to hear the correct pronunciation of mischievous.
The first loudspeaker icon on that web page will give you the British pronunciation; the second icon will give you the American pronunciation. Neither way incorporates the intrusive syllable.

More mischief
One website lists the “real word” as “mischievious” and the “common misspelling as “mischievous.” They go on to state that they are “pretty sure” the word mischievous is misspelled, and then they list links for further research. 

Although the links themselves evince the correctness of mischievous, they have embraced the error. [It would have been good to point this out directly to them, but their contact information is missing.]
 
Mischievous has no legitimate place in the English language, and its use cannot be justified. It is possible that it has arisen by confusion with the sound of words that do have the –vious ending, such as envious, previous, and devious. 

Don’t be devious. Don’t indulge in the mischief of giving this word a third eye i. It has only two i’s like my mischievous monkey.
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Your comments, observations, and questions are welcome. Are you aware of other words whose pronunciation is questionable? Ask here for clarification.

If you ever find a dead link in this article, please comment here to alert me to this. Your help is appreciated.
Here are more articles to help you with English words, grammar, and essay writing.

This item was written to help you in your use of the English language. The writer, Owen Fourie, is the owner of Flawhound, an online tutoring service guiding you to improve your writing skills.

The 8 Habits of Successful GCs Includes Being 'Mischievous'

The most successful general counsel show low “excitability” but are highly “mischievous,” according to a new report that highlights the eight habits of highly effective legal executives.

Just what does being “mischievous” mean? It means going “well beyond spotting legal issues to helping the business actually take risks and find creative solutions,” according to the report by executive-search firm Russell Reynolds Associates. In fact, the”best” legal executives are 11% more willing to take risks than less-effective legal execs, the report found.

In addition to mischief and low excitability, the rest of the eight habits of successful GCs are:

• Decisiveness,
• Social Boldness,
• Striving for Achievement,
• Social Confidence,
• Competitiveness, and
• Persuasiveness.

"Taken together, our findings suggest that legal executives should strive to become what we call the 'calm risk taker," the report states.

To that end, RRA suggests "decreasing excitability and increasing mischievousness" through various on-the-job experiences. For example, volunteering for a leadership role in crisis management, or with a team that's leanly staffed or geographically isolated, can work to decrease a legal executive's excitability.

Other activities such as participating in a new-product development exercise or leading a strategic-planning session (without focusing on the legal implications) can help make a legal executive more "mischievous," the report states.

The report also found that general counsels' successful habits aren't all that different from those found in the non-legal world. RRA's report is based on an analysis of 3,000 assessment tests that measured legal executives' skills in decision-making, communication, and relationships.

A mischievous look at consumer culture: GuruGuru
 

“You have been told what to do every moment of the day, for years on end. The voice in your headphones has understood who you are and gives instructions which mirror what you’d be doing anyway. A life free of dither and uncertainty! In your job, this voice is a career-saver… but the day has come when you need to come ‘off the headphones’. You need help.”

This is the setting for a new production at London-based Camden’s People’s Theater: GuruGuru. Created by Ant Hampton, who is a member of artistic collective Rotozaza, in collaboration with film-maker Joji Koyama and electronic composer Isambard Khroustaliov, GuruGuru, which means ’round and round’ in Japanese, takes a mischievous and surreal look at focus groups, self-help culture and the consumer mindset.
Only performed for/with five people each time, the five theatre goers will enter a brightly lit room where five chairs are positioned around a TV. A session begins, and as each audience member follows different instructions via headphones, they begin to understand ‘who they are’.

Proceedings are led by an on-screen, animated character whose twin roles of marketing and spiritual guru are confused by his reliance on untested and accident-prone technologies.

The production hopes to unsettle our dependency on self help books and consumerism: “The overproduced, digital sheen of our focus-group world cracks open into a colorful volcano of boiling absurdity. A hilarious chaos develops, exposing today’s consumer-mad inability to distinguish between what we want, and what we need.”

Elf - Elf's, mischievous little people

 

Elf

	Little People's Market

Originally a supernatural dwarfish being of Germanic mythology, an elemental spirit of the land, sea and forest, possessed of magical powers which it used for the good or ill of mankind.

Later the name was used for a malignant imp, and then for fairy creatures that dance on the grass in the full moon, such as a mountain fay or, usually, as a small sprite.

	Sprite Needs His Socks Darned By a Dragonfly Who Is Sitting On a Mushroom

Mischievous elves are thought to bring evil, especially bad dreams.

In recent times elves became popularized into larger creatures, near to the size of a human being, loving music and magic and are generally peaceful forest dwellers.

In the middle-1800s Scandinavian writers such as Thile, Toplius, Rydberg sketched the elves' true role in modern life: fairies that are somewhat mischievous, but the true friends and helpers of Father Christmas (Santa Claus). They are the Christmas elves.

 

The Elf on a Shelf - 10 Sets of Mischievous Ideas For Adding Magic to Your Holiday Season

The Elf on the Shelf Christmas and Elf Magic traditions are sweeping the nation -- for good reason. They offer a delightful way to build excitement for the holidays, and keep children on their best behavior. Here is how they work.

The "official" Elf on the Shelf, Elf Magic Elf or a another elf, arrives at your home early in the Christmas season to spend the holidays with your family.

Each night the Elf on a Shelf returns to the North Pole, while your children are sleeping, to report to Santa regarding their behavior.

While the Elf on the Shelf Elves have a more staid reputation, the Elf Magic Elves are a mischievous bunch, and have a tendency to make a mess or pull a crazy stunt while everyone is asleep. Your kids will love to wake up each morning and see what trouble the Elf got into the night before.

Here are ten ideas found around the internet and from local families to inspire your elf:

Elves Love to Do What Your Kids Love To Do
Elves adapt quickly to a household, and many mornings are found busy with the favorite activities of the kids who live there. Reading favorite books, playing games (including the Wii or Nintendo DS), having a tea party with best-loved dolls, and riding skateboards are all favorite Elf past times.

Elves Are Into Computers and Social Media
Elves in homes with teens have been known to have email, Facebook and Twitter accounts to keep an online eye on the kids and send funny emails, status updates and tweets. Many elves also seem to surf the internet late at night, finding fun new sites for the kids to enjoy.

Elves Love to be in Pictures
Apparently, Elves are very good at self portraits. Many families have found their digital cameras full of pictures of their Elves in all kinds of crazy poses.

Elves Often Have A Driver's License
If an Elf cannot be found in the morning, the car is the first place to look. Elves are often found in the driver's seat, sitting on a stack of pillows or books. The car may be parked backwards or in a crazy position, and in some cases even down the street or in a neighbor's driveway. Typically, Christmas music is blaring through the speakers and the gas tank is mysteriously closer to empty than before.

Elves Write in Journals
Elves and children often learn more about each other and build bonds by writing letters back and forth. Some Elves arrive with a festively decorated journal to keep all the correspondence in one place. It has been rumored that some Elves only write backwards, so children must hold the note up to the mirror to read it. A few are conversant in Pig Latin or other codes that older kids must decipher.

Elves Tell Potty Jokes, Too
Bathroom humor spans all languages and species. Elves love to turn the toilet water green (with food coloring), decorate Christmas trees in underwear, toilet paper kids rooms or whole houses, and write on bathroom mirrors with mom's lipstick.

Elves Spell Their Names - Everywhere!
Each Elf has a name. Some are named by the children they watch. Others arrive with a note introducing the Elf. Either way, all Elves seem to love to leave their signature as often as possible. Maybe the Elf's name is written in Cheerios, flour, or chocolate syrup on the counter. Other times in toothpaste on the bathroom mirror. Best of all, in food coloring on freshly fallen snow.

Elves Love Things That Remind Them of Home
Cotton ball snowball fights are a favorite past time of elves. Also, Elves often make elf sized snow angels. If real snow is not available, then Insta-Snow or flour make good substitutes. A favorite game for Elves is Candy Lane. If the house does not already have a copy, Elves have been known to bring one from the North Pole as an early Christmas gift.

Elves Do Not Always Come Alone
What could be better than an Elf on the Shelf? Several Elves, of course. That means the mischief can multiply and children awake to elaborate scenes of Elf mayhem. Maybe a poker game or baseball or football match or a play with Elves in costume (borrowed from other dolls).

Elves Play With Their Neighbor Elves
So many families have their own Elf on a Shelf during the holidays that Elves join with neighbor Elves to increase the fun. Many neighbor elves have been waiting together at the bus stop for their children to arrive. Other Elves host a Christmas party for neighborhood kids.

As you can see, the possibilities are endless for your elf tradition. Happy Holidays!

 

Elves.  Elves have always been known mainly for two things in this world of ours: being incredibly short, and their famous Keebler Elf cookies (which I quite enjoy, especially the rainbow ones).  But, with that being said, I have a new fact to share with you about elves.  They are sneaky! Not just sneaky, but mischievous!  They are probably more mischievous than a pre-school class full of tempered two-year olds.

            It all started on a Saturday night.  I had been stuck at home during a storm, and had decided to flip through the television for some form of entertainment.  I just sat there on the couch in my pajamas and thick blue bathrobe.  I scanned through the channels slowly, looking for decent program, and became stuck on a re-run of “Who’s Company?” for some time.  From time to time, I’d feel tempted to turn the channel, and look down for the remote.  Surprisingly, the remote would be moved from its’ original spot.  Sometimes, on a completely different side of the table, and I would be shocked to see it moved.  I found myself talking out loud.

            “I didn’t put it there…”  I whispered quietly to myself.  I looked around on the floor, but nothing out of the ordinary was to be seen, except for the remote control with a mind of its’ own.   Maybe this was all in my mind, I thought.  It has to be.  That’s what I get for staying in for a Saturday night.

            I decided to turn the station.  The programming was becoming boring, and I wanted to see what else might be on.  I set the remote back down after flipping onto a music video station.  Music videos had always been enjoyable to watch, in my opinion.  Seeing artists make sense of their lyrics and sounds through acting and other ways.  A random hip-hop video played by a little known rapper.  I was singing along with the hook of the chorus, when suddenly the channel changed back to “Who’s Company?”