# Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee 2009 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932 "2009-05-28T15:00:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/1 "2009-05-28T15:00:21Z")
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is on. I watch it most every year. I was a competetive speller myself for awhile, and went to state once, but never took it seriously enough to ever work at or study for so I got wiped out at state. I still enjoy watching the SNSB, though, for the geek-a-thon that it is. There are a couple of things that annoy me about it, though. It drives me nuts when the kids have to milk every possible question multiple times, stalling for time. “Are there any alternate pronunciations? Can I have an alternate sentence? Can I hear the pronunciation again, please? Can I have the language of origin? Does it contain the Greek root,'_echino_, meaning “spiny?” Can I hear the pronunciation again? Can I have the definition again, please?” Just spell the fucking words, you little poindexters. Also, you all need to stop doing that writing on the hand thing. When the first kid did it a few years ago, it was a genuine, dorkazoid, Asperger’s geekwad tic. Now it’s just an affect. Find your own tic. Slap yourself, or hop on one foot or something. Be original. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/2 "2009-05-28T15:03:46Z")
There was that kid that fainted that one time. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/3 "2009-05-28T15:17:12Z")
I think I’m going to root for the hulking, long-haired blonde kid who looks like a college sophomore already. He looks like the kind of kid I would have smoked pot and played D&D with in high school. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/4 "2009-05-28T15:36:33Z")
Wait a second. I think the kid who fainted came in second or third, so scratch that. Fainting is for losers. Some kid needs to throw up on himself. I forgot all about The Bee. I’ll be sure to watch tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/5 "2009-05-28T15:49:02Z")
My horse is out already. Got kneecapped by “dansant.” It’s the French words that always killed me too. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/6 "2009-05-28T15:50:50Z")
I wonder how many former competitive spellers we have on the SDMB. I went to the Colorado-Wyoming competition (feeder for the S-H nationals) in 1988-89, but only came in 11th. I was ejected on “sublittoral”. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/7 "2009-05-28T15:59:18Z")
I came in third in regionals in 19xx. “Manacle” was my word; I spelled it “manicle.” Never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/8 "2009-05-28T16:29:02Z")
I love watching the National Spelling Bee. It doesn’t seem like it would be very much fun, but it always is for me. A movie about it, “Spellbound” (2002) is also very good. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/9 "2009-05-28T17:19:09Z")
Am I the only one who worries a bit about some of these kids (note: I am not making a broad generalization here)? ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/10 "2009-05-28T18:09:02Z")
You are probably not the only one, but I think most students could do with more intensive spelling and language study, not less. The quality of writing and spelling I see on a daily basis (in my small-medium IT company) is truly appalling, and I am sure I am not alone on this board in thinking that. As a note, I wasn’t forced into spelling by my parents, or anyone else. I actually took a school-sponsored class in 7th and 8th grade called “Semantics” that taught spelling, etymology, etc. The class culminated in participating in spelling bees, but the emphasis was on having a comprehensive mastery of words. Sort of a mega-vocabulary class. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/11 "2009-05-28T18:31:04Z")
I think there are some kids who are pressured into it by their parents, over-coached, over-worked, and are more or less coerced into making it way too much of a priority in their lives, but the same is true for any other competitive activity that kids get into. Kids’ sports is rotten with parents like that. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/12 "2009-05-28T19:44:40Z")
The old ESPN comedy show _Cheap Seats_ had a couple of fun episodes where they made fun of the spelling nerds. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/13 "2009-05-28T20:14:54Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think there are some kids who are pressured into it by their parents, over-coached, over-worked, and are more or less coerced into making it way too much of a priority in their lives, but the same is true for any other competitive activity that kids get into. Kids’ sports is rotten with parents like that. Undeniably true. Besides the Little League World Series do you know of any other nationally televised competition of 13 year olds? ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/14 "2009-05-28T20:43:51Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It drives me nuts when the kids have to milk every possible question multiple times, stalling for time. “Are there any alternate pronunciations? Can I have an alternate sentence? Can I hear the pronunciation again, please? Can I have the language of origin? Does it contain the Greek root,'_echino_, meaning “spiny?” Can I hear the pronunciation again? Can I have the definition again, please?” Heh. I drove myself nuts at my school district’s finals in 8th grade. (On my winning word, no less.) In 5th grade, I’d missed on a word I knew but didn’t recognize but actually did know how to spell, so I wasn’t going to let that happen again. My problem was that once you ask for a definition, they’re going to read the whole definition, whether you want them to or not. “For the championship: your word is, ‘kwee-rass’.” “Um, can you use that in a sentence?” “The museum had an ancient ‘kwee-rass’ on display.” “Definition, please?” (What seemed like five minutes of hunting through an unabridged dictionary.) “'A breastplate of steel or leather …” “OH! Okay, it’s …” “I need to finish the definition.” Well, fuck me, but why? I’m the only one who wanted the goddamn definition, and my only problem was that I’d never heard ‘cuirass’ pronounced. Bastards made me sit fidgeting through the whole dictionary entry. [QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] It’s the French words that always killed me too. [/QUOTE] Ayup. Thank God for Gary Gygax, that’s all I had to say after that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/15 "2009-05-28T20:45:45Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Undeniably true. Besides the Little League World Series do you know of any other nationally televised competition of 13 year olds? Olympic women’s gymnastics? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/16 "2009-05-28T21:34:22Z")
Thanks for this thread. I meant to watch the finals and completely forgot about it. Just flagged it on my DVR. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/17 "2009-05-29T00:17:07Z")
Here’s an interview with the [2007 winner](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfdovxnbt5c). Interesting, awkward, and even painful. [Thread on the 2007 “be” winner](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=424218). ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/18 "2009-05-29T00:52:34Z")
Sidharth is going to take it this year. Annoying little bastard. ETA: Or, he’ll be eliminated by “apodyterium” as soon as I posted. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/19 "2009-05-29T01:05:40Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZZsdTQ11k) this had me giggling. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932/20 "2009-05-29T01:31:59Z")
I kind of like that Kennyu kid. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scripps-howard-national-spelling-bee-2009/497932.md?page=2)