Spelling Bee Challenge–Spell the Winner’s Name!

I’d probably have had an easier time figuring out how to spell the winning word in this year’s National Spelling Bee than I would in spelling the winner’s name.

Laodicean, meaning lukewarm to politics, was the deciding word for Kavya (phonetic and easy) Shivashankar (actually, pretty phonetic as well), the 13-year-old winner. Actually, I take it all back–Ms. Shavishankar’s name is the easier one since the c in Laodicean could be confused with sh or ch.

I was happy to note the use of some attempted humor in constructing sentences using the challenge words, as in:

"While Lena’s geusioleptic cooking wowed her boyfriend, what really melted his heart was that she won the National Spelling Bee."

I doubt anyone will be using geusioleptic (tasty) anytime soon when yum and yummy work just as well.

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Mastering the Art of French English Writing

I recently picked up a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by the late and absolutely great chef Julia Child in preparation for a book I was and still am considering to write

While I’ve tried, so far, one of her recipes–the first one, in fact, for Potage Promentier (potato-leek soup)–what truly impresses me about this book is the the absolutely simple, clear and understandable English that Julia used in writing it. No wonder it became the revolutionary cookbook that changed American cooking and eating habits.

Julia Child was an American, of course, who found herself in France with her husband while he was on a diplomatic mission. She soon mastered the French language but also French cuisine, whch she shares in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Even if you have no intention of learning to cook French food, Julia’s book–at least the introduction in which she tells the story of her years in Paris–is a must read to see how beautiful simply written English can be.

Back in her day, people communicated largely by letter since phones were still too expensive and still pretty scarce. People were foced to learn how to make themselves understood in writing. It clearly shows in this masterful work.

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How Far Will Obama Go to Be the ‘Un-Bush’?

In more obfuscation and lawyerese, Obama and his stormtroopers have now exorcised reality from the English language.

Instead of "war on terror" or "war on terrorism," they’re using "overseas contingency operations," and instead of "acts of terror," they’re referring to "man-caused disasters."

George Orwell would be proud, in a negative sort of way, of course.

All of this prompted satirist Joe Queenan to rewrite some Talibanic sayings. In his reworking, "beheadings" become "cephalic attrition" and "flayings" have morphed into "unsolicited epidermal reconfigurations."

Oh, my, and at least another four years of this nonsense out of the nation’s capital, or rather, four more years of this "syntactic reconsideration and reconstitution," otherwise known in plain language, as "utter bullshit."

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They Have a Passin for the Sport, but Not for Spellng

Somehow I’m not buying the reason the Washington Nationals are giving for some of their players’ wearing misspelled Natinals uniform tops over the weekend. Supposedly, they had to send their opening-day jerseys to MLB offices for display, and the replacement uniforms arrived with the misspelling. Mean to tell me the club supplied only one uniform for the players and had to order replacements that somehow got misspelled? Anyway, here they are in full glory.

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