kind of guy who still remembers what word they got out on in the elementary school spelling bee

[brianvastag@mas.to]

@ricci Same. "Beautiful" is a tough word for a 3rd-grader.

[zeushammer@types.pl]

@ricci I recall one of my high school English teachers taking points off on an essay because I spelled "squirrel" egregiously incorrectly and she thought it was me being defiant or insubordinate or something.

[phaysis@mastodon.coffee]

@ricci In a whole school 5th grade assembly, I, in the 20-contestant round, was told a word, heard another word, pronounced and spelled that other word correctly, and was disqualified. The frozen look on the examiner's face stuck with me more than the wrong word.

[ricci@discuss.systems]

@elb colonel, which I mixed up with colonial

[elb@social.sdf.org]

@ricci Fortunately neither one of us wound up in a profession that requires writing.

[ricci@discuss.systems]

@elb thank goodness, that would be a nightmare

[ricci@discuss.systems]

BTW I was like 40 before I realized that most languages don't have spelling bees because why would spelling be hard

THANKS ENGLISH FOR HAVING SUCH SHITTY ORTHOGRAPHY THAT WE CAN COMPETE AT NOT SUCKING AT IT

[lanodan@queer.hacktivis.me]

@ricci At least it's not also hard to handwrite, looking at you chinese characters (which japanese kept but korean deprecated).

[ricci@discuss.systems]

@lanodan I don't understand why anyone other than imperial scribes would need to write things down

[aburka@hachyderm.io]

@ricci what was it

[ricci@discuss.systems]

@aburka

https://discuss.systems/@ricci/116213549294676082

[sabik@rants.au]

@lanodan @ricci
Apparently the Chinese have now copied the idea of spelling bees

[kinsale42@mstdn.games]

@ricci "soluble" which the reader DEFINITELY pronounced "soluable"

[lenary@types.pl]

@ricci I like the idea of a German spelling bee where really the test is memory and endurance, rather than decoding.

[ironcladlou@hachyderm.io]

@ricci yeah, blew my mind when I was learning German, and my instructor says “if you can pronounce it, you can spell it” in German. I just couldn’t accept it, so had him test me repeatedly and spelled them right every time! Mind blowing for an English speaker 🤯

[wiersdorf@fosstodon.org]

@ricci cat K-A-T I’m outta here

And as he passes you he whispers, “I know it’s got two Ts”

—Brian Regan

[fanf@mendeddrum.org]

@ricci you know in france they have competitive dictation? hazing with homophones

[technicat@universeodon.com]

@ricci “chignon” sixth grade