[urq] German word wins US Spelling Bee?

[Alex Kowalski]

>The guy reading the words
>pronounced the word the German way using the English "V" sound, which is
>wrong in an English contest IM-not-so-HO.

>Am I wrong?

Yes.   Weltschmertz is a fairly common German word in general usage even in
English-speaking countries, who don't always pronounce it properly.  I've
read it several times in newspapers, sometimes with a pronunciation key.
The fact that the pronunciation can be a little tricky for
predominantly English-speaking people doesn't disqualify it as a difficult
vocabulary word at that level of the spelling bee -- there are a lot of
words we use every day that would be spelled differently if we spelled them
the way we pronounce them -- "ennui" for example.  When I first read that
word, I heard "ah-new-e" or even "enn-you-eye."  I'm sure there are other
words that were used during this year's Bee that were equally as difficult
for someone who hadn't mastered them.  She slipped up, it was perfectly
fair.  These kids study long and hard to make it to that level, and
evidently the Bee Keepers are keeping the contest interesting.  Good for
them.

Alex Kowalski
'87 5KCSTQ
'86 5KCSTQ
Glad because I don't suffer from any Weltschmertz here on the Quattro List
:).