shittingvsshortingWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“shitting” and “shorting” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,242
“shitting” frequency rank
#46,774
“shorting” frequency rank
64016
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shitting shorting
Definition The act of defecating. short selling

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set shitting and shorting apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
shitting
8 ch
shorting

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

shitting and shorting are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shitting is recorded at frequency rank #17,242, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃɪtɪŋ/. shorting is at rank #46,774, tagged as anoun.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 64016, this pair ranks #79,898 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of shitting vs shorting

Shared letters: ghinst. Private to "shitting": -. Private to "shorting": or.

"shitting" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "shorting" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • shittinghsitting · shhitting · shiting · shititng · shittign · shittingg · shittinng · shittnig
  • shortinghsorting · shhorting · shoritng · shorrting · shortign · shortingg · shortinng · shortnig

Frequency comparison

shitting#17,242
shorting#46,774

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "shitting" and "shorting" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "shitting" or "shorting"?
"shitting" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,242 in our English list, against #46,774 for "shorting". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering shitting vs shorting

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “shitting” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list