The Speling Bea

[used44]

Were any of you guys in spelling bees as a kid? Was it just a school-wide thing or did you take it further into district/region/national competition?

I was in my elementary school's spelling bee twice. I think it was in fourth and fifth grade. I don't remember anything about my correct answers but I definitely remember which words i got knocked out on:

YIELD
and
CELLO

I consider both of these to be bullshit words that are intentionally tricky. Fuck that noise

I also distinctly remember crying after one (probably both) of these failures. I was a "smart kid" and everybody was shocked when I got knocked out, which is a unique way to feel awful about yourself.

 

[Green_Lantern]

I don't believe I was ever in a spelling bee growing up...I do remember the one time I got caught cheating on a spelling test bonus point word in third grade though...

God damn astronaut and your damn au in there.


I was in geography bees though, those were fun.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

I remember not wanting to win. But then...I also remember getting knocked out cause our moderator was from Georgia and pronounced cemetery and symmetry the same way.

 

[danielrbischoff]

Only in the English language could you have a contest about spelling because spelling in English is fucking BULL SHIT.

 

[FrozenBacon]

I was the asshole who made fun of kids in spelling bees because I always though spelling bees were bullshit. It is like knowing all the useless stuff required to win jeopardy but without the money (except on the national level).

I remember not wanting to win. But then...I also remember getting knocked out cause our moderator was from Georgia and pronounced cemetery and symmetry the same way.

That is another reason why spelling bees are BS. If you are going to be a spelling bee moderator you better be pronouncing things the proper way.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

My sister got second place in state, but I never did it.

I do kick ass at trivia, though. I won second place in Jeopardy among the entirety of my school's history honor society, and regularly carry my team at a local bar's weekly trivia night.

That's different, though.

 

[De-Ting]

Entangled.

E-N-T-A-N-G-E-D

Entangled.

*Buzz*

 

[used44]

I'm also a huge trivia nerd.

And I never meant to imply that I am into or was into spelling, per se. I just have two painful and stupid memories tied to spelling bees and was wondering what anyone else's experience is with them. I don't ever remember practicing or anything. Even if I had, I'm positive I would have fucked up cello still. I had never even heard of a cello.

 

[danielrbischoff]

the proper way.

But the English language is so fucking fucked. I love it, don't get me wrong, but it's too widespread to be intricate and detail oriented at this point. Chinese English, Japanese English, Korean English, California English, Mid West English, Southern English, North East English, Scottish, any number of dialogs from England (insert MattAY here because Posh English), European attempts at English, so on and so on... English is only become the "world's language" because it can take on so much bull shit and misspronunciation and keep on rolling with some sort of common ground.

Of course the same can be said of any language but let's face it we're dealing with the lowest common denominator here.

 

[danielrbischoff]

I'm also a huge trivia nerd.

And I never meant to imply that I am into or was into spelling, per se. I just have two painful and stupid memories tied to spelling bees and was wondering what anyone else's experience is with them. I don't ever remember practicing or anything. Even if I had, I'm positive I would have fucked up cello still. I had never even heard of a cello.

God Used, you never heard of a cello. What were you, like fifth grader or something?

 

[used44]

Maybe fourth, I don't know which was when.

And it's probably not true that I hadn't heard of a cello, because our music teacher Mr. Vogel played the "Peter and the Wolf" record like once a fucking week.

 

[MattAY]

Used, you idiot!

I hate the word necessary. So unneseccary to have all those s's and c's....fuck.

 

[UghRochester]

Spelling? I'm pretty good, but my school never did any serious competitions. Also, I'm not good a trivia, I'm just good at choosing the correct answer. I've became a millionaire twice already. Wished I could audition for the show.

 

[Chris_Crime]

I misspelled coyote in 4th grade, and I still haven't gotten over it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho7eJuJFdH8
:cry:

 

[De-Ting]

Wished I could audition for the show.

I'd watch it.

 

[Sourdeez]

Cunt

C-U-N-T

That was easy.

 

[MattAY]

Looks like Deez went to school in California.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

You left out Pigeon English. Now that is English!

 

[Sightless]

No beas, but I was good at spelling, so when we had our weekly spelling tests, I would get all annoyed-excited and write "ALL" in big letters at the top, indicating that I was ready to be tested on ALL the words. We were allowed to choose the words that we wanted to be tested on, and each grade (I was in a Grade 1/2/3 split class) had a minimum number of words to choose.

I remember that "loquacious" was my contribution to the list one week, and I felt like a shy badass.

Somewhat ironically, in the same grade I think (at least in the same class), I failed to get through a particular reading test *twice*, because I could not read/pronounce the word "binder" properly. Said the first syllable like the word "bin". AND THEN, I learned of the last name Binder, pronounced like I had first pronounced it. I felt a lot of discomfort at that moment.

I always like to think that I'm good at trivia, but the sad sad reality is that I know nothing. Or perhaps it's just not trivial enough for me.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Speaking of spelling. My second grader passed his year per-test. They give the kids all the vocabulary for the year verbally and it helps the teacher see where they need to focus. Well, he and one other kid got 100%.

That kid got Dairy Queen.