Andrew Stuttaford asks of the Guardian:

…is there something a bit unsettling about the way that has been written?

You mean, besides the fact that they can’t spell mischievous? The writer apparently spells it the way the writer (mistakenly) pronounces it.

This is one of my pet peeves. Many people wrongly pronounce this word MISCHEEVEEUS, four syllables, accent on the second syllABle, when there is no long ee sound after the vee, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone actually spell it that way (perhaps attempting to resolve the disparity between the actual word and the way he wants to pronounce it). It’s three syllables–MISchievous.

And, yes, that’s not the only problem with the paragraph he quotes.