# S-h-u-t T-h-e F-u-c-k U-p **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 1, 2003, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931 "2003-06-01T09:46:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![litost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@litost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/litost)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/1 "2003-06-01T09:46:15Z")
Don’t talk OVER the word. Nooooo, I said DON’T DO IT! The word was just pronounced… I missed it… why the fuck are you rambling? In fact, what are you rambling on about? You are just gushing nonsense, you make no fucking sense…oh, SSSHHHH… the contestant is repeating the word and asking for its definition… SHUT UP!..oh, now she is asking if there are alternate pronunciations … CAN YOU SHUT UP AT LEAST NOW?..oh, no, I missed that too!!! WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU? WHO DID YOU STEAL THE MICROPHONE FROM? Now, everything is quiet and guess what, you have FUCKING NOTHING to say! You are probably staring into space and blowing burp bubbles! Seriously, what purpose do you serve Ma’am? You are just repeating the same nonsense again and again… She is from New York, He is from Dallas, She is from Jamaica, That is her coach, those are her parents and those are his parents, He is nine years old, She is in eight-grade, That was a hard word, The words are becoming harder (as if you could fucking spell a single one). You know what, all of us watching can read the name and age and location on the telly and when the camera pans to a bunch of old people with a digital camcorder, we know who they are. So, spare us your annoying cloying voicewhispering sweet nothings. And, **Gadarene** was one of the championship words. P.S: I must admit she seemed genuinely interested, and at times did try to shut up, but couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/2 "2003-06-01T11:39:35Z")
So, let me see if I have this straight, being a foreigner and all – they do “colour commentary” for spelling bees now? Is that it? ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/3 "2003-06-01T12:36:48Z")
I think I feel another Christopher Guest movie coming on, with Fred Willard doing the color commentary during the climactic spelling bee scene. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/4 "2003-06-01T16:54:57Z")
Oh, thank God, I’m not the only geek who watched the spelling bee last night. My boyfriend and I were IMing and watching the spelling bee together at the same time. Actually, the one little girl was annoying us - he kept screaming “Would you spell the FUCKING WORD ALREADY?” after she repeated it eighteen times and asked for the pronunciation and origins ten times. She was just plain stalling at that point. Ava ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/5 "2003-06-01T16:56:19Z")
And what the fuck? Kids have coaches for this now? When I made it to the state spelling bee, I was given a list of words and told to study them. I didn’t have a fucking coach, and I expect I wouldn’t have if I’d made it to the national spelling bee either. Can kids not sit down with a list and study it on their own now, and then have their parents drill them, like mine did? Ava ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/6 "2003-06-01T17:42:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by avabeth \* > \*\*Oh, thank God, I’m not the only geek who watched the spelling bee last night. My boyfriend and I were IMing and watching the spelling bee together at the same time. > > Actually, the one little girl was annoying us - he kept screaming “Would you spell the FUCKING WORD ALREADY?” after she repeated it eighteen times and asked for the pronunciation and origins ten times. She was just plain stalling at that point. > > Ava \*\* For a moment there, I thought you meant the _girl_ was screaming that. Yeep! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Vixenation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/278dde/32.png) [@Vixenation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vixenation)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/7 "2003-06-01T18:11:48Z")
I really liked the Jamaican girl, myself. “Can I have a definition, sir!” “Thank you, sir!” Unrelenting politeness! She knew her stuff and went there to win. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/8 "2003-06-01T18:12:36Z")
So, who won? Trudy, the Jamaican girl? ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/9 "2003-06-01T18:44:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by avabeth \* > \*\*Actually, the one little girl was annoying us - he kept screaming “Would you spell the FUCKING WORD ALREADY?” after she repeated it eighteen times and asked for the pronunciation and origins ten times. She was just plain stalling at that point. > > Ava \*\* While it must be annoying to watch someone ask for the definition and pronunciation of a word multiple times, stalling tactics can be a useful strategy. If the speller is getting stage fright or is mixing up a few words in his/her head, getting the extra time may well be a reasonable strategy for trying to remember the spelling of the word. (Stalling saved me in the school spelling bee a few times, anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![litost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@litost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/litost)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/10 "2003-06-01T19:02:23Z")
The Jamaican girl tied for third place. She mis-spelled _aplustre_. Sai Vetturi won. (That makes him the fourth Indian-American in the past five years!) Oh, yeah, Trudy was annoying. I wonder why she had to shout into the mike. To my ears, her “Thank You, Sir” sounded real contrived. The audience favorite was Samir, the kid from third grade. They gave him a standing ovation while he cried in his Momma’s lap. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/11 "2003-06-01T22:53:44Z")
Um, hello - spoiler box!? 😉 tee-hee t-e-e-h-e-e ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/12 "2003-06-01T23:10:56Z")
What? Uh? How? Why? In God’s name, you have spelling bees on TV? And you watch 'em? How could anyone misspell _aplustre_ when you can just cut and paste? ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/13 "2003-06-01T23:29:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lel \* > \*\*While it must be annoying to watch someone ask for the definition and pronunciation of a word multiple times, stalling tactics can be a useful strategy. If the speller is getting stage fright or is mixing up a few words in his/her head, getting the extra time may well be a reasonable strategy for trying to remember the spelling of the word. (Stalling saved me in the school spelling bee a few times, anyway.) \*\* Yeah, but she had been told several times that she’d reached the time limit and that she needed to spell the word _immediately_ or be disqualified. She had no extra time and she was annoying the judges at that point, too. Ava ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/14 "2003-06-01T23:41:11Z")
I do not see how a spelling bee, which at least a contest of skill, is not a more worthy program than a beauty pageant, which I’m betting the UK has its share of, to judge from the popularity of Page 3 of some newspapers. Not that I watch either. Now a naked babe contest of skill – say, ‘hide the weenie’ or some other sterling contest of yore – THAT I’d watch. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/15 "2003-06-01T23:47:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lel \* > \*\*While it must be annoying to watch someone ask for the definition and pronunciation of a word multiple times, stalling tactics can be a useful strategy. If the speller is getting stage fright or is mixing up a few words in his/her head, getting the extra time may well be a reasonable strategy for trying to remember the spelling of the word. (Stalling saved me in the school spelling bee a few times, anyway.) \*\* Yeah, but she had been told several times that she’d reached the time limit and that she needed to spell the word _immediately_ or be disqualified. She had no extra time and she was annoying the judges at that point, too. Ava ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/16 "2003-06-01T23:53:59Z")
Shit, I guess I shouldn’t complain so much about unscripted(“reality”) shows if this is the alternative… ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/17 "2003-06-02T00:15:34Z")
What do reality shows have to do with a spelling bee? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/18 "2003-06-02T00:18:29Z")
They’re both cheap ways to fill TV time slots. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/19 "2003-06-02T00:19:19Z")
And you only watch shows that are cheaply made? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931/20 "2003-06-02T00:24:16Z")
No, I don’t watch reality shows, because I find them foolish. But airing a spelling bee is even less entertaining than the crap that the networks are in love with right now…so hence I shouldn’t complain least tv gets even more terrible. I’ll be over in the corner crying over the fact that they replace canceled drama and sci-fi shows with reality shows, if you don’t mind. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-h-u-t-t-h-e-f-u-c-k-u-p/178931.md?page=2)