Hot off of his recent exploration of the inability of Yahoo! Answers users to spell the word “pregnant,” YouTube user J.T. Sexkik has compiled the internet’s similar, feckless attempts at the word “Ouija.” Most of the typos fall into three categories: phonetic (weegi, weegee, weggy); ambitious stabs at accuracy (oija, ooija, oija); and, finally, just “Luigi board” about a dozen times.
Like the Ouija board itself, it’s sort of scary, and kind of amusing, although it lacks the disturbing subtext of the pregnancy misspelling video. And hey, let’s be honest: “Ouija” is a hard word to spell!
The story behind the weird name is pretty fascinating, for what it’s worth. As documented by The Guardian, the board was invented in the late 19th century, and was given its name by a medium named Helen Peters, who said the board told her itself that “Ouija” meant “Good Luck.” Later in her life, the board also told Peters that a member of her family had stolen from her, creating a rift that tore the family apart. To her dying day, she considered the Ouija board a liar.
The lesson is you should take anything you get from a Ouija board with a grain of salt—and trust absolutely nothing on Yahoo! Answers.