Why is the word "Centurion" so widely misspelled?

[Smartin]

...with an A???

There is never, and never has been a CenturiAn.

WHY, though, do we see this error in countless instances? I even remember seeing it in a published book!!:confused:

[Centurion]

I agree, Adam. I always cringe a bit when I see "Centurion" spelled "Centurian". In general, there's alot of sloppy spelling out there -- especially online.

I've also met a few Buick owners along the way, including two Centurion original owners, who pronounce the name differently.

The first pronunciation shown in Merriam-Webster online is the way I've always said it:

sen-'chur-E-&n

But these folks pronounce it as follows:

sen-'tyur-E-&n

or

sen-'tur-E-&n

Has anyone else encountered this pronunciation?

[Smartin]

The last pronunciation is very similar to the ch-sounding one.....I think a lot of that has to do with dialect.

There is the ever-present sen-'chur -E-ahn, where there is unnecessary stress on the O. It seems unnatural to say it like this.

[Bob Alberini]

One of my "favorites" was when the Centurions were still fairly new and I found one advertised in the local newspaper as a 72 Buick Futurion 4 door. I wished I had saved the ad! Rivieras and LeSabres have the same identity problem and are frequently butchered to this day with various spellings -- Riveria, LaSabre, LaSaber, etc. so the Centurions are not the only ones that are subject to this quirk.