Spelling bee generates buzz

The 79th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee got under way Wednesday, with its first prime-time, major-network debut slated for 8:00 Thursday evening. With all the hoopla surrounding this year's highly anticipated bee, my thoughts turned, quite naturally, to spelling. Does millennium have one or two l's? I wondered. Do I remember my high-school French well enough to have confidence with connoisseur? And, when push comes to shove, could I really face the terror of spelling a word like appoggiatura before a national audience? (This last is the winning word from last year's bee, and refers to an embellishing tone, or "grace note," in music.)

I ask two favors of any readers who come across this post. First, please excuse the egregious pun in the title of the post. Second (and much more important): why not pick up a dictionary today, and look up some of your favorite words, to commemorate this great event in the history of the national bee? You'll be glad you did.

[6/1/06: Here's a link to an excellent blog post, on edspresso.com, regarding the pedagogical value of spelling bees.]