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He was a member of the ceremony’s honor guard – his prison uniform was decorated with a white aiguillette, the ornamental braided cord denoting his military service.

The average viewer may have been stumped by any of the words the winners overcame in the final rounds, which included the likes of “pendeloque,” “erysipelas” and “aiguillette.”

Seemingly unfazed by the stage lights and television cameras, one gifted adolescent after the next approached the microphone on Thursday night and without a hint of timidity correctly spelled daunting words like “erysipelas” and “aiguillette.”

That shoulder braid has a name: It’s called an aiguillette.

All are adorned to taste with various badges, insignias, ranks, epaulettes, spats and aiguillettes.