拼写世界上最难的单词，麻烦还是艺术？

Spelling may be in trouble in the era of “covfefe.” But it’s serious business at this week’s Scripps National Spelling Bee near Washington, with ESPN coverage and $40,000 for the winner.

在“covfefe”(特朗普总统在Twitter拼错的单词——译注)的时代，拼写可能是一种麻烦。但在本周华盛顿附近举行的斯克里普斯国家拼字比赛(Scripps National Spelling Bee)上，这是一件严肃的事，获胜者将获得4万美元，以及ESPN的报道。

It’s a far cry from 1925, when Frank Neuhauser got $500 in gold as the bee’s first winner. He had to spell his winning word, “gladiolus,” for strangers for the rest of his life.

这与1925年比起来相差甚远，当时弗兰克·纽豪斯(Frank Neuhauser)获得了价值500美元的黄金，成为比赛的第一位冠军。他在余生都不得不为陌生人拼写让他得胜的那个单词“gladiolus”(唐菖蒲)。

Last year’s winner was Ananya Vinay, who won with “marocain.” Although she isn’t allowed to compete in this year’s national bee, she’s still spelling and coaching others.

去年的冠军是阿纳妮亚·维奈(Ananya Vinay)，他以“marocain”(马罗坎棱纹绉)获得了冠军。“虽然她不能继续参加今年的全国拼字比赛，但她仍在拼写和指导其他人。

Texas is the state with the most winners, 11. Twenty-two states have had none. Spellers from other countries can compete, and the first international winner was Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica in 1998, above, with “chiaroscurist.” There are spellers from five countries other than the U.S. this year.

德州是赢家最多的州，共计11个。22个州没有出过冠军。来自其他国家的拼写者也可以参加比赛，第一个国际冠军是1998年夺冠、来自牙买加的乔迪-安妮·马克斯韦尔(Jody-Anne Maxwell，上图)，她以“chiaroscurist”(明暗对比论者)获胜。今年有来自美国以外五个国家的选手参赛。

The longest winning word was “scherenschnitte,” spelled by Vanya Shivashankar, who was a co-champion in 2015. The shortest was “luge,” which won Daniel Greenblatt the title in 1984.

最长的致胜单词是“scherenschnitte”(剪纸)，由2015年的联合冠军瓦尼亚·希瓦尚卡(Vanya Shivashankar)拼写出来。最短的是“luge”(无舵雪橇)，1984年丹尼尔·格林布拉特(Daniel Greenblatt)凭此获得冠军。

In 1983, a child who lost made news. Andrew Flosdorf was praised “for his utter honesty” after telling the judges they misheard him when they said he spelled “echolalia” correctly. “I didn’t want to feel like a slime,” he said.

1983年，一个输了的孩子成为了新闻。安德鲁·弗洛斯多夫(Andrew Flosdorf)“因为完全的诚实”而受到称赞，他告诉评委，他们错误地把他拼写的“echolalia”听成是对的。“我不想觉得自己像是个卑鄙的人，”他说。