by Richard “Techno Viking” Pulitzer
(North Carolina, USA)
Alright, I’ll bite: Here’s a game I used to play with my brothers in those long, boring days of rainy limbo. We never named it, or at least I never caught on to the name, so henceforth it’ll be called “Diction.”
The game requires next to nothing in the ways of materials; a few pencils and some scratch paper is ample supply, but a (preferably old or obscure) dictionary makes it a lot simpler.
One person out of the group is designated “it,” like in tag. The designation of who’s “it” is not related to past performance in the game — it’s just whoever volunteered. They’ll use either their own self or aforementioned dictionary to come up with an obscure, nigh on unheard-of word.
Old timey words work a lot better, I’ve found, as the chances of someone knowing them are greatly decreased (plus old words just sound downright funny sometimes!).
Whoever is “it” will announce the chosen word, and collect definitions. Everyone will write a definition for the word, be it an educated guess or just something silly — it doesn’t matter! — on their own cards, then pass them back.
Well, the proposed definitions will end up back at the one designated “it,” who’ll read them all aloud.
Note: nobody will know what the others players wrote! BUT, “it” will also say the bona fide, correct definition along with all the others. Then the real game begins.
With either a show of hands or a sheet of paper, everyone will vote for the definition they think is correct. Whichever definition receives the most votes will “win.” The player who wrote the winning definition will earn his or herself two points, and everyone who voted for the correct definition wins one point.
I hope I’ve adequately described “Diction,” as it provided me many hours of entertainment when I was younger. Though, I was honestly not that interesting of a kid. Have fun!