The other day I had symptoms, followed by rubella and arthritis. Then I had penicillin, purgatives, and prescriptions, after which came quarantine and recuperation.
I thought I’d never get through that spelling bee.
Some of the words Ananya Vinay spelled on her way to victory;
Seiche, phthirophagous, dhyana, gargouillade, heiligenschein, berghaan, zeaxanthin, tchefuncte, gifblaar and the winning word, marocain. Incredible for someone in sixth grade. Ironically, all of these words were rejected by spellcheck.
I was reading where spelling bees are performing their way out of existence: the spellers are getting too good, and there are only so many words in the dictionary, resulting in ties.
Our Transcription Department used to put on spelling bees for Hospital Week (they have a vested interest in clinicians knowing how to spell). I went down on “androgenous” one year – I thought they said “androgynous.” Should have asked to have it used in a sentence. Was remembered for doing jumping jacks while spelling “calisthenics.”
Congrats to all the brilliant children, esp. the winner, but have you noticed how often the bees are won by kids of Indian descent? (If that’s not true for Ananya, then I’m an idiot for not checking first.) I bring it up only in connection with the prediction that the future evolution of English will eventually pass from Great Britain and the U.S. to India and maybe China. When that happens, I hope they clean up our hideous spelling. And maybe sweep out all those ridiculous spelling-bee words.
BE THIS GUY over 7 years ago
Congratulations, Ananya!
Sherlock Watson over 7 years ago
The other day I had symptoms, followed by rubella and arthritis. Then I had penicillin, purgatives, and prescriptions, after which came quarantine and recuperation.
I thought I’d never get through that spelling bee.
WaitingMan over 7 years ago
Some of the words Ananya Vinay spelled on her way to victory;
Seiche, phthirophagous, dhyana, gargouillade, heiligenschein, berghaan, zeaxanthin, tchefuncte, gifblaar and the winning word, marocain. Incredible for someone in sixth grade. Ironically, all of these words were rejected by spellcheck.
Masterskrain over 7 years ago
But what about Covfefe?
steverinoCT over 7 years ago
I was reading where spelling bees are performing their way out of existence: the spellers are getting too good, and there are only so many words in the dictionary, resulting in ties.
Linguist over 7 years ago
If God had wanted me to learn to spell, He wouldn’t have invented Spell Check !
gcarlson over 7 years ago
Our Transcription Department used to put on spelling bees for Hospital Week (they have a vested interest in clinicians knowing how to spell). I went down on “androgenous” one year – I thought they said “androgynous.” Should have asked to have it used in a sentence. Was remembered for doing jumping jacks while spelling “calisthenics.”
pschearer Premium Member over 7 years ago
Congrats to all the brilliant children, esp. the winner, but have you noticed how often the bees are won by kids of Indian descent? (If that’s not true for Ananya, then I’m an idiot for not checking first.) I bring it up only in connection with the prediction that the future evolution of English will eventually pass from Great Britain and the U.S. to India and maybe China. When that happens, I hope they clean up our hideous spelling. And maybe sweep out all those ridiculous spelling-bee words.