Protesters Target 'Illogical Spelling' at Bee

A small group of protesters, some of them dressed in bee costumes, gathered outside the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington DC yesterday to make their case for spelling reform. The protesters, representing the American Literacy Council, say the illogical spelling of the English language is holding back much of the population from learning to read and write properly, AP reports.

The few spelling rules that exist "have loads of exceptions," complained one protester. "One of the major rules for English spelling is: 'I before E except after C'—but 'weird' is an exception for that." The activists argue that "fruit" should be spelled as "froot" and "slow" as "slo." Passers-by were given lapel pins with the slogan: "Enuf is enuf. Enough is too much." (More Scripps National Spelling Bee stories.)