Ah, the smells of summer. We recognize the taste and smell of barbecue, but do we know how to spell it? Iowa State University English professor Christiana Langenberg says the dictionary spelling of the word barbecue isn’t the way most of us spell the word. The dictionary shows the word spelled with a C-U-E, while most people use the everyday spelling with a Q-U-E. Langenberg says the abbreviated version — with just the letters B-B-Q — is just a product of the English language. Langenberg says there is nothing to do about the confusion, since both spellings seem to be accepted for now.

Radio Iowa