Cal graduate student helps to pick the words for the Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an American tradition that spans decades.
And this week, 243 talented spellers from around the world competed in the competition this year, attempting to correctly spell words compiled by one Bay Area man.
"You know, you might think it may not take that long to put a list of words together, but actually we've been working on this for over 12 months," Frank Cahill, the national word list coordinator for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, told CBS News Bay Area.
It all began when he was curious about spelling bees in the third grade. He began competing in both local and state competitions, and eventually made it to the National Spelling Bee in 2012.
Unfortunately, he was eliminated in the second round of finals.
"I will never forget the word that I missed in the finals in the National Spelling Bee. It was porwigle, a word from English. It means a tadpole. It's a pretty cute word. It's a fun word, a word you might overlook when you're studying because it's small but tricky. But I spelled it porwiggle, but actually middle English, only had one 'g,'" Cahill said.
While he didn't walk away with the Scripps Cup trophy that year, he wanted to be a part of the magic, and so he volunteered as a word panelist through the years in college, helping to come up with words for the competition.
And this year is his first year as the national word list coordinator. When Cahill is not busy compiling the best words, he's studying comparative literature as a grad student at UC Berkeley.
"Pogonotomy, it's just a funny way of saying shaving. Comes from the Greek word for beard and the Greek word for cut," he said, sharing one of his favorite words.
He added that he and his team are already preparing for next year's competition, and is excited to be a part of this tradition.
"Such a rewarding feeling, because I know how much this experience has meant to me as a middle schooler and I know what it meant to me watching as an elementary schooler too," Cahill said.
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