It's hard for Californians to spell 'beautiful,' while Hawaiians struggle with 'grateful'

Confetti falls over Arvind Mahankali of New York after the finals of the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The next time you sit down in Missouri and forget how to spell "sincerely," take comfort in knowing that someone in Alabama is grappling with "cousin."

We can't all be spelling bee champs, but in honor of the kids who actually are competing in the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee this week, Google has released a list of the top "how to spell _____" searches by state. The most-searched word in 11 states is "beautiful," with residents of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin needing assistance.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.