23 years ago I was a scrawny 6th grader with bald armpits, a big nose, and a squeaky high voice.
I signed up for the spelling bee that year and I knew my word list well. I knew vacuum had one ‘c’, I knew rhythm had no traditional vowels, and I knew the longest word they could test us on was electroencephalograph.
The day of the bee came, and before I knew it I was standing in front of the microphone for my word.
“Diphthong,” the moderator said.
“Diphthong,” I stuttered, “D-I-P-T-H-O-N-G. Diphthong.”
*ding*
I was confused. I thought I had spelled it correctly. Why the heck is there another ‘h’ in that word?
Fast forward 23 years to this past weekend at the Annual Heritage Days celebration.
I was 4th in line for the 16 and older spelling bee, awaiting my turn. The first 2 words were easy: “appellate” and “bazaar”. I would have nailed both, but the contestants got them wrong. The next word, “carafe” was a tough one. I couldn’t remember if there was one ‘f’ or two. The woman in front of me spelled it ‘karaf’. Good grief.
Then it was my turn. I stepped up to the mic and THIS is what happened.
(you’ll need to turn your volume WAY up because the volume is low.)
A couple things to note:
1. Did you catch the Amish Volleyball happening in the background? Classic.
2. Did you catch my word? It was “diphtheria”, and ONCE AGAIN, I missed the first ‘h’!
3. If you listen closely, the moderator misspells the word without the last ‘i’ when he repeats it back. maybe i should protest?
4. Two decades later and I still hadn’t heard my lesson. Diphthong and Diphtheria, 23 years apart. What are the stinking chances?
5. Next year that spelling bee is MINE.
(thanks for taking the video, Than)
Hahahaha. YES.
i can’t believe you didn’t join in on the volley ball game.
Oh, what I’d give to enter an adult spelling bee…! Better luck next time!
Oh, and if it’s any consolation, the word I missed in a big bee back in the day was “incompetent.” Seriously. That hurts.
We got bonus points for entering when I was in 8th grade, so I misspelled “flannel” first thing and asked if I could go sit down before they told me I was wrong.
Misspelling “flannel”, if you’re from Arkansas, is the cultural equivilant* of punching a baby’s face.
*I google spellchecked 3 words from this comment, so I have deduced that this incident inadvertently caused irrevocable damage to my spelling confidence.
I misspelled “odor” in a district wide spelling bee when I was in 2nd grade. O-D-E-R.
I’ve been a horrible speller my whole life, so I’ve stayed clear of any voluntary action like that.
That is crazy awesome, though… same word. And even the part about the moderator not spelling it correctly back to you.
Did your friend, Than, know about your younger fail, or was he just laughing for the sake of laughing?
-Marshall
I beat the 2 smartest girls in my 4th grade class with the word “scorpion,” then misspelled “tortoise” at the school-wide bee. Like dipHthong, what the heck is an I doing in tortoIse?!
Well, really, what is an O doing in tortOise? Such a weird word.
Ugh, this brought up some painful repressed memories!
I was in 3rd grade, the top of my class, and so sure I’d make it into the spelling bee finals and bring home that 4-foot trophy!
The word I had to get to qualify was “MOTION”. I spelled it, but the teacher apparently didn’t hear the “I” and told me I spelled it wrong.
The girl who took my place in the finals misspelled her first word, “thirty” as “thirdy”. Seriously?
I somehow got lucky and won the school spelling bee in sixth grade, but not before I got eliminated in fifth grade on the word “afghan” – I had always pronounced it “aftghan” with a t in there.
Shouldn’t it count for something that I spelled my version of the word correctly? No? The judges didn’t think so either.
You forgot to ask for the country of origin. I have faith you’d of totally nailed it if they would have given you the country of origin.