An Orthographic Centennial

“What is he writing about this time?” you may be asking yourself.  Even if I had mentioned to you what I was writing about this week, you might think that I had changed my mind.  (Or that I’m out of my mind.  Your pick.)  Last week my sister Jamie suggested the topic for this week’s post.  She said that since it was one hundred years since my maternal grandmother Myrtle Sylvia Phenice received a certificate to acknowledge her superior spelling skills, I might consider writing about that.  So I agreed.  Thus the title.

I like to have an interesting title to my posts, which I hope none of you find surprising. Otherwise I have failed miserably!  So I thought I would find a synonym for the word “spelling.”  The word that came up was “orthography.”  Orthography means “the conventional spelling system of a language.”  But I used the adjective form of the word.  In my line of work (drafting or technical drawing), the word “orthographic” has a different meaning.  It is defined as “a method of projection in which an object is depicted or a surface mapped using parallel lines to project its shape onto a plane.”  As you can tell, it is a very different meaning.

So the word has a double meaning.  And hopefully I used the adjective form of the word accurately for the title.  Because it’s supposed to mean a century full of words spelled correctly.  Wasn’t that interesting?  Aren’t words fun?  I think so, and I think my grandmother felt the same way.  She was a stickler for spelling words correctly and speaking with the proper grammar.

April 1918 – My grandmother Myrtle Phenice received recognition for her spelling prowess.

It started early for her, because one hundred years ago she was only eleven years old when she participated in the State Spelling Test.  The test occurred in March, but she didn’t receive her certificate until April.  I’m sure she was very proud of this accomplishment, otherwise we wouldn’t be looking at this old piece of paper.

And if you read it, you’ll see that she spelled five hundred words correctly.  I don’t think I ever had a spelling test with five hundred words on it.  How did they do that?  Pronounce 500 words for a large group of students while making sure that they all heard it pronounced accurately?  That sounds like a monumental task in itself!  It does say that the test was on March 28th and 29th, so I suppose it was spread out over two days.  She was in the second or third grade, so she must have been well-behaved as well.

1920 – Myrtle Phenice at it again.

As you can see from this second document, she repeated the feat two years later.  This time it was only 100 words and just one day.  But she got them all correct again!  That’s an accomplishment.

I wonder if there is a spelling gene?  A few markers in the chromosomes of people who are good spellers?  If there is, I think I got it.  I have always been a good speller, if I may say so myself.  I was looking through some old documents the other day and came across my old report cards.  I always thought that math and science were my strong subjects, but it was spelling that was the only subject I only made As in.  I don’t have any certificates to prove my point, though.

My niece Kelli is an excellent speller like her great grandmother.  She won a district spelling bee when she was in the third grade. (Let’s hear three cheers for Kelli!!!)  When I went to the Keys family reunion last summer, the topic of spelling came up.  It’s funny to hear that other family members are sticklers for incorrect spelling and grammar as well.  It’s that old question of nature vs. nurture.

Grandma was a teacher after all and I’m sure she wanted her progeny to be the best spellers they can be!  Her sisters were also teachers with the same proclivity.  So don’t disappoint them: lets irradicate mispelled words!