10. Spelling Bee Contestant Dances Around N Word
The word is negus. As in a member of the Ethiopian royalty. Duhh. Unfortunately for the producers of this spelling bee, the word sounds very similar to another word beginning with N. The setting makes for excruciating viewing as the child continuously sounds it out and ask the judges to use it in a sentence. "The negus ruled Ethiopia until the coup of 1974." As the noticeably nervous child continues to struggle over the word, one of the judges finally seems to realize how badly this could go and asks the contestant to repeat the word back for them. "Negus." "One more time?" "Negus." She nods to her fellow judges as if to say, "The kid understands." And thankfully he does, spelling the word correctly and producing an adorable joyously shocked face. The commentators stress the importance of sounding the word out. Yeah, maybe in the future the people who choose the words would be best served sounding them out, too.