From "The Spelling Bee was the best sporting event of 2015."
Didn't even ask for definition, he shoulda #DroppedThaMic #spellingbee #spellingbeeChamps #Nunatak 😳👏🏾 pic.twitter.com/HPcb5kvloh
— Adan El Mago (@AdumQ) May 29, 2015May 29, 2015
"Gokul doesn't need your pathetic clues. You're a loser and he's Gokul."
"Why would he need your help? He just spelled the word, because he knew it and he knew that he knew it and he wanted you to know that he knew that he knew it. This is pulling up from halfcourt in a tie game and drilling a game-winner. This is swinging on a 3-0 count and hitting a walk-off homer. This is starting to high-step on the 50-yard-line of your game-winning TD...."
From "The Spelling Bee was the best sporting event of 2015."
From "The Spelling Bee was the best sporting event of 2015."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
18 comments:
That was awssume(sic)!
They're given words like "thamakau," from rarely used Fijian, with no real context clues for non-Fijian speakers. Bang. They're given words like "scytale" -- rhymes with "Italy," spelled totally differently. Easy. They're given words like "pipsissewa," "nixtamal," "pyrrhuloxia," "zimocca," and "hippocrepiform."
I think it's disgusting that they give the kids words that aren't really English words to spell. Words, like the ones above (which don't pass spellcheck) that have been used, maybe once, by an author. "Hey, kid, spell σαλπιγγολογχυπηνάδαι. It's from Aristophanes "The Frogs" & it means 'lancer-whiskered trumpeteers'" What bullshit!
And, what's with these kids all being Indian? Is it something in the chapatti flour?
I still remember the E-U-O-N-Y-M --- EUONYM!!!! girl. Perfectly and wonderfully neurotic.
"I still remember the E-U-O-N-Y-M --- EUONYM!!!! girl. Perfectly and wonderfully neurotic."
Gokul was the opposite of that.
I ended up reading the WaPo article because AA had posted about this; I too would be interested to know how the competition people decide which words are used. If I go to my doctor later and ask her what... have forgotten the medical/physiological word already... means, she's going to know? Or is it an arcane word even to a professional?
And with depressing yet somewhat entertaining predictability, you can see a bunch of hate-filled posts on other websites.
They generally fall into 3 categories:
1. "Why didn't an American win?"
2. "Well, with names like those, no wonder they spell so well."
3. "Who cares about spelling bees, anyway?" (A sentiment that didn't seem to predate the current run of Indian-American winners. Oh, was that a hyphenation on my part? Excuse me - Americans of Indian ancestry.)
Hey Gokul, can you spell "wedgie?"
Spelling Bees are dominated by Indian-Americans, and have been for a while. It is somewhat of a cultural thing at this point. The Indian-American kids just practice more and study more, while other American kids are texting which demands misspellings.
"Spelling Bees are dominated by Indian-Americans, and have been for a while. It is somewhat of a cultural thing at this point. The Indian-American kids just practice more and study more, while other American kids are texting which demands misspellings."
Nothing wrong with not pressuring your kid to study 4 hours per day for a spelling bee.
Yeah, the Indian/South Asian kids will do well. Until Youth Cricket becomes a thing. Then they'll become towel-snapping, beer-swilling slobs like the rest of us.
Can't wait.
Nothing wrong with not pressuring your kid to study 4 hours per day for a spelling bee.
Never said there was.
But then again, there's nothing wrong with encouraging your kid to do so either. I was explaining, not judging.
Have there been any comparative studies of child prodigies and their later success in life? I would guess that child actors are at greater risk for rehab and divorce and that spelling bee winners probably do better. If your glory days involve winning a spelling bee, you're more apt to remain unspoiled. At any rate winning a spelling bee is a pretty easy peak moment to surpass. Maybe later on this kid will go on to win a bowling trophy and the subsequent fame and adulation will turn his head with hubris, but, for now, he's pretty safe.
What kid doesn't swing for the fences on a 3-0 count? You've got at least one pitch to play with.
2. "Well, with names like those, no wonder they spell so well."
But that's what I thought? Why is that hateful? Their last names introduced them to long and unusual letter combinations!
May Bee: It's the sheer repetition of the same joke over and over and over again from people thinking they're being witty that makes it hateful to me. Plus the insinuation that if a name sounds exotic to a European-American, it must be inherently difficult. (I'm guessing that to someone who grew up with that name, it's not difficult at all.)
(I'm guessing that to someone who grew up with that name, it's not difficult at all.)
I don't know about that. My son who had a long first name had a harder time learning to spell his name than my child with the 4-letter first name.
Plus, how can the reputation make it hateful if it isn't the same person, and if they aren't saying it with hate?
I say this as someone with a very confusing last name, ethnic and not Anglo but Euro. I know it's difficult and against regular English guidelines! And you know, a young kid with my last name might realize from an earlier time that some letters in some languages are silent. This is the kind of thing you need to know in a spelling bee.
But I shouldn't have to have an unusual last name to say this.
Are you afraid *noticing* their last names sounds racist?
Are you afraid *noticing* their last names sounds racist?
Along with a lot of other things.
Such interest can be benign or malevolent, depending on the person making inquiries, IMHO.
Such interest can be benign or malevolent, depending on the person making inquiries, IMHO.
Of course, true.
Post a Comment