The idea that brinksmanship is a misspelling is absolutely mad or at least an example of the worst kind of pedantry Some dictionaries The OED lists it as a US variant and its US counterpart lists it as an alternate thus brinkmanship bri ng kmn sh ip also brinksmanship bri ng ksmn noun the art or practice of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stopping typically in politics People if its listed as a variant in dictionaries it is not an erroneous spelling for heavens sake Im removing that wildly unjustified implication