Some of the more ardent Puddlers may notice that I have not been around much, lately. The reason for my absence is a combination of three things. First is the heatwave. It is wearing me out. Secondly, my work. I am overworked. Thirdly, I have not yet won the lottery, which means that I have to go to work and be overworked in a building that does not have air-conditioning during a heatwave. In short, I've been experiencing something known among the Germans as "Weltschmerz", meaning "world-weariness."OK, having said all of that, let me say Congratulations to the girl whose picture is shown here. Her name is Finola Mei Hwa Hackett, and she placed second in the 78th Annual Scripps Spelling Bee competition, held in Washington DC.
As a fellow Canadian, [Finola hails from Tofield, Alberta], I am fiercely proud of this girl, and her achievement. If I am not mistaken, I think the contest begins with something like 12 or 13 million contestants…. then these are whittled down day-by-day to a select number of severe brainiac kids, who stand there at a microphone and correctly spell words like “bdellium.”
Meaning, “a fragrant resin produced by a number of trees related to myrrh, used in perfumes.”
Of course!
I have three bags of the stuff right here in my cupboard, next to the Kraft Dinner©! Honestly, I saw this word asked, and the kid got it right. [You don’t pronounce the “b” by the way].
I mean… the average age of these contestants is somewhere around 12 and 13.
Shouldn’t they be spelling stuff like “hipopottammus” and “sinnamin” and “ardvark”?
These Scripps people are TOUGH! Tough as nales!
So it was the crazy word “weltschmerz” that finally eluded Finola. That innocent-sounding [but oh so evil] little bell rang out, when she missed this word. Again, it is not pronounced as it appears, but pronounced with a “v” sound.
The winner, 13-year old Katherine Close, from New Jersey, correctly spelled “ursprachne”…. another word which should be deemed unfair because let’s face it… it is just not a real word. What is it anyway? --> “A facial skin condition of bears, immortalized in the constellation Ursa Acne?”
Ursprachne!
“The sound my cat makes when he hacks up a hairball?”
What actual human being has ever used it in a sentence?
But she got it. Katherine got it!
What I loved to see was Finola’s reaction, when she realized she was beaten.
She beamed a big bright smile, and promptly congratulated Katherine. Her praise for her victor, was immediate.
It was one of the most gracious things I have ever seen.
So, Congratulations to you both, Katherine and Finola.You bowth spellt stuf awwsumly. I cood have never spelt haff the stuff you spelt, and I myself amm rather brilyunt!
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4 comments:
I watched it live and was crushed! Of course, weltschmerz starts with a W!!!! It's German...I was dying as she sweated it out and tried to grind those letters into her little hand. And then the personality-less other kid got up and spelled everything thrown at her. I think that kid could have spelled anything.
But speaking of spelling bees, here's an amusing story I came across when reading about the aforementioned bee...enjoy:
Can you spell 'drrty'?
Not all of the 34 home-schoolers participating in this year's contest were bounced in the first rounds. Fifth-grader Justin Stewart of Dewey, OK hung on till Wednesday afternoon before being felled by a word he'd never even heard before—let alone used in a sentence. After successfully spelling his way through 'consecrated' (made sacred or holy), 'intracutaneous' (within the skin) and 'acropetal' (developing upward toward the apex from the base), Justin met his match with 'sapphic,' meaning of or pertaining to homosexuality among women. "I just couldn't believe it when they announced his word," says Justin's mother, Annabelle Stewart. "The whole reason we pulled him out of the public schools in the first place is so he wouldn't have to be exposed to a filthy word like that." Mrs. Stewart says that she and other mothers of home-schooled contestants are considering filing a suit against the contest's sponsor through the Home School Legal Defense Association, requiring that all words used in the contest be approved by a parents group. "These kids work so hard to get here and then they're asked to spell words like 'sapphic' and 'secularism,'" Mrs. Stewart complains. "These are terms they shouldn't even have to see or hear, let alone spell."
Very interesting comments Cold Mol. Yes, isn't it a sort of nail-biting thing to watch? Because really, you want all the kids to spell all the words, but you know that sooner or later, the bell is going to toll for them! I can maybe maybe maybe agree with Mrs. Stewart's objection to the word "sapphic" being used, especially since the child, not knowing the word, would have asked for the definition before attempting to spell it. And would have asked to hear it used in a sentence. But the word "secularism"? That objection is crazy! Secondly, the plan to have a parent's group screen the potential words is, I think, problematic. It would be the start of some kind of underground movement where such information could be sold to contestants. [To parents of contestants]. That's all we need. Some kind of.... Spelling Bee Mafioso!
Scene: Dark alleyway, a trench coat... some fog would be nice, too....
"Yeah! So hea's duh woids Mrs. Stoowt... right on 'dis list over hea. Now whez duh loot?"
Have you seen the movie Spellbound? It came out a few years ago and is a documentary about the national spelling bee. It will give you a whole new perspective if you haven't seen it yet.
Stefanie, I'll keep an eye out [well, not literally] for that movie, it sounds interesting.
Thanks.
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