noisette or tonsorial

I love watching the National Spelling Bee! 

I love hearing the words, seeing Dr Bailey- he is the guy who pronounces all the words and answers most of their questions, learning about the contestants, seeing their families and even learning a new word or two.

This year the television broadcast began on ESPN at 9am on Thursday.  At that time we saw 41 of the original 293 contestants begin round 4.  The first speller we saw was the girl from Arkansas.  She lasted 2 rounds.  At 7 pm the final rounds were on with only 11 spellers left.  When a speller misses a word a dreaded bell is rung.   The speller is lead off stage by a former speller in the early rounds, in the latter rounds their parents are on stage and they are ushered right to them.

I was pulling for Kennyi Aouad this year.  He was in the Bee last year.  He got tickled when he got the word 'sardoodledom'.  If you google that word there is a youtube video of him and it will make you laugh.

Every year Jamaica sends one speller.  They are taught to be very polite.  When their questions are answered they always say "Thank you, Dr Bailey" with their beautiful accent.

What questions, you may ask?  The spellers can ask the following ones: word origin, definition, any alternate pronunciations and for use in a sentence. 

The spellers have 2 minutes to ask questions and then another 30 seconds before their time is up.

The sentences this year were hilarious.  My favorite was for the word noisette.  It means a small piece of meat.  The young lady had a hard time listening to her date because of the noisette between his front teeth.  

The winner was Kavya Shivashankar from Kansas.  She spelled Laodicean to win.  I liked her and am glad she won.  She has a cute little sister that was pulling for her.

I think next year I shall have a Spelling Bee party.  Would you like to join me?  You don't have to be a good speller to join the party.  I am a terrible one.