A colleague and I were discussing spelling bees at lunch just today. As a long time fan and childhood participant, I enjoy watching them, though I am still amazed at how the content has evolved since my youth (just a few years ago). So when I came back to my desk and read about this topic I couldn’t let it pass us by. It came from Yahoo! in their article, “This map of America’s most commonly misspelled words is highly disturbing.”
We know that the English language can be complicated to learn and, even for the best native speakers, it is an evolving challenge littered with bizarre conjugations and spellings. For instance, silent letters abound. The “B” in plumber or the “T” in hustle are two perfect examples.
The kids who participate in local and national spelling bees shine brighter than the average American. Most Americans apparently can’t even spell the most basic words in our lexicon without needing help.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
