gnilleps: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
… triticale … laquear … abseil … cyanophycean … zoilus … vituline … serrefine … supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
hmmm … these words do not really mean anything to me … first time i saw or ever heard of them! i happen to see it on ABC — the SCRIPPS National Spelling Bee and i started watching … the contest was among grade schoolers across America and Canada. it was down to the last 8 kids out of 200+ when i chanced upon it! it’s my first time to see a true-blue serious spelling competition! (haha … the Gov crew cranium nights gnilleps was way way amateurish compared to this — yeah, we cannot even spell Mississippi!!! ;=)
i remember when i was in Grade 1 (yeah … eons ago! hehe) … i joined a spelling bee contest! i was the winner in my local town school competition so i was sent to the district meet! — i scored zero in the district meet! (well, i was 5 years old … competing with 7-10yr old kids! hehe — excuses! ;=) i remember one word — phosphorous — didn’t know that word back then … and it’s funny that just as i write it now, the auto-speller corrected it … i still missed the second ‘h’! ;=) hahahaha oh well … i cannot imagine what would have happened to me if they used the words above … not all of them are even recognizable by outlook word auto-speller! ;=) (hmmm … on second thought, nothing worse could have happened to me … since i already got the worst possible score — zero! ;=)
anywho … it’s good that there are contests like this … competition brings out the best in people … and at a very early age, those kids know the value of working hard to excel and win! But those words?! No one uses them in everyday conversation … and for the most part, no normal everyday person will really care if you knew them or not! (hmmm … i take that back … I do have some nerdy friends who will, yeah those who corrects grammar and pronunciation every chance they get -– oh, shoot … that sounded like me when i’m in my grammar-correcting mood! ;=)
anyways, it’s true that it’s just one of those nice-to-know and those make-you-appear-cool (or nerdy) kind of stuff … and that there’s no application whatsoever in the real world … but i guess, it’s not the words spelled per se … and it’s the same fact for every single (useless!) competition we were made to join when we were younger … it’s the discipline and the pursuit of excellence! … it’s the drive to be the best person one can be … it’s the realization of one’s full potential and all the other psychological morale-boosting benefits it affords someone! it’s not even about winning … just being a part of it is a confidence-booster in itself! yeah … i guess it’s all good! case in point — me! — i scored 0 in a spelling bee 25 years ago and it didn’t destroy my confidence one bit! ;=) hehe <good thing i didn’t try beauty pageants!> hahahaha
