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The schwa — the “uh”-like sound that can be represented by any vowel in the English alphabet — was a stone-cold killer.

The schwa — the “uh”-like sound that can be represented by any vowel in the English alphabet, also known as the bane of competitive spellers’ existence — knocked out several finalists, as it routinely does.

Some see this as an expression of male dominance and support the introduction of gender-neutral noun endings, such as asterisks or the so-called "schwa", a symbol that looks like an inverted "e".

Spellers know it by its proper name: the schwa.

Red tickets are handed out to some students, as the class learns about the “schwa” sound of words displayed on the overhead screen.