Are you smarter than an 8th grade spelling whiz? Could you spell the winning word?
Kavya Shivashankar, of Kansas, correctly spelled the world “laodicean” for the win last night in the Scripps Naitonal Spelling Bee. You want to know something funny? The top Google search right now is “definition laodicean”. Well, here is what Dictionary.com has to say:
La⋅od⋅i⋅ce⋅an
–adjective
1. lukewarm or indifferent, esp. in religion, as were the early Christians of Laodicea. –noun
2. a person who is lukewarm or indifferent, esp. in religion.
Well DUH.
Here are some of the other final round words: antonomasia, bouquiniste, oriflamme, guayabera, isagoge and sophrosyne, phoresy, menhir, maecenas, ophelimity, diacoele and reredos.
Never heard of those.
So Kavya gets $40,000 for being so awesome, and we all get to feel a little inept for the day. Congratulations, Kavya Shivashankar! The challenge now for everyone is spelling your last name!
[Posted by Kathleen]
six words to change the world. 