Quick! Spell enthymeme. Now monadnock. How about tessaraconter? No fair. You looked!
Those are just a few of the words 14-year-old Shrey Parikh of San Bernardino, California spelled correctly to win the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. In order, they refer to a type of argument, an isolated hill or mountain and a galley with forty banks of oars. I think I put them in the right order anyway. I’m banking on the fact that you wouldn’t know if I didn’t.
The annual Scripps Spelling Bee is open to students who haven’t completed eighth grade, aren’t yet 15 years old and haven’t already won it. I’m obviously not qualified to compete and not because I’ve already won it. It’s too bad because I’m an excellent speller. Also, a liar.
I’m embarrassed to admit that there are some words that stump me every time I try to spell them and “embarrassed” is one of them. Also accommodate, Worcestershire, conscientious, pneumonia and bureaucracy. It’s not my fault. As you can see, the words I struggle with tend to have unnecessary letters. It’s like someone was just trying to make them harder for students and spelling bee contestants.
I was so inspired by Mr. Parikh that I decided to become a better speller myself. I went to that source of all knowledge, the internet, where I found many mnemonics or memory tricks, for remembering how to spell difficult words. Interestingly, I found no mnemonic for remembering how to spell mnemonic.
But if you have trouble with a word, chances are someone has come up with a trick for remembering it. Take the word “separate.” If you can’t remember if it’s an “E” or an “A” in the middle tell yourself there’s a “a rat” in separate. Ask anyone who’s separating from a partner and they’ll tell you it’s the person they’re separating from.
A lot of people have trouble confusing principal and principle. Just remember, your principal is your pal. That trick has been around for a long time but the confusion persists, maybe because not all children see it that way.
Do you confuse the spellings of “desert” and “dessert?” Remember deserts are dry like sand. And sand has just one “S.” Strawberry shortcake is a dessert and it has two “S’s.” If you’re thinking, “Yes, but chocolate sundae only has one “S,” you might want to stick with writing “sweet treat served after meals” and “arid land mass” instead of dessert and desert.
Another common trick is to use the letters of difficult words to create sentences to help you remember the spelling of the word. For example, the word “rhythm” becomes “Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move.” That could be helpful. But I can see how some people might get confused and think “Rhythm Makes My Two Hips Hurt.”
Similarly someone came up with the sentence “A Rat In The House May Eat The Ice Cream” to help spell arithmetic. I’m glad I already know how to spell it because I can see myself thinking, “A Rat In The House AAARGH!” That wouldn’t help at all.
And then there’s the mnemonic “Big Elephants Can’t Always Use Small Exits” for remembering how to spell the word “because.” But I can see me wondering, “Is it ‘Big Elephants Can’t EVER Use Small Exits?’ Or ‘Big Elephants Shouldn’t Even Try To Use Small Exits.’” Because they shouldn’t.
Clearly this form of mnemonic has its limitations, the main one being that recalling the sentence may be harder than remembering how to spell the word. Imagine the sentences it would take to spell enthymeme, monadnock and tessaraconter?
Dorothy Rosby is the author of Alexa’s a Spy and Other Things to Be Ticked off About, Humorous Essays on the Hassles of Our Time and other books. Contact her at www.dorothyrosby.com/contact.