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kia
January 17th, 2014, 12:58 AM
This is a challenge to FPGeeks!

And, this being a challenge (and a battle of words), it means there will be a champion, and there will be a special gift from me to the champion!

(a special thank you to Dannzeman, for creating this forum after I asked where I may post this thread)

This is a two-part challenge. The first part will not win favor with any gifts, but it will set up part two where the real challenge will take place and the champion will be had. Even if you decide not to enter this challenge for the gift, please help set up those who do with your input by participating in part one. Part two will be posted for the actual challenge entries after part one has been completed on January 24, 2014, and run through February 17, 2014, Presidents’ Day.

First, though, I’m going to start by telling you about my gift for the champion of the challenge. This way, if you don’t like the gift from winning the challenge, you can run off now, and skip the following narrative and the truly obligatory uglies (disclaimers, fine print, yada yada) if you don’t want to participate.

I will put all the uglies in a separate thread and come back and link it HERE (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/5553-Challenge!-Presidents-Day-International-Rules-and-Uglies), so as not to clutter up the challenge posting – but don’t skim or skip reading all of it, there is a silver lining hidden in the ugly cloud.


MY GIFT TO THE CHAMPION:

The choice of any (one) production model Edison Pen with stock steel nib, and a $101 USD gift certificate from the Goulet Pen Company. The combined value of the Edison Pen and Goulet Pen Company gift certificate is $250 USD.

Here are pictures of the Edison Pen production pen line, posted with permission of the Goulet Pen Company (and does include the Edison Nouveau Premiere, non-limited edition, also by permission):

Beaumont, Collier
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Beaumont_zpsb4669031.jpg (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/kiavonne/media/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Beaumont_zpsb4669031.jpg.html) http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Collier_zps8f0f372a.jpg (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/kiavonne/media/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Collier_zps8f0f372a.jpg.html)

Herald, Hudson
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Herald_zpse0212834.jpg (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/kiavonne/media/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Herald_zpse0212834.jpg.html) http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Hudson_zps2acac4e7.jpg (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/kiavonne/media/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Hudson_zps2acac4e7.jpg.html)

Pearlette, Premiere
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Pearlette_zpsb00ffce0.jpg (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/kiavonne/media/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Pearlette_zpsb00ffce0.jpg.html) http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Premiere_zpse44760a5.jpg (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/kiavonne/media/Pens/Edison%20Pen%20Co/Premiere_zpse44760a5.jpg.html)


CHALLENGE - PART ONE

A long time ago in a thread far, far away…

In 2008, I fell in love with a thread called “Difficult Words” in another forum. Folks talked about the words which gave them the most difficulty, headaches, and nightmares when trying to write them in cursive. After a half a dozen posts or so, someone else took a little creative initiative and took the words already listed and put them together into a practice sentence. The practice sentence grew with as more words were posted, and it eventually became a one-sentence mini story. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it ended up being the practice sentence to beat all that included words with lots of z’s, x’s, q’s, double letters, multiple descenders and ascenders, words so long they hurt to write, and various combinations thereof. I have a copy of that sentence saved so I can practice with it still. However, I’m ready for a new practice sentence, and I want you to help me get it.

For part one, please help to set up a new practice sentence. From now to Friday, January 24, 2014, please start listing all the words and/or letter combinations you absolutely hate to write (um, let’s avoid the naughty words, though). All the words must be real words. Please let us know why the words or letter combinations you put up give you nightmares to write. If it is a really strange word, also add a brief definition.

In addition, if you can come up with one, please include a word containing both the letters B and G - but avoiding the suffix “ing” - along with your difficult word. A B/G word is not a requirement, but some added zing is always welcome.

For inspiration, here is just the first part of that long ago practice sentence, and some of the words or letter combinations behind it:

“Disturbed by his colleagues' lack of enthusiasm, again and again the Egyptian astrophysicist visiting the observatory in Mississippi analyzed the multi-part transcription of telecommunications from the Galileo probe for the minimum of errors and maximum of syzygy,”

capital letter D - difficult to write consistently
double letters - m’s and n’s and r’s especially bad
telecommunication – takes a long time to write right
Mississippi – multiple sets of double letters that can make the eyes cross
minimum – m’s, n’s, i’s and u’s kind of run together and tend to morph into something else
Egypt - those annoying descenders
syzygy – see Egypt, and throw in a z, too (real word, something about alignment of the stars)
Galileo - upward loops and strokes in a row that want to all become loopy pen trials
maximum - more m’s and i’s and u’s and they had to throw in an x for good measure
again – because I seem to have a strikeout every time I write the word, and it isn’t such a hard word, is it?

rutabaga – B/G word
beggar – B/G word, with double letters, and double descenders

So, there is the start of a list of difficult words, and the start of the challenge. Please champion my cause and tell me, what are all the words which are difficult for you to write? You are not limited to single posts, the more the merrier!

Kimy

edits: For emphasis and spelling only, content has not been altered!

kia
January 17th, 2014, 02:07 AM
:bump2:

to be on top of the uglies

kaisnowbird
January 17th, 2014, 05:57 AM
Okay, here is a list of words I don't like to write, especially without a spell check. It took me nearly an hour to think of them and I will not reveal how long it took for me to get the right spelling (fingers-crossed). Given US English uses more Z's, I stick with US spelling.

You may notice that I have neglected words begin with letter X. Well, except Xmas and Xavier, I don't enjoy writing any of those words. Luckily, I hardly ever have to write any of those ugly words.

Four *B*G* words included. :laser:



A
accumulative
acquiesce
aficionado
amalgamate
asbestos

B
benign (BG)
Bologna (BG)
bourgeois/bourgeoisie (BG)

C
chauvinism
collaboration
corroboration
continuum
conundrum
curmudgeon
curriculum
Czechoslovakia

D
dachshund :blink:
derriere

E
entrepreneur
exaggerated
extraordinary



F
fuchsia :mad:

G
guerrilla
H
hemorrhage
hierarchy
hors d'oeuvre :crazy:
I
idiosyncrasy
illegitimate
indiscriminate
interference
J
jewellry


K
knowledgeable
L
labyrinth
lieutenant
M
maneuver
mannequin
mayonnaise
miscellaneous
mnemonic :mad2:
N
necessarily
nutritious
O
omniscience


P
paraphernalia :rant:
pharmaceutical
plagiarize
pronunciation
Q
quadruple
questionnaire
R
reconnaissance
rhapsody
ridiculous
S
sacrilegious
schizophrenic :faint:
silhouette
subterfuge (BG)
T
thirtieth


U
uninhibited
V
vinaigrette :shocked:
W
wherever
Y
yacht
Z
zucchini :puke:



I trust the reasons that the above words are hard to write in cursive or hard to spell are pretty obvious.

reprieve
January 17th, 2014, 07:56 AM
I immediately thought of Mississippi. I also hate to write Quebec and Venezuela.


bordeaux
brought (I often write "bought" and vice versa)
bungalow
Carlyle (as in the Carlyle Hotel or Thomas Carlyle)
chateau
citizen
critique
curiosities (I always want to write "curiousities")
Elysium
encyclopedia
epistemology
fascism
gryphon
hegemony
hippopotamus
impartiality
labyrinthine (which I cannot spell for the life of me)
Lazarus
medieval
objectivity
patriarchal
pendulum
phenomenon
philology
provincialism
pyrotechnics
renaissance
rhinoceros
thief (I always want to write "theif")
zeitgeist (as in the "spirit" or "mood" of a time period)

kia
January 17th, 2014, 09:09 AM
Wow, excellent beginning!

kaisnowbird, you had me nodding with "accumulative," and snickering with agreement for "horse devours..." ;)

reprieve, "bought" (oooh, B/G word!) and "midevil" uh, "brought" and "medieval" are, well, evil but "Carlyle" is up and down and up and loopy... yeah, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! :bounce:

reprieve
January 17th, 2014, 04:43 PM
Baccalaureate. Beauteousness. Those are tough words for me.

I learned this difficult-to-write word today: orgulous: adj. Haughty. Proud. Disdainfully arrogant. It's an odd word.

I've been trying to think of b/g words for you. How about backlogged? (Ugh! Double g's. And I find k's to be especially hard.) Baggins (as in Bilbo). Bogeyman. Gabardine. Gallbladder. Glabella (i.e., the part of the forehead between the eyebrows. I love this word, but it's difficult to write.)

Cookies
January 17th, 2014, 06:39 PM
Obviously I hate anything with a double letters as I can never write them the same size/shape and it looks terribly sloppy.

Also, as an artist I'm always encountering foreign artists and movements that I can barely pronounce, let alone spell. Thank god for spell check.

Difficult to write

FF
Difficult
Huff
Puff
Cuff
Muff
Buff
Bluff
Scruff
Stuff
Stiff

ZZ
Prestezza
Pizza

MM, NN, or MN
Ammo
Mummy
Hammer
Hummus
Bunny
Runny
Funny
Solemn
Hymn
Mnemonic


Difficult to spell


Antipodeans
Constructivism
Contrapposto
Mingei
Plasticien
Faience/Faenza
Precisionism
Rasquqche
Caravaggisti & Caravagesque
Tachisme
Les Automatiste
Sfumato
Chiaroscuro
Repoussior


Armoire
Cadre
Mnemonic
Pneumatic
Deign
Borough
Bough
Subpoena

P.S. what a fun challenge

kia
January 17th, 2014, 07:16 PM
Lots of great additions!

Double F's are just a mystery to me. I think sometimes the words were made up just to have a double letter by some 16th century scribe with a mean streak, along with words that look nothing like they sound. Then again, maybe we are finally running out of practical letter combinations and it is a 21st century stall.

kia
January 18th, 2014, 10:28 AM
Wow, just noticed I got a sticky for this endeavor. Thanks, again, Dannzeman!

caribbean_skye
January 18th, 2014, 06:32 PM
The only words I can think to add that hasn't already been mentioned is:

quixotic
rhythm
sassafras

for a b/g entry.... subgraphs

kia
January 18th, 2014, 07:12 PM
All three are a mess to write. Yup. Ugh. They are. (I have to try all these words out, you know?)

Thanks, caribbean_skye!

caribbean_skye
January 18th, 2014, 07:21 PM
All three are a mess to write. Yup. Ugh. They are. (I have to try all these words out, you know?)

Thanks, caribbean_skye!

I was supposed to write letters today but I've been shamming (ooh, double M's). After I get a few letters written tomorrow I'm going to print out a list of these words and will have fun writing those. Hopefully I'll remember to load up my flex pen and try it with those words too. I'm not sure what you're planning on doing but these words are great to practise with.

AndyT
January 19th, 2014, 03:26 AM
I haven't really pondered this, but it did occur to me that "thoughtfully" is a one-word workout.

A particular bugbear for me is "it's". If you use compound caps on "t"s, it makes you wish you crossed them instead.

kia
January 19th, 2014, 10:17 AM
All three are a mess to write. Yup. Ugh. They are. (I have to try all these words out, you know?)

Thanks, caribbean_skye!

I was supposed to write letters today but I've been shamming (ooh, double M's). After I get a few letters written tomorrow I'm going to print out a list of these words and will have fun writing those. Hopefully I'll remember to load up my flex pen and try it with those words too. I'm not sure what you're planning on doing but these words are great to practise with.

Practice is exactly the plan. In part two, we'll be getting creative. :)

kia
January 19th, 2014, 10:23 AM
I can't partake in entries for part two, of course (I can't win the challenge gift because I'm giving it away!), but I have another word for our list:

Brian Goulet was telling about hating to write the names of some inks, and this one really hits a lot of the difficulties for writing: Tiananmen (from Tiananmen Square in China)

kia
January 20th, 2014, 09:36 AM
Four more days to let us know what your difficult words and letter combinations are! Then we get into the heart of this matter.

reprieve
January 20th, 2014, 10:01 AM
Brian Goulet was telling about hating to write the names of some inks, and this one really hits a lot of the difficulties for writing: Tiananmen (from Tiananmen Square in China)

I always have trouble with Tiananmen, too! It's one of my favorite Noodler's inks, but I cannot write the name of it for the life of me. I usually end up abbreviating it somehow in my ink journal. That's why Elysium is on my list. Liberty's Elysium, ugh! (It's a nice ink, though.)

Bogon07
January 21st, 2014, 06:17 PM
yep Tiananmen is always a stumbling block and also another Noodler's one is Squeteague.

But the worst of the lot is J.Herbin's "Lie de The"

everybodylovesbacon
January 22nd, 2014, 04:55 PM
As I started my list, I saw an obvious pattern emerge...

Words I find difficult to physically write:
Jazz - double z's kill me
Dozer - okay, so single z's are a challenge, as well
Pizzaz - see above
Pizza - see above
Glyph - the ups and downs of the letters makes it difficult to physically write
Quixotic (unrealistic, idealistic) - I struggle going from the i to the x
Zzyzx - a road I pass by every time I visit my parents; who thought of that!?

Words with b and g:
Gumbo
Gamble
Gibberish
Brigade
Braggart

kia
January 23rd, 2014, 12:05 AM
Only one more day before we start part two! Here's the list of difficult words and letter combinations, so far. It includes a lot of artists' terms, science terms, as well as a few proper nouns, and some slang. Did I miss any? You still have time to add to the list!!

accent
accost
accumulate
accumulative
acquiesce
aficionado
again
aggravate
amalgamate
ammo
ammunition
annual
annul
Antipodeans
armoire
asbestos
baccalaureate
backlogged
beauteousness
beekeeper
beggar
benign
berge
Bilbo Baggins
bluff
bogeyman
Bologna
bookkeeper
Bordeaux
borough
bough
bourgeois
bourgeoisie
braggart
brigade
brigue
brought
buff
bugbear
bugle
bungalow
bungle
bunny
cadre
cappuccino
Caravagesque
Caravaggisti
Caribbean
Carlyle
chateau
chauvinism
Chiaroscuro
citizen
coffee
collaboration
commonwealth
Constructivism
continuum
Contrapposto
conundrum
critique
cuff
cumulative
curiosities
curmudgeon
curriculum
Czechoslovakia
dacalcomania
dachshund
daggers
deambulatory
decrudescence
defiantly
definitely
deign
derriere
desmethyl raclopride
difficult
dizzyingly
dodecylphosphocholine
Dominique
dozer
eccentric
egress
Egypt
Elysium
Emmanuelle
encyclopedia
epistemology
etymologically
Faenza
Faience
fascism
friend
fuchsia
funny
gabardine
gallbladder
gamble
gaminesque
gastriloquist
gerontocracy
gibberish
gibbet
glabella
glyph
gleeb
government
Gryphon
guerrilla
gumbo
hammer
hegemony
hemorrhage
hierarchy
highlighter
hippopotamus
hors d’oeuvre
huff
hummus
hymn
idiosyncrasy
illegitimate
impartiality
incorporated
indiscriminate
interference
J. Herbin Lie de The
jazz
knowledgeable
labyrinth
labyrinthine
lagging
lautenclavicymbel
Lazarus
Les Automatiste
lieutenant
liltingly
maneuver
mannequin
Marrissa
maximum
mayonnaise
medieval
Mingei
minimisation (minimization)
minimum
miscellaneous
Mississippi
mnemonic
muff
mummy
necessarily
nutritious
objectivity
orgulous
paraphernalia
particularly
patriarchal
pendulum
Pennsylvania
pharmaceutical
phenomenon
philologically
philology
pick-pocketed
pizza
pizzazz
plagiarize
Plasticien
pneumatic
pneumonia
Precisionism
Presteza
pronunciation
provincialism
puff
pyrotechnics
qigong
quadruple
Quebec
questionnaire
quinquagenarian
quinquagesimal
quinquennium
quixotic
Rasquqche
rearrange
reconnaissance
renaissance
Repoussior
resurrect
rhapsody
rhinoceros
rhythm
rhythmically
ridiculous
runny
rutabaga
sacrilegious
salicylic acid
salvum
sassafras
schism
schizophrenic
scruff
Sfumato
shamming
silhouette
singing
solemn
stiff
straight
straightening
stratosphere
stealthy
strings
stuff
subgraph
subpoena
substrate
subterfuge
surrogate
synonymously
syzygy
Tachisme
telecommunication
Tennessee
thief
thoughtfully
Tiananmen
uninhibited
Venezuela
vinaigrette
wherever
Xavier
yacht
zeitgeist
Zzyzx


double letters, especially m, n, r, f, s, z
capital D, H, I, L, N, O, Q, S, U, X, Y, Z
letter combinations mn

kia
January 23rd, 2014, 12:11 AM
And speaking of difficult and fun words with double letters, I think I am going to add the words bookkeeper and beekeeper!

reprieve
January 23rd, 2014, 05:46 AM
I just discovered one that is very difficult for me: cappuccino. Those double p's and c's always come out wonky.

kia
January 23rd, 2014, 09:42 AM
Sounds good, reprieve! I'm also going to add coffee. Ah, the things we love with double letters...

kia
January 23rd, 2014, 11:15 AM
Added Tennessee.

Yeah, I keep adding words too. :)

everybodylovesbacon
January 23rd, 2014, 11:16 AM
A few more for the list:

pneumonia
liltingly
synonymously
dizzyingly
bungle
bugle
etymologically
rhythmically
highlighter
philologically

kia
January 23rd, 2014, 11:23 AM
Ok, added.

A.J. Rosati
January 23rd, 2014, 02:16 PM
gaminesque
gastriloquist
These words are terrible to write and I though they could all fit in with these misfit words being gathered,

gerontocracy
gibbet
gleeb
berge
bilge
boggart
brigantine
brigue
qigong
quiquagenarian
quinquagesimal
quinquennium
deambulatory
dacalcomania
decrudescence
lautenclavicymbel

Mr. JW
January 23rd, 2014, 02:26 PM
For me, the troublesome words are those with strings of several straight consonants, like:

strings
straight
straightening
incorporated
government (that r-m-n string is a killer)
pronunciation

There are probably more, but these come to mind.

fountainpenkid
January 23rd, 2014, 07:05 PM
schism just annoys me.
sub poena wouldn't be so bad if we didn't screw up Latin pronunciation! (it doesn't bother me anyway)

the most visceral reaction comes for me in the form of boo-berries, a childish pronunciation of blueberries, one used in 1970s American T.V commercials for cereal. just writing that made me twinge and shiver.

i feel that thinking further might end up being dishonest, because i am already finding that i create a false reactions upon thinking about some words...it is easy to convince yourself that you abhor a word, when you really just created that abhorrence at that moment. the mind is a dangerous place.

fountainpenkid
January 23rd, 2014, 07:08 PM
oh...wait. I did think of one more...egress it sounds to me like someone saying "egrets" with a gay lisp or something and it really annoys me.

Snargle
January 23rd, 2014, 08:02 PM
A particularly ugly combination for me is the name of my state of residence: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Particularly is particularly tricky also!

odd_soul
January 23rd, 2014, 09:31 PM
For some reason, I have trouble with words that have an s and then an ascender. Examples:

substrate
stratosphere
stealthy

Also, I have issues with r's. Examples:

arbitrary
surrogate
rearrange
resurrect

And double c's:

accent
accost
eccentric

And I don't like using the following capital letters, because I can never seem to make them look nice: D, H, I, L, N, O, Q, S, U, X, Y, Z. Sigh!

Love this challenge, by the way! I love how many crazy words have been mentioned so far. Looking forward to part 2. :)

Andytk33
January 23rd, 2014, 09:56 PM
I just signed up to give you guys this nice sentence that I like!

Domminique and Emmanuelle Pick-pocketed, defiantly and definitely, Marrissa's Dodecyclphosphorycholine-d solution and replaced it with a solution of Desmethylrachlopride and Salicylic acid.

Hard words, mostly due to repetitive letters:

Domminique
Emmanuelle
Pick-pocketed
defiantly and definitely (Always get mixed up with these)
Marrissa's - 2 r's, 2 a's and 3 s' (2 r's because she is Spanish and her two friends are french, they are all girls :-p)
Dodecyclphosphorycholine-d (lots of letters, 4 o's, 3 c's, 2 y's, 2 p's, 2 h's, 2 d's etc... - its a chemical)
Desmethylrachlopride (Also a chemical, starting with a D, 3 e's, 2 l's, 2 h's, 2 d's - also a chemical)
Salicylic acid - 2 l's, 2 i's, 2 c's and a y!




This is really fun!!

kia
January 23rd, 2014, 10:10 PM
Is this your sentence, Andy? If so, be sure to check part two of the challenge to be posted tomorrow!! That is where the fun will be. I'll add the words you've listed!

kia
January 23rd, 2014, 11:18 PM
Time to move to Part 2 (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/5670-Part-2-Challenge!-Presidents-Day-International) of the Presidents' Day International Challenge!

amk
January 24th, 2014, 12:57 AM
Difficulties with loops - I find it a challenge to write words with more than one looped descender as I can never quite get the loops to match.

Egypt
singing
aggravate
lagging
daggers

One word I always write wrong although I know how it is spelt! freind. oops, sorry, friend.

When I'm writing in Gothic blackletter styles, too many m / n / i / u / v / w and I lose track of how many strokes I've done, so words like
accumulate
minimum
minimisation
annual
salvum( = saluum in some scripts which makes it even more confusing) (I'm just copying an illumination in which the scribe has transformed this word to salwm, with a w, in the little scroll held by one of the figures, though it's written properly in the text)
cumulative
annul

kia
January 24th, 2014, 08:30 AM
Thank you, words added!

At this point, I don't want to further edit the word list in order to keep it consistent for everyone working on entries for part two. However, while you are working on entries for part two, do feel free to include more words in your entries that reflect the difficult words criteria!

Mgarbowski
January 25th, 2014, 07:49 AM
I love my pasta and BOLOGNESE sauce is one of my favorites.

Hallelujah is a word when I'm writing I always have to double check along with loquacious!

Thanks for this post!

youstruckgold
January 25th, 2014, 04:21 PM
Wow! Some of you have really given this significant thought!

For me it tends to be less the words than the pen. With the right pen and nib, all words seem a delight - other than those that are never a pleasure to see. So on that light here are a few of the words I don't like:

intolerance
racism
bigotry (also a 'b' 'g' word)
arrogance
hatred
aggression
poverty
vengeance
repression

kia
January 25th, 2014, 10:32 PM
Time to move to Part 2 (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/5670-Part-2-Challenge!-Presidents-Day-International) of the Presidents' Day International Challenge!

Part 2 is underway!

bleair
January 29th, 2014, 01:36 AM
beignets
buffoonery
guzzlers
buggery
burglary
brigand