So here's the deal: I wanna practice for Game Show Network's spelling bee this year, so I'm going to post the pronunciation of a word, and the next person to post it has to spell it right, and gets to post the next pronunciation. If you look up the spelling your a cheater and defeat the purpose.

Lets play!


1st word is... puh-des-tree-uhn

pedestrian

The 2nd word is...
POLL-ee-mor-foh-NEW-klee-er-LEW-koh-sight

Jerry. If jd015 wants to learn to spell that's to his/her credit. You could take him/her seriously.

jd015, have a go at jerry's word anyway! (Oh and welcome, join in with some of the other threads too. The best way to learn spelling is to read widely.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

Bob, your rite about that. Henceforth I will try to follow your example and make recommendations designed to help jd015 reach the sought-after goals. Joining in with some of the other threads to (as you say) should help.

By the way, providing all of us with clickable links to your own writing is generous of you. I'm assuming that nobody is paying you money to do that, and doing it just for fun shows that you, like me, are, in Mr. Johnson's opinion, a funny blockhead.

Bob, will you be playing jd015's game, or will you continue simply to coach from the sidelines?

Time will tell.

John Milton wrote "Literature is the lasting expression in words of the meaning of life."

So, jd015, continue to read widely (preferably the output of the best writers) and you will not only improve your spelling but also take giant steps toward understanding whatever meaning there is in all of this.

It might be a good idea for all of us to learn and use the International Phonetic Alphabet in order to more accurately and precisely write meaningful symbols to portray the pronunciation that is essential to jd015's game.

jd015, Mr. Hale has the mistaken impression that I don't take you seriously. LOL

I'm not sure about this jerry but for most Americans wouldn't your word be pronounced

POLL-ee-mor-foh-NEW-kew-lar-LEW-koh-sight

rather than

POLL-ee-mor-foh-NEW-klee-er-LEW-koh-sight?

Oh, yes, nearly forgot. Blockhead and proud of it.

Bob,

I wouldn't call you a blockhead. You don't drink (by choice, anyway) lager.

You must have seen parties of Blockheads
With blotched and lagered skin
Blockheads with food particles in their teeth
What a horrible state they're in

They've got womanly breasts under pale mauve vests
Shoes like dead pigs' noses
Cornflake packet jacket, catalogue trousers
A mouth what never closes

W https://wordcraft.infopop.cc/groupee_common/platform_images/blank.gifell... I'm glad to see that I'm getting so many responses to my post. Here's my best shot at
POLL-ee-mor-foh-NEW-kew-lar-LEW-koh-sight
aka
POLL-ee-mor-foh-NEW-klee-er-LEW-koh-sight

The multiple pronunciations actually helped here, so thanks.

polymorphonuclearlucosite?

Anyway, if you guys keep this level of words coming I'll be ready for GSN in no time, and hopefully one step closer to having forty grand that wont be coming out of my pocket for college in a year.. KEEP IT UP!!

next word, since I know you can handle it:

an-uh-mad-VUHR-zhuhn

well i just it looked up and i was wrong. I didn't realize it was two words:
polymorphonuclear leukocyte.

I guess its hard to tell by the written promnunciation, but still, keep going with

an-uh-mad-VUHR-zhuhn

Welcome, jd015! How did you come up with that name? Don't mind us; we can sometimes take life too seriously!

As a nurse, I would have easily gotten polymorphonuclear leukocyte, which is an integral part of our cellular immune system. BTW, Bob, I'd prounounce it Jerry's way; George W. Bush would pronounce it your way. Also, Jerry, while I'd love to learn that international pronunciation system, I haven't yet.

However, jd015, I am sorry to say that I don't know your word (unless the pronunciation is off). However, there are many here who probably do.

quote:

an-uh-mad-VUHR-zhuhn

animadversion

There are two possible spellings to this word: I'm looking for the proper Roman one:

KWES-tor (sometimes KWEE-ster).

Quaestor.

Lets try TUR-muh-guhnt

Now I'm hoping you guys could help me. I find out that my teacher was wrong, this GSN event I'm studying for isn't just spelling! Its a vocabulary game. Any suggestions you guys might have to help me would be great.

The site is http://www.winwithwords.com

You could join in our bluffing game, though the words are usually VERY obscure.

As a teacher of foreign languages, I encourage my students to memorize songs, prayers, proverbs, and poems, as an aid to vocabulary building.

Edgar A. Poe's masterpiece poem The Raven is fun to recite dramatically and emotionally for an interested audience. It's allegedly the most popular poem for that purpose in America nowadays.

Years ago when I decided to memorize and orally interpret The Raven, I quickly realized that I was not familiar with a lot of its vocabulary nor with its obscure allusions. In order to interpret it properly I needed to learn the meanings of those quaint and curious words and phrases.

For example, the narrator asks the Raven, "Is there balm in Gilead?" This means, "Is there a ... medicinal herb ... on the other side of the Jordan that will make me feel better after death?"

For your enlightenment, jd015,I was about to post the entire poem here, with dictionary links to the obscure words and phrases. Imagine my delight when I found this link.

Good luck!

~~~~~ jerry

If you are looking for obscure words to add to your vocabulary you could try memorising the Worthless word for the day site. Tsuwm, its compiler, is an occasional poster here.

thanks guys, you've been really helpful. I wasn't able to find that bluffing game though, could you put up a link for me?

We've just finished one game, which was here, and are awaiting a volunteer to provide a word for the next game. Why not suggest a word yourself?

Wow, I had to idea you guys would get so peeved at each other. I was just interested in getting a "friendly" game going. I'm studying for my ACTs and I thought it'd make the time go a little faster. I did however find the website for the Game Show Network. I guess it's going to be a Vocab game, not spelling. I still want to try it though. The prize is [don't quote me on this] $40k for college. I know that's not a totally free ride, but it'd at least pay for a year's worth [counting my chickens before they've hatched.. I know, I know]. Anyway, the site is at winwithwords.com. Jerry, you should tell your students about it. You don't have to sign up for the contest, but it does have an ACT prep section [which is how I found it.]

quote:

Wow, I had to idea you guys would get so peeved at each other.

We don't, jd. I am not sure what you're referring to, but I suspect it was just a case of teasing.

sorry, im still new here. I guess I read into it a bit...

I wanted to say thanks for helping me with the GSN national vocab contest coming up. If there are any other high school students that want to attempt the contest go to winwithword.com and register.

I'm in The running I qualified for another round.

<a href='http://winwithwords.com' title=''>Win_with_words</a>

quote:

Why is a 'spelling bee' so called?

Bees are industrious little creatures, and have been used as symbols of dedication to work ('busy as a bee') since at least Chaucer's time. The image of thousands of bees in a hive tirelessly working away at their little bee-tasks (making honey, storing honey, planning to sting me) makes a good metaphor for a community or group uniting in a common task, and such unified efforts came to be known as 'bees' in Colonial America.

'Bees' were usually a group effort for the benefit of one member who could not have handled the task (raising a barn, for instance) alone, and 'husking bees' and 'apple bees' where crops were gathered and prepared for storage were common.

'Quilting bees,' where the women of a community gathered to create a quilt while passing on the skills to a younger generation, were also an important social institution in Early America. In an extended sense, 'bee' also came to mean any community gathering for a specific purpose, giving us 'spelling bees' in the late 1800s.

perambulator, I am confused as to where you are finding your quotes because they don't seem to be in the threads. Are you just making them up or are they questions that were asked elsewhere? At any rate it's a good question.

quote:

Why is a 'spelling bee' so called?

A search for the quote leads to this site. The third entry (by Linus) is the answer given by perambulator. Note that Linus was quoting The Word Detective.

Ah, so it is. Perambulator, are you also Linus?

Good detective work, Tinman, as usual.