Mississippi

 I have always been bothered by the spelling of the word "Mississippi" and have contended that it is downright gluttonous in its use of letters from our alphabet. Seriously, does it need four "i"s? Would it have hurt anyone to toss in a "y" at the end, as in "Mississippy"? And then you have two double sets of "s" and a double "p." My online research into how the name came to be yielded the following:

The word "Mississippi" is derived from the Ojibwe (Chippewa) words "misi-ziibi," which means "great river" or "big river." The name was used by French explorers to refer to the river that is now known as the Mississippi River. The use of double letters in "Mississippi" is a result of the way the word was transcribed into English from the original Native American language. In the English language, double letters often occur in words to indicate specific pronunciation patterns, but in this case, it is largely coincidental and influenced by the original spelling and pronunciation in the Native American language. The French adaptation "Messipi" also played a role in shaping the spelling we use today.

My takeaway here: the French got involved and complicated everything.

—Mitchell Hegman