Last night I saw the very end the National Spelling Bee Championships. Although I only saw three words, Hard Spell has nothing on these kids. Seriously.
Judge: The word is [phonetically spelt] velschmurts
Speller: Can I have the definition please?
Judge: Velschmurts, sadness over the evils of the world, especially as an expression of romantic pessimism.
Speller: Velmert?
Judge: The word is velschmurts.
Speller: Can I have the language of origin please?
Judge: It is German, velschmurts.
Speller: Velmerts?
Judge: Velschmurts.
Speller: Velschmurts?
Judge: That sounds correct, yes.
The speller looks to her left hand, which she is using as a notepad for her right hand pen. Suddenly a clock appears in the top corner of the screen, revealing she has only 5 seconds left.
Speller: Can I have a bonus minute please?
Judge: Bonus minute granted.
Commentator: (whispering) That’s a very wise move.
Speller: (After more nervous seconds, she looks up from her left hand notepad and begins) v, e, l, t, s, c, h, m, e, r, z
DING
Speller looks crest fallen.
Judge: The correct spelling is w, e, l, t, s, c, h, m, e, r, z
The girl that won they had to spell two other impossibly hard words to win. ‘Kundalini’ (energy that lies dormant at the base of the spine until it is activated, as by the practice of yoga, and channelled upward through the chakras in the process of spiritual perfection. Origin: Sanskrit) and the winning word ‘ursprache’ (a language that is the recorded or hypothetical ancestor of another language or group of languages. Origin: German)
Are you having a laugh? Why would anyone ever need to use those words, let alone spell them!
Unless of course you were suffering from ‘megalosdiatyponoary’ (the unavoidable use of large words that no one has ever heard of before to make yourself sound much more intelligent. Origin: Tina)
Yeah, so I made that one up.
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