By Dan Friedman December 16, 2009

The bewildering world of the interTweet gets stranger day-by-day. Tom Cokill, a self-avowed Roman Catholic, followed his twitter post about Leeds United’s glorious victory over Accrington Stanley, with a correction of Stephen Fry’s spelling of Hanukkah.

Herewith the tweet from Stephen Fry, read by millions daily:

Just emerged from fun hannukah party at the Chief Rabbi’s house. Latkes and lox and bagel and blintzes. Hurrah. 12:26 PM Dec 14th from Tweetie

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Herewith Tom Cokill’s response, read by tens, at least:

@stephenfry its spelt chanukah, and I’m roman catholic!! 2:39 PM Dec 14th from UberTwitter in reply to stephenfry

Now Jewish things move more slowly in Britain than in America, but you know that the spelling of Hanukkah, Chanukah gag is a bit old, when Robert Siegel on NPR did four years earlier.

Still, it hasn’t stopped people’s delight in transliteration, even at book-length.

Still, when Sir Stephen tells you that there are options, there are options:

@TomCokill Er… you’ve been misinformed. It’s actually Hebrew of course, but there are at least 4 perfectly permissible English versions. 3:09 PM Dec 14th from Tweetie in reply to TomCokill

And Tom, thus corrected, can take solace from watching Leeds United against Carlisle in the final of the Northern section of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

Worthy mentions to Benjamin Ivry and David Fagin.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount