No kidding? Eerily similar to my own spelling bee experiences: school champ in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade; district champ in 7th. I still remember the word I misspelled to get eliminated at regional's: "liaison"; in retrospect it's not that hard a word, but I'd never come across it before that night. Obviously, I didn't advance further because I lacked the immersive dedication to it that the kids in the documentary all possessed.
4th grade - "couture" 5th and 6th - I don't remember anymore; I didn't make it out of the school level those years. 7th grade - "sontag"; I'd done it right, but they kept prompting me. They were hoping I'd say the word again to indicate I was done, though I usually never did that. I thought maybe there was another letter on the end of the word, so I tried adding one. It had worked once before. Well, it didn't work this time. It was irritating because all the words from then on out were easy. I could have gone to Washington if not for that one screw-up. (and please, no debates on how to spell "screw-up"; it's slang ) 8th grade - "corolla". I thought, surely not the same as the car. So I made up something different. But it was the same as the car. Of course, I'd never heard of these words at the time. Some of them I haven't heard since. (WTF is a "sontag" and who needs to know that anyway?)
According to Crash Davis's International League Dictionary, a "Sontag" is a writer whose novels are self-indulgent, overrated crap.
Damn, this language is no fun at all. Can't combine two perfectly good words into a new perfectly ok one without putting in a hyphen. 'Wants' however was again my poor grammar showing. Oh, and to answer batman's question from earlier in the thread: I'm Norwegian
Damn...Who knew? Underqualified is not a word. I bow out of yet another spelling contest... Though "underqualified" should be a word.
I don't see it in the dictionary, but it's been in common usage for some time now. And it is spelled correctly. It always takes a while for words to make it into the dictionary. Besides, I thought this was a spelling contest. Use of slang words, or new words, shouldn't constitute a kill. Wait for an actual spelling mistake or typo. (meaning = typographical error; it's also a commonly used term. Not that I should have to write on the bbs like I'm writing a paper for English class, but it's starting to look that way.) So give vj23k one more chance. (However, I will have to go into the other thread and take issue with what he said about Rice women. )
. I just want you to know that it's not my opinion. I really don't mind either way, but I think that B deserves a kill for either knowing that "underqualified" is not a word or for putting that much effort into the contest(looking up every word that looks questionable).
Is the BBC a good enough source for you for usage of "underqualified"? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/711675.stm Search google for "underqualified", you will find thousands of hits. I vote that vj23k is still in. It's a spelling contest, not a "well gosh, that word isn't in this dictionary" contest. Actually, if it isn't officially in the dictionary yet, it must be slang. What were our rules about slang again? I've been avoiding it, but I don't remember if it was clearly banned?
Unfortunately, the word is used in a "reader feedback" section, rather than the section prepared by the BBC editorial team. I don't think you'll find it in any dictionary. It is probably a misuse/confusion from "unqualified", which is an actual word. I think that "under-qualified" might be the valid grammatical usage, but I'm not sure on that point.
vj23k is not out. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=under*2+0&dict=A I retract my kill. B
I concur with Isabel and Snipe....vj is still in...even if it isnt in a dictionary...that is the common spelling I have seen for it. Ill tellyawhut....we need to give B some weapons and send him to Afganistan...such thirst for the kill he has...
I did retract my kill about 30 minutes before your post. In fact, I will dare to use the word underqualified without quotes, since I am 100% sure that "under" is considered combining form in the official game dictionary. I am not going to try to determine why underqualified is not in the official dictionary, but undercook is. B
I wouldn't worry too much. I've lost a lot of interest in getting kills lately. One or two more kills and I should be satisfied. B
