Pococurante

Sai R. Gunturi, an 8th grader from Dallas and four-time spelling bee veteran, won the 2003 Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee by spelling "pococurante" correctly. According to Merriam Webster's Dictionary, pococurante suggests indifference and nonchlance, from the Italian poco curante, and is pronounced "poko-kyu-ranty." The Times coverage includes tidbits like Gunturi saying "I'm going to buy a lot of video games, like, a lot," with the $12,000 prize and calling Samir Sudhir Patel snaggle-toothed though endearing.

Check out the words Sai had to spell to get to the top and his bio: He attends St. Mark's Academy, which is the school Owen Wilson was kicked out of. Why Gothamist knows this without needing to check is another question.

Gothamist has had a soft place in heart for spellers and spelling bees after seeing Spellbound, the documentary about the 1999 Spelling Bee. The Spellbound website has been redesigned and it's much easier, though Flash-intensive, to navigate. Spellbound will continue to open wider across theaters, and is currently playing at Film Forum and City/Reading Cinema in the city.