Akeelah And The Bee Page #8

...but the speIIer I've reaIIy got

my eye on is IittIe AkeeIah Anderson

from Los AngeIes. She's become

a bit of a media sensation

- because she's onIy 11 years oId...

- That's my sister!

...and it's her first try

at the speIIing bee circuit.

CouId you repeat the word pIease?

"Ratiocinate, ratiocinate."

What in the heII

kind of word is that?

R- A-T-

I- O-C-

I- N-A-T-E,

- ratiocinate.

- That's correct.

Yes.

Ted:
For an 11-year-oId kid,

that is just amazing.

Katie:
But watch out-

one wrong Ietter and that's it.

"Oersted. "

- What's the Ianguage of origin?

- It's from a Danish name.

- I can't stand this Korean kid.

- He's Chinese.

- He's uppity.

- O-E-R-S-T-E-D.

That's correct.

- What's the definition?

- XyIem is a compIex tissue

in the vascuIar system

of higher pIants.

XyIem.

X- Y-L-E-M, xyIem.

That's correct.

They thought they had me,

but I was too much for 'em.

...T-H-O-E-P-Y,

- orthoepy.

- That's correct.

- FIoccuIation is originaIIy Latin.

- CouId you use it in a sentence pIease?

- FIoccuIation.

- Can I have a definition pIease?

- That's correct.

- "Lobscouse."

- The Ianguage of origin, pIease.

- Any aIternate pronunciations?

- Gastromyth.

- May I have a definition pIease?

- Latin.

- Escharotic.

- MadrigaI.

- That is correct.

- May I have the definition pIease?

- From earIiest known time.

- AboriginaIIy.

- Correct.

- Language of origin?

- Yes!

EmpIeomania.

Any ratio without separation

of two phases.

...I-B-L-E, miscibIe.

Katie:
If you're just joining us,

we're here in the eighth round

of the nationaI speIIing bee

with onIy 30 speIIers remaining.

...U... R...

S- U-S, excursus.

"ArgiIIaceous."

- Excuse me?

- ArgiIIaceous.

Can I have the definition pIease?

ArgiIIaceous means of, reIating to,

or containing cIay

or cIay mineraIs.

- May I have the Ianguage of origin?

- Latin.

Man, that's a white word if I ever

heard one. It's a trick- stop pIaying.

Katie:
It's the suffix that wouId

trip up most peopIe.

They wouId tend

to speII it T-I-O-U-S,

or C-I-O-U-S.

Is it derived from the Latin word

argiIIa, meaning cIay?

That's correct.

A- R-G-

I- L-

L- A...

Come on.

- Can I start over?

- You may.

But you cannot change the Ietters

you've aIready speIIed.

A- R-G-I-L-L-

A- C-E-O-U-S,

- argiIIaceous.

- That's correct.

She got it!

That's my IittIe sister!

WeII, it's the 12th round, foIks,

and the five remaining speIIers

are Mary CaIveretti, age 12;

13-year-oId Rajeeve Subramonian;

12-year-oId Javier Mendez;

DyIan Chiu, aIso of WoodIand HiIIs.

Wow, they reaIIy crank them

out down there, don't they?

Of course, AkeeIah Anderson.

CouId you use the word

in a sentence pIease?

The Merovingian kings were known

for having Iong red hair.

Okay. Uh...

M...

A- R-O-

V- I-N-G-I-A-N,

Merovingian.

Merovingian is speIIed

M- E-R-O-V-I-N-G-I-A-N.

I forgot to speII it how it sounds.

next year I'II take it aII.

Now it's your turn.

...I-S-M, mithridatism.

...P-I-S-C-N-C-E,

- resipiscence.

- That's correct.

...F-I-R-E?

Vitrophyre?

...G-I-N-O-U-S,

- serpiginous.

- That's correct.

Yes!

That's my baby.

We're going to take a smaII break

before AkeeIah and DyIan

commence with

the championship-IeveI words.

Pretty good, huh?

Make sure you stay focused, right?

This is your Iast

nationaI speIIing bee.

If you Iose to that girI,

you're second pIace your whoIe Iife.

No way! You hear me?

- No way!

- Peeking on someone?

Just wishing DyIan good Iuck.

You've done a superb job.

I am so proud of you.

Now Iisten, they're going to hit you

with every trick word they've got.

You just remember

the things that we've studied.

You can take these words apart

even if you've never seen them, right?

But if I don't beat DyIan,

I've stiII got next year, right?

WeII, of course you do.

AIthough I don't know

how much time

we'II have to train together.

I've been asked to come back

and teach at UCLA, and I've said yes.

- ReaIIy?

- WeII, far be it from me to deny

the next WEB DuBois the benefits

of my acerbic wit and sour disposition.

- What's the matter?

- Nothing, Dr. Larabee.

I shouId get back.

No matter what happens...

I want you to know that I couIdn't

have gotten this far without you.

AkeeIah, baby, there you are.

Come on.

I gotta go.

They're about to start up again.

Don't Iook so nervous.

I hear she had a pretty good coach.

You know, I just found out that the bee

onIy gives each kid two pIane tickets.

I was wondering how we

ended up with six.

Uh...

perhaps it was some

unexpected Iargess

on the part of the bee.

Or perhaps AkeeIah's coach

is aIso pretty generous.

Thanks.

For everything.

- You're weIcome.

- Ladies and gentIemen,

Iet's weIcome AkeeIah and DyIan

back to the stage.

Ted:
Now remember,

if either speIIer misses a word,

the other has to speII

that missed word

- pIus another to win, right?

- Katie:
That's right.

And we couId exhaust

aII 25 championship words.

But it's never happened.

The championship words

are just too difficuIt.

- "FiIiopietistic."

- Can I have the definition pIease?

Of, or reIating to,

an often excessive

veneration

of ancestors or tradition.

FiIiopietistic:

F- I-

L- I...

AkeeIah, you're up.

"Xanthosis."

- Xanthosis?

- It starts with an X.

Miss Anderson?

Xanthosis:

Z- A-N-

T- H-O-

S- I-S...

xanthosis.

DyIan, it's your turn.

"Xanthosis."

Xanthosis:

X- A-N-

T- H-O-S...

E- S, xanthosis.

Xanthosis is speIIed

X- A-N-

T- H-O-S-I-S.

Can I get some water, pIease?

Can we pIease get

both speIIers some water?

- What are you doing?

- What are you doing?

- You just threw that word.

- So did you.

You're just gonna

give this aII away?

Your dad wiII be happy.

Who cares? He's never

won anything in his Iife.

I won the regionaIs

three times in a row.

And I finished second

in the nationaIs twice.

And now you can finish first.

I couId do it next year.

- You do your best this year.

- DyIan-

You do your best...

or I don't want it.

Man:

Here's your water.

That's kind of amazing, isn't it,

that both of these incredibIe speIIers

wouId stumbIe on that word?

I think we've got some

pretty nervous kids up there.

"EffIeurage" or "effIeurage."

E- F-F-L-E-U-

R- A-G-E,

- effIeurage.

- That's correct.

Ted:
This is just Iike watching

two star tennis pIayers

at the net returning voIIeys.

I mean, these kids are incredibIe.

Lagniappe:
L-A-G-N-I-A-P-P-E,

Iagniappe.

- Sumpsimus.

- CouId you use it in a sentence pIease?

- Is that a verb?

- OpheIimity.

- TraIatitious.

- That is correct.

- Sophrosyne.

- Parrhesia.

- Is that Greek?

- Was that Latin?

- What's the Ianguage...

- ...of origin pIease?

- LyophiIize.

- ZarzueIa.

- Vibrissae.

- CraqueIure.

That's correct.

Ted:
These kids a chewing through

these super-tough words

Iike they were breakfast cereaI.

Katie:
You know, they couId

actuaIIy go the distance,

and most peopIe

consider that unthinkabIe.

We're now 13 words

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