Eight kids broke the Bee, and a lot of spelling-challenged adults had opinions

Co-champions of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

Enuff.

Enugh.

Enough.

Of all the words in the English language that Washingtonians might ask Google to help them spell, it makes sense that one would top the list. After all, we say it often enough.

Enough with the scooters already.

Enough with people parking in bike lanes.

Enough with buses blocking the box.

In light of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Google released a map showing the words that people in each state and the nation's capital have searched for the most this year with the phrase "How to spell..." And while all were telling in their own way - how perfect is "bougie" for New York? - it seems fitting that the District showed that it is frequently fed up.

It's also unfortunate that it revealed that the city stumbles over a six-letter word.

And before any Marylanders laugh, you're not doing any better. You apparently have trouble spelling a five-letter one: heart.

Other places have been tripped up by "niece" and "eleven" and "grey." Virginia, along with several states, apparently doesn't feel confident spelling "beautiful."

Which makes all the grumbling from adults about the Spelling Bee's historic ending early Friday even more ridiculous.

Apparently some people weren't happy to see eight young people share the top spot for the first time in the competition's 94-year existence. The grumbling started shortly after confetti rained on the winning contestants and the news rippled across social media platforms, including in the comments below the story The Washington Post published about the "octochamps."

"This is a completely useless skill," wrote one person. "Memorising (sic) lists of complicated words might help win this competition but is of virtually no use in the real world. Better to learn proper usage of such words as 'their', 'there', and 'they're'."

"Ridiculous," wrote another. "The kids aren't 'smarter.' They are spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours, hiring coaches, etc. The entire thing should be ended. Its (sic) basically a memorization game."

To them and the many other naysayers of the Bee, I have one word for you: Enough.

Enough with not giving young people who train their brains the same respect you do to those who train their bodies.

Enough with insulting parents who have pushed their children to think about vocabulary when it would have been easier to turn on a TV.

Enough with calling for the end of a competition that, if nothing else, makes us pause for a few days each year to think about language.

We are a country filled with a lot of spelling-challenged people led by a spelling-challenged commander in chief. That eight young people broke the Bee this year should make us all proud.

The final eight contestants lasted 20 rounds and, in the end, plowed through words such as "pendeloque," "auslaut" and "bougainvillea."

And they accomplished this after their bed times - and most of ours.

"We will soon run out of words that will possibly challenge you," the Bee's official pronouncer, Jacques Bailly, told the contestants at the end of the 17th round of the event, which took place at the Gaylord National Resort at National Harbor, Md.

"We're throwing the dictionary at you," Bailly said. "And so far, you are showing this dictionary who is boss."

Even the dictionary agreed.

Merriam-Webster posted this on its Twitter account after the winners were announced: "The Dictionary concedes and adds that it is SO. PROUD."

Critics of the Bee have rightly pointed out that many of the contestants rely on personal coaches and spend much of their time studying for this one competition. But Olympic athletes do the same.

Cynics have also noted that spelling is not a skill needed for success. Of course, it is not. I know some incredibly talented writers - including one of my colleagues who has written about his struggle with spelling - who couldn't string together letters in the right order on demand, even if a more than $50,000 prize was at stake. You may even - although I hope not - find some misspellings in this column. Admittedly, I have felt my blood pressure rise when playing Cranium and drawing a card that requires me to spell a word backward.

That successful people, including our president, struggle with spelling does not negate what these kids accomplished. It makes it all the more impressive.

They worked hard at something that does not come easily to everybody, and they deserve all the confetti and praise that has fallen on them.

They deserve for us to marvel at how they were able to spell "cernuous," "odylic" and "erysipelas," while people in Hawaii were looking up how to spell "Hawaii."

They deserve for us not to worry about whether one or three or nine people will win the competition next year. The champions this year were all beaming on the stage together as they held that trophy.

For us, that should be enough. No matter how you spell it.