Word Games

Tonight was perhaps the most educational evening I've experienced in terms of British English. Our small group had a games night and we played Articulate - a word game kind of similar to Taboo (please pronounce t-BOO). You have to explain words in your assigned category without using any form of the word.

Now I LOVE word games. I usually dominate, but this evening I made a pretty abysmal showing.

For instance, I got challenged when I guessed the correct word because I used the wrong pronunciation - "vayse" as opposed to "vahz." They graciously let it slide, but still.

And then I learned that Van Gogh (you know, Vincent Van-go) who painted Starry Night is pronounced Van Goff.

Then I did a truly fantastic job of describing a wrench - and they indicated I was wrong. I even gave the clue that it was the American word for a spanner! I mean, I tried to be cross-cultural! My moment of victory was when they looked it up in the dictionary and I had basically described it using textbook terms. Which didn't help my score . . . but it did make me feel better. For a minute I was doubting my knowledge of American tools, but I was positive that my Dad had taught me well in this area. Whew . . . American tool knowledge self-worth crisis averted!

I also learned the meaning of abattoir. Although my teammate was pretty frustrated that we didn't get a point for it. I guessed slaughterhouse and he kept saying - "the other word, the other word!!!" I didn't know there was another word . . . sigh, and it's actually a French word that has assimilated into English. But I'm educated now.

But perhaps the best lesson of the evening was that the meaning of the word dodgy was finally explained to me. I had used context clues, but it was nice to finally get confirmation that I was close. It's a slang word, similar to "sketchy" in the US - as in "That street is rather dodgy after dark."

Ah . . . I feel so educated now. I'm looking forward to my next British English class masquerading as a games evening. Class is so much more enjoyable when there is lots of laughter involved.