# 2008 Scripps Spelling Bee

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-scripps-spelling-bee/451226>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 31, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-scripps-spelling-bee/451226 "2008-05-31T02:55:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-scripps-spelling-bee/451226/1 "2008-05-31T02:55:24Z")

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Didn’t watch it, but now I wish I did- the winning speller was apparently quite the little jokester, with a one-liner for each word. But the biggest laugh of the night came when he misheard his next word as “numbnut” and was explainably surprised. That would be rather unusual. Must have been as entertaining as that face-contorting musical robot.

Congratulations, Sameer. Buy yourself something nice with your guerdon.

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**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-scripps-spelling-bee/451226/2 "2008-05-31T03:07:36Z")

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I watched bits and pieces of it. I didn’t realize the Bee used non-English words! How can a kid study for that?

These kids seemed pretty normal, compared to previous Bees. The 12-year-old with the moustache – don’t see many of those.

The runner-up – he knew that word, didn’t he? I think he just forgot to say the “i”.

I made it to the county bee in 8th grade. Missed “hearsay”. :smack: My oldest son made it to the citywide bee in Seattle, in 7th grade. He missed “vicissitudes”. Forgot the second “s”.

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**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-scripps-spelling-bee/451226/3 "2008-05-31T03:15:30Z")

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Looking at the [official website](http://www.spellingbee.com), yes, the runner-up forgot an I.

All words used in the Scripps National Spelling Bee are words listed in its official reference source, Webster’s Third New International Dictionary.

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**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-scripps-spelling-bee/451226/4 "2008-05-31T03:45:06Z")

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Ha! There’s a spelling bee on the website. I missed five – miscible, galimatias, pinyin, eidetic, and cacoeumithes. I was surprised to get beignet and cygnet correct.

Boxed that in case they don’t rotate the words and someone else might want to give it a go. It’s fun.

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-scripps-spelling-bee/451226/5 "2008-05-31T05:58:57Z")

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[QUOTE=AuntiePam]  
I watched bits and pieces of it. I didn’t realize the Bee used non-English words! How can a kid study for that?

[/QUOTE]

They’re all English words, as long as your definition of “English” includes “every loan-word from every other language ever.”