# "Enuf is enuf. Enough is too much." Protestors at the Washington DC Spelling Bee **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 4, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913 "2010-06-04T12:27:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/1 "2010-06-04T12:27:20Z")
> [@](#): > > In DC, even the Spelling Bee draws protesters > > WASHINGTON – The nation’s capital always draws its share of protesters, picketing for causes ranging from health care reform to immigration policy. > > But spelling bee protesters? They’re out here, too. > > Four peaceful protesters, some dressed in full-length black and yellow bee costumes, represented the American Literacy Council and the London-based Spelling Society and stood outside the Grand Hyatt on Thursday, where the Scripps National Spelling Bee is being held. Their message was short: Simplify the way we spell words. > > Roberta Mahoney, 81, a former Fairfax County, Va. elementary school principal, said the current language obstructs 40 percent of the population from learning how to read, write and spell. > > “Our alphabet has 425-plus ways of putting words together in illogical ways,” Mahoney said. > > The protesting cohort distributed pins to willing passers-by with their logo, “Enuf is enuf. Enough is too much.” > > According to literature distributed by the group, it makes more sense for “fruit” to be spelled as “froot,” “slow” should be “slo,” and “heifer” — a word spelled correctly during the first oral round of the bee Thursday by Texas competitor Ramesh Ghanta — should be “hefer.” > > Meanwhile, inside the hotel’s Independence Ballroom, 273 spellers celebrated the complexity of the language in all its glory, correctly spelling words like zaibatsu, vibrissae and biauriculate. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100603/ap\_on\_re\_us/us\_spelling\_bee\_protest](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100603/ap_on_re_us/us_spelling_bee_protest) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/2 "2010-06-04T12:29:58Z")
wut u bunsh uv more ons. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/3 "2010-06-04T12:33:22Z")
You mean “morans”. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/4 "2010-06-04T12:35:53Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > You mean “morans”. i gess i du. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/5 "2010-06-04T12:54:46Z")
I swear - this country really will turn into _[Idiocracy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/)_ before we know it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/6 "2010-06-04T13:08:08Z")
Eh. Noah Webster had some similar ideas, and the spelling bee is a sensible place to protest this even if it’s a really stupid thing to get worked up about. When I saw the thread title I was worried the Westboro Baptist Church was going to show up at the Bee. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/7 "2010-06-04T13:21:58Z")
Heifer should be simplified to ‘heffer’, not ‘hefer’. 🙂 Unless we’re going to completely rationalize things, one sound for one letter? If so, we’d better start adding letters… ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/8 "2010-06-04T13:24:14Z")
These people need to get a lyfe. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/9 "2010-06-04T13:29:40Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > These people need to get a lyfe. Lyf or lif, what’s with the extra “e”? :p:D ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/10 "2010-06-04T13:39:18Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Unless we’re going to completely rationalize things, one sound for one letter? If so, we’d better start adding letters… Yes, sixteen new letters _will_ make spelling easier, won’t it? Unless you decide to write to, or read anything from, a person or place with a different speaking accent. And of course the homophone problem will be greatly aided by having those words _also_ indistinguishable in written form! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/11 "2010-06-04T13:46:54Z")
With the repeal of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell,” I thought we did away with our homophone problem. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/12 "2010-06-04T14:42:50Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Yes, sixteen new letters _will_ make spelling easier, won’t it? That isn’t the only way of doing it. We _could_ do like Spanish and have a normal (for Europe) alphabet but regularize the values assigned to letters and sequences of letters. > [@](#): > > Unless you decide to write to, or read anything from, a person or place with a different speaking accent. Ask a Spanish-speaker if this is a problem in real life. To the best of my knowledge, it isn’t. > [@](#): > > And of course the homophone problem will be greatly aided by having those words _also_ indistinguishable in written form! :smack: This is a possibly valid concern, but it’s balanced by the elimination of homonyms and, on a philosophical level, it’s better to have the written language be a more accurate transcription of the spoken language, which takes precedence. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/13 "2010-06-04T16:11:16Z")
The more things change…: [Simplified Spelling Board - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Spelling_Board) ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/14 "2010-06-04T16:30:38Z")
double plus un-good! ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/15 "2010-06-04T16:33:36Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > That isn’t the only way of doing it. We _could_ do like Spanish and have a normal (for Europe) alphabet but regularize the values assigned to letters and sequences of letters. > > Ask a Spanish-speaker if this is a problem in real life. To the best of my knowledge, it isn’t. I don’t know that Spanish accents vary as much as English does, worldwide. If it does, then I don’t see any way Spanish could possibly be written truly phonetically without there being different spellings for different people. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/16 "2010-06-04T16:41:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > According to literature distributed by the group, it makes more sense for “fruit” to be spelled as “froot,” “slow” should be “slo,” and “heifer” — a word spelled correctly during the first oral round of the bee Thursday by Texas competitor Ramesh Ghanta — should be “hefer.” Isn’t that just Dutch or Afrikaans? 😃 How do we choose what accent the simplified spelling shoud originate from? Will the SDMB’s host publication be the Shuhkager Reeduh if the Brits have their way? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/17 "2010-06-04T16:42:26Z")
You could always just adopt the **Shaw Alphabet** and not have to deal with this. I’ve got a copy of the Penguin edition of _Androcles and the Lion_ printed in this form. It really does take up less space, and you can get used to it after a while. But I’d hate to see it actually implemented. we’d lose too much. > **[shawalphabet.com](http://ww38.shawalphabet.com/)** > > This domain may be for sale! > **[Shavian alphabet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavian_alphabet)** > > The Shavian alphabet (/ˈʃeɪviən/; also known as the Shaw alphabet) is an alphabet conceived as a way to provide simple, phonemic orthography for the English language to replace the difficulties of conventional spelling using the Latin alphabet. It was posthumously funded by and named after Irish playwright Bernard Shaw. > Shaw set three main criteria for the new alphabet. It should be: > The Shavian alphabet consists of three types of letters: tall, deep and short. Short letters are vowels, liq... [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_xRuVvl5F28/maxresdefault.jpg "Shaw Alphabet Androcles") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xRuVvl5F28) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/18 "2010-06-04T16:49:26Z")
Why are they protesting? There’s no official orthography in this country. People can spell words however they like. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/19 "2010-06-04T16:58:41Z")
Unorthodox spellings are a wonderful reminder of our cultural heritage, and it would be a damn shame to see them lost. Just learn to spell, you morans! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913/20 "2010-06-04T17:04:11Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Isn’t that just Dutch or Afrikaans? 😃 > > How do we choose what accent the simplified spelling shoud originate from? Will the SDMB’s host publication be the Shuhkager Reeduh if the Brits have their way? I wonder whether there’s a way to do something midway between the spelling we have now and a true-phonetic spelling which would represent all accents accurately, and thus change depending on which accent you were using. Maybe there’s a way to create some sort of ‘nominal’ spelling which would be more regular than the traditional, but still let us pronounce things according to our own accents. Thus, ‘cat’ would have a different vowel spelling than ‘kate’, and ‘kate’ would not need the silent e, but we wouldn’t spell out the difference between the æ sound in North American pronunciations of ‘cat’, and the ah-sound in UK pronunciations of ‘cat’. I found the Shaw alphabet on the net one time and tried to learn it; I found that a lot of the vowel sounds were confusing until I realized that he was probably speaking with some sort of English accent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enuf-is-enuf-enough-is-too-much-protestors-at-the-washington-dc-spelling-bee/541913.md?page=2)