WEEKLY GROSS-OUT: Vocab tests in spelling bees

In addition to unleashing gems like weissnichtwo and humuhumunukunukuapua'a on us, the 281 contestants in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which begins today, will have to know what the words mean too. This is the first time in its 86 years that the competition has introduced a vocabulary component. It will count for 50% of a speller's overall score and will help determine which competitors take part in the semifinal and the championship rounds. Spelling tests, both computer-based and onstage, will make up the other half of their scores. This is just wrong. The reason these competitions are called "spelling" bees has nothing to do with vocabulary and definitions - it should remain strictly a spelling bee. That's why they even bothered to put the word spelling in it. Why they called it a bee, however, is a totally different story.