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Continue reading →: discreet (də̇ˈskrēt) vs. discrete (dəˈskrēt)
This is a guest post by Aisha R. from California who participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2016 and 2017. Hi everyone! My name is Aisha and I am a 12 year old 7th grader. When Tara announced that she was doing a homonym theme on her…
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Continue reading →: complacent (kəm-plā-sənt) vs. complaisant (kəm-plā-sənt)
Let’s kick off our homonym theme with a pare pair of adjectives that I find to be particularly tricky. The words complacent and complaisant are homophones as well as heterographs. As you may recall, homophones are words that sound the same, but are defined differently, while heterographs have the…
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Continue reading →: homonyms (hä-mə-nims)
The English language is full of homonyms, or more specifically homographs, homophones, heterographs, and heteronyms. This is enough to make your head spin! Such words serve to make English one of the most difficult languages to learn. They are the bane of my existence, and probably yours too. Homonyms are…
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Continue reading →: syzygy (si-zə-jē)
On August 21, 2017, millions of people in North America witnessed a rare astronomical event – a total eclipse of the Sun. This occurs when the Moon’s orbit aligns with the Earth and Sun. When the Moon passes in front of the Sun, it casts two different types of shadows…
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Continue reading →: Name That Animal: Challenge #6It’s time for a Name that Animal Challenge, so here’s Challenge #6! Pretend that you are a scientist and you have just discovered this new species and you have the privilege of naming it. Scientists usually name new species by using Greek or/and Latin roots because the prefixes, stems, and suffixes…
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Continue reading →: duende (doo-EN-day)Hello everyone! This is a short post to let you know that Merriam-Webster has a great Word of the Day today. Duende is the power to attract through personal magnetism and charm. Coco Cuddles, my Tibetan Spaniel puppy, has so much duende that people in cars stop in the middle of…
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Continue reading →: Insider’s Guide to the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee – Memorable Moments
Last night, we attended an awards banquet at which the top 15 finalists were honored. Afterwards, spellers went to a farewell dance party. The party is my favorite part of Bee Week because it’s a time to celebrate and relax! One of the most memorable moments of this year’s Bee…
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Continue reading →: Insider’s Guide to the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee – Washington D.C.
Today many spellers were able to leisurely enjoy the sights of Washington D.C. In past years, my family has gone to the National Archives, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Natural History Museum. Last year, thanks to Congressman John Yarmuth of KY, we visited…
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Continue reading →: Insider’s Guide to the 2017 National Spelling Bee – A champion is declared!
The 2017 Scripps Spelling Bee champion is Ananya Vinay of Fresno, CA. Ananya was letter-perfect through 34 rounds. The winning word was marocain, a ribbed crepe fabric used in women’s clothing. Congratulations also to Rohan Rajeev, an eighth grader from OK, who was the runner-up in this year’s Bee.
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Continue reading →: Insider’s Guide to the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee – Finals (Part 1)
The Finals started this morning at 10:00 a.m. with 40 spellers. Rounds 4-7 were tough and the words got progressively harder. At the end of Round 7, 15 spellers remained and will continue to spell tonight in the Championship Finals. I missed my Round 6 word, “piatti,” the Italian word…
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I’m Tara!
My name is Tara and I am a recent graduate of Duke University, with dual degrees in cultural anthropology and political science, and a minor in linguistics. Twelve years ago, I started this blog to share my love of words with others and teach people about the intricacies of etymology and words across our beloved English language!
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