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These are the hardest-to-spell words in the English language
CNN ^ | 21 May 2019 | Mallory Hughes

Posted on 05/21/2019 5:02:30 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin

(CNN) Bondieuserie. Bewusstseinslage. Ayacahuite.

Most of us wouldn't even know how to pronounce those words, let alone spell them. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a week away and it is sure to be filled with a plethora of problematic words. An international team of linguists from the language-learning app Babbel partnered with Merriam-Webster to analyze a decade's worth of words and find out what knocked out Bee contestants in the final round.

Bondieuserie [bohn-dyooz-ree]: banal and often shoddy religious art (almost all religious art)

Zenaida [zen-eye-da]: any bird of a genus of tropical American pigeons (know of some Mexican women with this name)

Schwärmerei [schvair-muh-RYE]: excessive unbridled enthusiasm or attachment (Hillary or Obama fans)

Ayacahuite (Spanish) [ah-jah-kah-WEE-tay]: a large Mexican pine tree with long needles and extremely large yellowish red cones (nope - it's Indian dialect, probably Aztec)

Minhag (Hebrew) [min-HAHG]: Jewish religious custom (of name calling your wife)

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: borrowed; clickbait; english; fakenews; foreignword; french; german; spelling; spellingbee; words
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To: bert

After reaching 65 years of age, minor spelling and grammatical errors can be ignored

Were it not for spell check, it is unlikely you could decipher this reply.


41 posted on 05/21/2019 8:55:53 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT ("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message.)
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To: SES1066
I got a kick out of someone naming a ‘language-learning’ app Babbel ... The word Babbel means ‘confusion’. Tower of Babel... (Babylon) its origin.
42 posted on 05/21/2019 9:00:56 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
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To: 3boysdad

You beat me to it...


43 posted on 05/21/2019 9:01:48 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
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To: moovova

>>>The older I get the more I struggle with spelling.
I had trouble spelling IBM the other day<<<

At my age “I” am just happy to have a “BM” every day.

I call it an “Obama” though.


44 posted on 05/21/2019 9:08:10 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin

Yep - I struggle with those words daily...


45 posted on 05/21/2019 9:17:00 AM PDT by GOPJ (The Clinton Effect created the tackiest white-trash 'elites' the world has ever seen.Squatting in DC)
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin

Is it weather or whether?


46 posted on 05/21/2019 9:58:49 AM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: null and void

Schwärmerei [schvair-muh-RYE]: excessive unbridled enthusiasm or attachment

German, derived from the activity of a honeybee swarm during the process of settling in on a tree branch or similar shortly after leaving the hive during the process of swarming. Peak Schwärmerei would consist of thousands of bees flying around the landing zone before landing.


47 posted on 05/21/2019 10:01:16 AM PDT by Western Phil
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Schwärmerei [schvair-muh-RYE]: excessive unbridled enthusiasm or attachment (Hillary or Obama fans)

And then there's "Schadenfreude."

48 posted on 05/21/2019 10:08:02 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Heh heh, try Polish....


49 posted on 05/21/2019 10:10:05 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

In the late fifties, a contestant on a game show called, ‘21,’ labored mightily to spell a word that looked difficult, but was mostly a string of suffixes and prefixes. What a joke. The word was ‘antidisestablishmentarianism.’


50 posted on 05/21/2019 10:23:47 AM PDT by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: moovova

I had trouble spelling IBM the other day...

.....................................................

What’s the number for 911?


51 posted on 05/21/2019 12:31:28 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.)
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin

None of those words is in any semblance of common use. One that is that used to stump me all the time is “souvenir”. Brain lock, I guess. I had it tattooed to my frontal lobe and now everything is fi fi fi fine.


52 posted on 05/21/2019 12:37:49 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin

Those are the English language?


53 posted on 05/21/2019 12:40:23 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam
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To: nwrep

That’s a man, baby!


54 posted on 05/21/2019 2:04:23 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: Darteaus94025

lolol


55 posted on 05/21/2019 2:04:46 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: dp0622

Yes, “honesty” too. Oh, and “morality”.


56 posted on 05/21/2019 4:29:18 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: minnesota_bound

It depends on whether you’re talking about this or that or the weather. Then, you just have to weather the conversation whether you like it or the weather or not.


57 posted on 05/21/2019 4:31:14 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Most of these are foreign words!

Not English.

58 posted on 05/21/2019 4:31:41 PM PDT by SamAdams76
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin

the hardest phrase to spell in English is “I’m Srory”


59 posted on 05/27/2020 9:22:30 AM PDT by Bob434
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To: Bob434

Ha ha ha...don’t make fun of me.


60 posted on 05/27/2020 9:30:07 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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