- Oliver Wendell Douglas: Hey, aren't you ready yet?
- Lisa Douglas: I don't know what to wear.
- Oliver Wendell Douglas: Oh, what other women wear to a spelling bee.
- Lisa Douglas: What's that?
- Oliver Wendell Douglas: Uh, um, a spelling bee dress.
- Lisa Douglas: Darling, I have a dress for the 21 club, one for the opera, one for the Waldorf, but nothing for a spelling bee.
- Oliver Wendell Douglas: Wear something simple, huh?
- Lisa Douglas: [Grabs somewhat revealing green dress] How's that?
- Oliver Wendell Douglas: [Takes dress] Ooh, no! There's gonna be children there.
- Lisa Douglas: [Takes dress back] Why don't I stay home?
- Oliver Wendell Douglas: Lisa! You can't! You don't realize what an honor this is. We've only lived here five weeks and...
- Lisa Douglas: Is that all it is?
- Oliver Wendell Douglas: We are practically strangers, and yet they've asked me to judge the spelling bee.
- Lisa Douglas: Oh, darling, I'm so proud of you. I can't wait to tell our friends in New York. If I left now, I could tell them tonight.
- Sam Drucker: Oh, before I forget, that dictionary you're holding is $3.98.
- Kate Bradley: $3.98?
- Sam Drucker: Well, it's got over a hundred thousand words in it. If you break that down per word, it'll cost about only...
- Kate Bradley: Well, I'm breaking it down per dictionary, and I can't afford it.
- Sam Drucker: Well, it's a fine dictionary, Kate. It's got a lot of real fancy words in it.
- Kate Bradley: Well, I hope that Bobbie Jo knows enough of those words so she can win the spelling bee, but, uh, I won't spend that much.
- Uncle Joe Carson: Kate, there's no need laying out all that money. If Bobbie Jo wants to know how to spell a word, she can ask me.
- Kate Bradley: [to Sam] I'll give you two dollars now, and a dollar ninety-eight next time.