Two days ago, I reported on the results of this year’s Prime Minister’s National Spelling Bee.
As a result, I have been asked to explain why such events are called a ‘Spelling Bee’—where, I have been asked, do the little insects come into it?
Well, here is the background story.
In America their Scripps National Spelling Bee is marking its 101st anniversary this year!
Quite an achievement.
And looking at the list of spelling words for years 7 and 8, there’s a whole bunch of words that anyone might find challenging—nasturtium, lacquer, superseded, xylography, and gastropod!
Social researcher Mark McCrindle says spelling bees are (for our school system) a ‘corrective’ showing a movement ‘back to the real world.’
And why is it called a Spelling Bee?
Anything to do with the buzzing insect?
No, nothing at all.
‘Spelling bee’ is first recorded in America in 1850.
It comes from an earlier use of ‘bee’ to mean any joint community project.
It was possible in those days for a community to have a ‘working bee’ or a ‘barn raising bee’ or even a ‘knitting bee.’
The ‘bee’ part comes from an old English word ‘boon’ meaning a ‘gift’ or a ‘benefit.’
And the earliest of these community activities were called ‘working boons.’
But in the backwoods of America this was often pronounced as a ‘working been’ (perhaps influenced by an even older word ‘bene’ which was the Old English word for prayer).
And you can see how ‘been’ was easily shortened into just ‘bee.’
That’s the story behind the name—and it’s a reminder for all of us to take greater care with our spelling.
(That includes me—a note I add for the benefit of those readers who have pointed out my spelling errors in the past!)
The latest issue of The Spectator Australia is in newsagents now -- with a cartoon of Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese on the front cover, and my 'Language' column in the back.
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* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
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BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
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