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Ursprache! (National Spelling Bee)
- Thread starter Doctor Q
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In 1st grade, I was in the Spelling Bee and lost on the word "permission."
Why? Because I wasn't a "special" 6 year old.
I couldn't spell German words, and I liked to make drawrings.
Yeah, and how about those silly competitions involving the very normal tasks of walking, running, and jumping. Don't hear any complaints from you on those, though.
Ever think that maybe your definition of "normal" may not be everyone elses? What's normal, anyway?
If so many people, even incredibly educated people, find their ability and accomplishment incredible, then yes, they're a phenomenon.
Why? Because I wasn't a "special" 6 year old.
I couldn't spell German words, and I liked to make drawrings.Don't panic said:but this is what is feeding my weltschmerz (
That being able to spell belongs to some sort of "geekdom" and is not, simply, the norm.
That our society is so competition-oriented that even the normal task of being able to talk, write and read divides people into winners and losers.
Yeah, and how about those silly competitions involving the very normal tasks of walking, running, and jumping. Don't hear any complaints from you on those, though.
Ever think that maybe your definition of "normal" may not be everyone elses? What's normal, anyway?
If so many people, even incredibly educated people, find their ability and accomplishment incredible, then yes, they're a phenomenon.
So jog my memory on how spelling bees are run. I can't remember how they work from my childhood. Do these children know beforehand what the possible list of words will be so they can practice and memorize, or are they expected to be able to spell any word that is thrown at them?
They are forced by their demanding parents to go up on stage and spell any word they are given, and they never know what the words are beforehand. If they spell a word incorrectly, look into their eyes. That is the look of fear. Once they know they are defeated, you can see many of the fallen contestants look into the crowd towards mother and father. The parents just look back in absolute disgust and embarrassment. Fear........F. E. A. R. After a defeat, they know that when they get home, their ass is gonna get ursprached all over the hiz-ouse! H. I. Z. "dash" O. U. S. E.
Boggle said:
hehe, thanks, but it's just word games. if you look at the 'big' words in that paragraph, you might find that they are there because of a 'special' connection hint: it has to do with the thread
p.s: a succedaneum is a remedy used instead of the proper medicine, a (sub-par) substitute
abstract said:
abstract,
sorry but you're not going to convince me that possessing a decent vocabulary isn't something that every 15 years old could do (and i am not saying they should necessarily go around discussing their Weltanschauung
)and i am not so sure there are so many incredibly educated people, that find their ability and accomplishment incredible. More likely shaking their head at the waste of neurons
classic
edit: made clearer (i hope) and avoided double posting
floriflee said:
The National Spelling Bee uses Websters Third New International Dictionary and its Addenda section (2002) - the unabridged version. So I don't think anybody could possibly know all of the words in there - it's three volumes long. I think this is why the spellers are allowed to ask for definitions and the language of origin - they memorize patterns so that they can use them to figure out unfamiliar words.
Don't panic said:abstract,
sorry but you're not going to convince me that possessing a decent vocabulary isn't something that every 15 years old could do (and i am not saying they should necessarily go around discussing their Weltanschauung
Many 15 year olds have a decent vocabulary, but that doesn't make the ability of these spelling bee champions (and 2nd, 3rd, 4th......17th place) less phenomenal. Their spelling is obviously beyond "decent", "good", "great," or even "spectacular." A better word to describe it may be "unbelievable".......unbelievable until they actually witness some brainy 13 year old spell words most people have never even heard of.
And the fact that we're talking about a spelling bee for 15 year olds probably gives an indication of how phenomenal many people think their feats are. Come to think of it, we start a "spelling bee" thread every single year here at MacRumours, as far as I can remember.
We don't do that every time someone breaks the 100 metre world record, do we?
No, we just relegate our grey matters and celebrate the modest salaried Sports Industrys literary prowess as the lemmings of post modern entertainment. Why should we affirm the champions of spelling when were surrounded by such a plethora of competency?Don't panic said:...abstract,
sorry but you're not going to convince me that possessing a decent vocabulary isn't something that every 15 years old could do (and i am not saying they should necessarily go around discussing their Weltanschauung
The word "genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.
-- Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback and sports analyst
Be sure and put some of those neutrons on it.
-- Mike Smith, Baseball pitcher, ordering a salad at a restaurant
Men, I want you just thinking of one word all season. One word and one word only: Super Bowl.
-- Bill Peterson, football coach
We've been working on the basics because, basically, we've been having trouble with the basics.
-- Bob Ojeda, baseball pitcher
The people don't take baths and they don't speak English. No golf courses, no room service. Who needs it?
-- Jim McMahon, NFL football quarterback, on Europe
It was pretty good. Even the music was nice.
-- Yogi Berra, after attending an opera
The Minutemen are not tall in terms of height.
-- Dan Bonner, CBS sportscaster, during a UMass basketball game
Our strength is that we don't have any weaknesses. Our weakness is that we don't have any real strengths.
-- Frank Broyles, college football coach
Any time Detroit scores more than 100 points and holds the other team below 100 points they almost always win.
-- Doug Collins, basketball commentator
Not only is he ambidextrous, but he can throw with either hand.
-- Duffy Daugherty , football coach and sports analyst`
All of the Mets' road wins against Los Angeles this year have been at Dodger Stadium.
-- Ralph Kiner, NY Sportscaster
Most of my cliches aren't original.
-- Chuck Knox, NFL football coach
It is beyond my apprehension.
--Danny Ozark, baseball team manager, regarding his team's losing streak
Abstract said:
are you being sarcastic? you do realize that you are talking about how to correctly attribute letters to a sound, in your own language. what is unbelievable is that there is a competition out of it. with pretenses of seriousness.still unimpressed.
in most case they have never heard of them either. they have just memorized the sound of have been thought some tricks to properly guess. hardly phenomenal stuff.
If they were requested to know the words use them in sentences it would be different (still wouldn't warrant a 'competititon').
Ya, I probably should have just left them out. The point is that while entertainment and entertainers are championed by the public yet do little to raise the literary bar for kids, why shouldn't there be room for a nationally recognized platform whose purpose is to do just that?WildCowboy said:
Spelling contests are certainly not exhaustive in the scope of inciting kids to excel in spelling and use of vocabulary, but I would think we'd welcome anything which would try to help.
Every since software started "correcting" things for me, my spelling has become atrocious (sp?). When I'm away from a computer and actually have to write a note or something, I'm like, "oh sh--". I think if I watched a spelling bee on TV it would make me feel miserable. But I'm happy for those kids.
Boggle said:
It's indigenous with an "e".
I think it's cool that time and effort are given over to academic achievement. There's way too much focus on sports (and unfortunately not enough on physical fitness). Where's the funding for science contests? Back in the 60s, the US couldn't get enough of them.
What a waste of time.. someone should buy these kids a Mac with its built-in spell-checker!
That always spells things write, isn't that sow?
That always spells things write, isn't that sow?