life in a sentence fragment
a real challenge
the list of words I will be incorporating
into my everyday conversation for the next year:
greffierpsephologistpathognomonicodontoloxiaminauderiesLetheansingerieglossophaginetournedospanjandrumsciomancylefsedorylineSpenglerianmyelogenouseinkantercatachresistrichocercousenvoûtementsansculotticlebensraumemmeleiatransrhenaneshillibeeraposematicushabtigalèreauncelcatawbatemenosmelocotonmasoolacravenettemisocaineamamaligathonnierkaburicipollinoAbaddonsemainierzenaidalansquenetthalwegchalumeauparyphodromefaconnehallalibidonvilledehnstufeavellaneousptyalagoguecrapaudhaupiakaumographercyanophyceantokonomaknaidel
If an eighth-grader can spell them, using them on a semi-regular basis is the very least I can do.
Seriously, though. Turning knowledge into a competition is probably why I'm still so fucked up thirty years later. Watching kids break down, crying dramatically after misspelling a word that isn't commonly used outside of specialized circles is the height of academic dysfunction. And I cried every year.
It's not even about wanting to win, necessarily, as much as it is about wanting to be perfect. (Don't get me wrong, feeling superior in that state of perfection is a major component as well, but it's mostly about the infallibility.)
I may make the occasional typographic error here and there, but I never misspell words. Ever.