Friday, January 21, 2005
"HOW DO YOU SPELL WOLFOWITZ?" I overhear in the newsroom of a major metropolitan daily newspaper.
Grrr. How many #$@#%$ ways could it possibly be spelled? I know, I know -- spelling is supposedly not that great an indicator of intelligence. But I get annoyed at people who think more letters and more syllables necessarily mean a word gets more difficult to spell. "Antidisestablishmentarianism" was the vogue stumper in my youth. Again, where could you possibly go wrong on that one? Or even "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." I suppose "cali" could be "cala," but not bloody likely.
The real stumpers are the switcheroos ("tendon" but "tendinitis," "strategy" but "stratagem") and the exceptions to the rule ("supersede") and the "-ible"-vs.-"-able" coin flips.
Occasionally in coverage of an international sporting event -- say, tennis's U.S. Open -- you'll see a set piece in which Ugly American spectators are asked to spell or pronounce exotic names. A-holes without a creative bone in their bodies suddenly become verbal cubists.
"Paradorn Srichaphan?" the contestant might be asked.
"P-X-Q-Y-Z S-B-T-R-N-M-X?"
"Sorry, that's incorrect!"
Or the contestant will be shown a card reading, say, "Yevgeny Kafelnikov."
"Uggabugga Krazabaza?"
"Next!"
Grrr. How many #$@#%$ ways could it possibly be spelled? I know, I know -- spelling is supposedly not that great an indicator of intelligence. But I get annoyed at people who think more letters and more syllables necessarily mean a word gets more difficult to spell. "Antidisestablishmentarianism" was the vogue stumper in my youth. Again, where could you possibly go wrong on that one? Or even "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." I suppose "cali" could be "cala," but not bloody likely.
The real stumpers are the switcheroos ("tendon" but "tendinitis," "strategy" but "stratagem") and the exceptions to the rule ("supersede") and the "-ible"-vs.-"-able" coin flips.
Occasionally in coverage of an international sporting event -- say, tennis's U.S. Open -- you'll see a set piece in which Ugly American spectators are asked to spell or pronounce exotic names. A-holes without a creative bone in their bodies suddenly become verbal cubists.
"Paradorn Srichaphan?" the contestant might be asked.
"P-X-Q-Y-Z S-B-T-R-N-M-X?"
"Sorry, that's incorrect!"
Or the contestant will be shown a card reading, say, "Yevgeny Kafelnikov."
"Uggabugga Krazabaza?"
"Next!"
