Photo: #Sameer Mishra, 13, from Indiana won the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. Mishra by correctly spelling the word 'guerdon' in round 16.
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Sameer Mishra, 13, from Indiana won the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. Mishra by correctly spelling the word 'guerdon' in round 16. (YASMEEN GHOLMIEH/AFP/Getty)

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Spellbound

Broadcast: Midmorning, 01/23/2009, 10:06 a.m.

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Ever wondered why there's a silent "h" in words like "ghost"? Or why "knock" has a silent "K"? A Journalist and self-professed weak speller set out on a journey to uncover some of the mysteries of English spelling, and found a story with more twists and turns than he expected.

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  • David Wolman: author of "Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling."

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