You say knaidel, I say kneydel Everything in today's society turns into a controversy, and the Scripps National Spelling Bee is no exception. The Most Enjoyable News Story I Have Ever Read appears in today's New York Times. You can find it here - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/nyregion/some-say-spelling-of-a-winning-word-wasnt-kosher.html?hpw&_r=0 .
Actually, if I were you, I'd go read that now, rather than the rest of this post because it is laugh out loud funny! Especially if you're of Jewish heritage. You cannot read it without thinking either of one of the old (funny) Woody Allen movies or the deli scene from When Harry Met Sally. You have to read parts of it with your Jewish grandmother's voice playing in your head.
Basically, it lays out the debate over the proper spelling of knaidel (a doughy dumpling or matzo ball), the word that won the spelling bee the other night for Arvind V. Mahankali. Among the experts interviewed, the reporter went to Queens and talked to 80 and 90 year old Jewish folks (it doesn't get any better than them in a disagreement). It also will remind you of every conversation you had with a non-Jew over the pronunciation of Chanukah or Hanukkah. Non-Jews never get the "ch" or "kh" sound straight in their minds. And, when the do, they still can't pronounce the holiday.
Have you read that Times piece yet? No? Then go now, I'm done. And you'll enjoy that article tremendously. I know I have a lot of chutzpa to say that. But in this case, I am right.
Actually, if I were you, I'd go read that now, rather than the rest of this post because it is laugh out loud funny! Especially if you're of Jewish heritage. You cannot read it without thinking either of one of the old (funny) Woody Allen movies or the deli scene from When Harry Met Sally. You have to read parts of it with your Jewish grandmother's voice playing in your head.
Basically, it lays out the debate over the proper spelling of knaidel (a doughy dumpling or matzo ball), the word that won the spelling bee the other night for Arvind V. Mahankali. Among the experts interviewed, the reporter went to Queens and talked to 80 and 90 year old Jewish folks (it doesn't get any better than them in a disagreement). It also will remind you of every conversation you had with a non-Jew over the pronunciation of Chanukah or Hanukkah. Non-Jews never get the "ch" or "kh" sound straight in their minds. And, when the do, they still can't pronounce the holiday.
Have you read that Times piece yet? No? Then go now, I'm done. And you'll enjoy that article tremendously. I know I have a lot of chutzpa to say that. But in this case, I am right.
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