Welcome back, truly rooted readers! Whispering Wordsmith of the Woods here ready to tell you some grammatically fantastic facts. Today we’ve got word games that you fellow grammarians are bound to want to play. Compete at word game trivia and beat your bitter rivals with some off the branch facts about these word games that most people never thought they needed to know.
Hangman
- Dates back to 1894 under the nomenclature of Birds, Beasts, and Fishes
- Has a horrific connection to the European Hangman as literal torture for illiterate prisoners who had five guesses in the game Rite of Words and Life before swinging on an actual noose
Crossword Puzzles
- The first crossword was called word-cross
- The hyphen in word-cross slipped through the grammatical cracks, then the name got a flipflop over its alphabetical axis
- Started in 1913 by an immigrant from Liverpool…that band that invented the mop-top, also hyphenated, is there a summer-ice cream-murder rate-increase connection here? Do the Brits just love their hyphenation?
Spelling Bees
- According to the official source, Scripps National Spelling Bee, the first officially documented spelling bee aka word bee was in 1769
- This is an American tradition akin to barn raising and quilting bees…ahem, another bee in the Americanized bonnet
Bananagrams
- Launched in 2006 in London
- Created by Abe Nathanson, a Rhode Island fruit peddler and Army veteran who made the game with his daughter and grandchildren
- The Bananagrams line includes Big Letter Bananagrams for low vision, Bananagrams Party Edition, Double Bananagrams, International Bananagrams in 16 different languages, and customizable Bananagrams for personalized content as a gift
There you have it. A word game for everyone in your family tree who may or may not have played their fair share of Scrabble. Now when it’s time to buy those last-minute birthday presents because you forgot it was their birthday until, well, now, you have a quick gift idea. Stock up on some Bananagrams or crossword puzzle books, or make your own book of personalized Hangman games. As for that spelling bee, every smart family loves having a grammarian who insists on having, and winning, the spelling bee at all the holiday gatherings. Be that grammarian. This tree lover salutes you.
“Welcome. I’m the Whispering Wordsmith of the Woods, An Old Man Willow type cunning the lit forest, Disrupting textbookish writers with grammar snaps and cracks.” As a professional web content writer for small-to-medium businesses, Miranda B understands how to effectively balance technical jargon and personal brand messaging. Her content is sticky, evergreen when expected to be, and always creative. Keep ’em coming back for more, that’s Miranda’s motto!
