As a writer, I enjoy playing with words. This is one of my favorite sesquipedalian word games. How many of the following songs can you name? Hint: they’re all Christmas songs.
Note: a title may occur more than once.
1. Move hitherward the entire assembly of those who are loyal to their faith.
2. Listen, the celestial messengers produce harmonious sounds.
3. Nocturnal timespan of unbroken quietness.
4. An emotion excited by the acquisition of expectation of good given to the terrestrial sphere.
5. Embellish the interior passageways.
6. Heavenly beings from exalted surroundings.
7. Twelve o’clock on a clement night witnessed its occurrence.
8. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulums in inverted, metallic resonant cups.
9. Small municipality in Judea southeast of Jerusalem.
10. Diminutive masculine master of skin covered percussionist cylinders.
11. Omnipotent supreme being who elicits respite to ecstatic, distinguished male personages.
12. Natal celebration devoid of color.
13. In awe of the nocturnal timespan characterized by religious consecration.
14. The first person nominative plural of triumvirate of far eastern heads of state.
15. In a distant location the existence of an impoverished unit of newborn children’s slumber furniture.
16. Jovial yuletide desired for the second person singular or plural by us.
17. Castaneous-colored seed vesicated in a conflagration.
18. Red man enroute to borough.
19. Frozen precipitation commence.
20. Quadruped with the vermillion proboscis.
21. Delight for this planet.
22. The dozen festive 24 hour intervals.
23. Bleached yule.
24. Singular yearning for the twin anterior incisors.
25. Righteous darkness.
26. Arrival time: 2400 hours; weather: cloudless.
27. Loyal followers advance.
28. Far off in a feeder.
29. Array the corridor.
30. Bantam male percussionist.
31. Monarchial triad.
32. Nocturnal noiselessness.
33. Proceed and enlighten on the pinnacle.
34. Query regarding identity of descendant.
35. Give attention to the melodious celestial beings.
Bottom Line: Is a song by any other name as melodious?
Recently I had a dream that involved seeing how many words I could make from “Texas Hold ‘Em.” That felt so weird that the memory stuck with me. Subsequently I decided to give it a go, and ended up with 78 words using those letters, only those letters, and each letter only as often as it appeared in those words—i.e., words with two e’s were acceptable but two t’s, d’s, etc., weren’t.
That led me to thinking about other word games. As so many do these days, I started my search online. And, as so often is the case, up popped Wikipedia.
Wikipedia defines Word Games as spoken, board, card or video games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties. I couldn’t find any other definitions online.
Most people see word games as a source of entertainment, but they can serve an additional educational purpose. Among the academically best performing children, 35% had parents who encouraged them to play word games. Many young children enjoy playing games such as Hangman, while developing language skills like spelling. ESL teachers often include word games in their classrooms to help students learn to recognize and use English words in context.
Benefits of Word Games
Contrary to the stereotype of young people being the primary demographic for online games, word games attract players of all ages. A 2020 Statista report suggested that people aged 25 to 54 make up nearly 60% of word game players.
And adults can reap benefits of such brain work as well. Researchers have found that adults who regularly solved crossword puzzles, which require familiarity with a larger vocabulary, had better brain function later in life.
Indeed, over time, playing word games improves problem-solving and analytical skills. Often these games require players to think and use other cognitive skills at the same time.
According to a 2024 article in Parade, the reason word games are good for brain health is that they can improve attention, verbal fluency, memory, and processing speed. All these skills can decline with age. One 68-year-long study found a link between playing word games and better cognitive health in old age.
According to a 2022 PBS broadcast, people who have a high need for cognition tend to seek out mental challenges like word game and puzzles. The results cited above are all correlational results, i.e., that is, as game playing habits go up, the positive brain measures go up as well, but maybe the cause, is actually something else, like a high need for cognition that accounts for both.
Depending on the situation, word games can play a soporific role as well. Because they require concentration and lateral thinking, they can distract the player from stress and anxiety. Many require nothing but the player’s mind, making them perfect to play in bed, on a plane, while stuck in a boring meeting, etc. A friend told me she plays an alphabet game when she has trouble falling asleep. I seem to be playing anagrams even after I’ve fallen asleep!
Word Game Categories
(Unless otherwise noted, the following information is from the Wikipedia article.)
Letter Arrangement Games
SONY DSC
The goal of a letter arrangement game is to form words out of given letters. In addition to testing vocabulary skills, these games test lateral thinking skills. Scrabble, UpWords, Bananagrams, and Countdown are popular examples of letter arrangement games.
FYI: Around the world, approximately 150 million copies of Scrabble have been sold.
Note: This is where anagrams would fit best, although not mentioned in the article. On the other hand, it involves paper and pencil, so maybe it also fits the following.
Paper and Pencil Games
Paper and pencil game players write down their answers, following the specific constraints laid out in the game rules. Crossword players fill in a grid by following clues or solving riddles. Hangman players try to guess their opponent’s word or phrase before their opponent is able to draw a stick figure hanging from a gallows. Categories, Boggle, and word searches are other popular examples of paper and pencil word games.
Semantic Games
Semantic games focus on the meanings and context of words. Players rely on their shared knowledge of denotation and connotation to combine words in amusing ways. Popular semantic games include Mad Libs, Blankety Blank, and Codenames.
Modern Word Games
Game designers have taken advantage of technological advancements to create non-traditional word games for computers or mobile phones. Many of these newer games take advantage of the technology to include more complex rules.
Codenames, Decrypto, and Anomia all have popular digital formats, allowing players to participate on teams while in different physical locations. Modern audiences also eagerly play word games with mobile formats, such as Letterpress, Words with Friends, and Word Connect.
Technology and Word Games
Since Spelling Bee first aired on the BBC in 1938, the first televised game show, word games have been a constant offering on radio and television. Airing continuously since 1975, Wheel of Fortune is the longest-running syndicated game show in the United States.
Wheel of Fortune, early 2006
The popularity (and relative low cost) of word games has led producers to adapt many word games to fit a radio or television format. Some shows revolve entirely around a word game, while others include elements of popular word games mixed in. Shows like Lingo, Says You!, Task Master, Catchphrase, Family Feud, and Only Connect are among the highest-rated shows on television.
Ukranian Wordle, using the Ukranian alphabet
Wordle was the most frequently downloaded game of the year after it was launched in January 2022. Its player base grew to tens of millions worldwide. Players claim it involves a lot of strategy as well as a broad vocabulary.
As of 2022, the annual number of word games app downloads is 1.42 billion. And nearly half of Americans believe that playing word games is a productive way to spend time. With 78.03% of word games app revenue generated in the U.S. ($1.74 billion) players are everywhere! And there are games for virtually every taste, so choose your poison.
Many of these games allow the player to select the language of play. This makes those games an ideal method of practicing vocabulary for people learning a new language. Playing June’s Journey or Drops is a lot more fun than memorizing Spanish flash cards.
To Play Alone or Together?
Several word games suit both sociable and loner players. Games like Scrabble virtually always involve multiple players. Many online games are played alone but players can get comparative stats for others who use the app. Still other games—such as anagrams—can be done informally and alone, but can also be made competitive when multiple people start with the same prompt and there is a time limit.
My friend and colleague Kathleen Corcoran sent me an archaic word.
Spuddle(v)
To work feebly and ineffectively because your mind is elsewhere or you haven’t quite woken up yet.
To make a lot of fuss about trivial things, as if it were important.
To work tirelessly without achieving anything of worth. To put in a great deal of effort and achieve only very little.
To loosen and dig up stubble and weeds left after a harvest with a broadshare or similar device.
I took one look at it and said, “That’s got to be one of the best, most useful words ever!” Indeed, I’ve been spuddling for years.
So began my search for old, forgotten, seldom used, and archaic words and phrases that need to take (or retake) their rightful places in our written and the spoken vocabularies.
Autophoby (n) Fear of referring to oneself, usually exhibited by a reluctance to use the pronouns I or me.
Trug (n) A shallow basket made from strips of wood for carrying flowers or vegetables.
Ultra-crepidarian(n) A person who expresses opinions on things outside the scope of his/her knowledge or expertise. Can also be an adjective.
Whinge(v) To complain persistently and in a peevish or irritating way.
Bottom Line: Linguists say you can make any word, even an obscure or archaic word, your own by repeating it aloud five times and using it in a sentence every day for a week.
Today I feel like playing with words! Considering the history of the English language, it’s no wonder there are so many strange juxtapositions in our syllables. An easy illustration is lay and lei: one from Proto-Germanic and one from Hawaiian.
English is not the only language with homophones and homographs, of course. German, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mandarin are notorious for wordplay based on homophones and homonyms. The language with the most homonyms might be Rotokas, spoken by the people of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. There are only 150 possible syllables, so each syllable gets a lot of use!
Homophones
I’ll start with homophones, words that sound the same but are different in meaning or spelling. I’ve chosen words that are both! Here, in no particular order are some examples. (This is by no means an exhaustive list. Check here or here for many more examples!)
Colonel and Kernel
Can you use all the variations in a single sentence that makes sense?
All
Awl
Be
Bee
Forward
Foreword
Discreet
Discrete
Seed
Cede
Our
Hour
Aloud
Allowed
Pole
Poll
Sole
Soul
Roll
Role
Ewe and Yew
Piece
Peace
Cue
Queue
Pea
Pee
Die
Dye
Low
Lo
Toe
Tow
Ail
Ale
Sheer
Shear
Here
Hear
Wear
Ware
Step
Steppe
Fairy/ Faerie and Ferry
Might
Mite
Bear
Bare
Limb
Limn
Knight
Night
Board
Bored
Liar
Lyre
Sweet
Suite
Deer
Dear
Stare
Stair
Ring
Wring
Key and Quay
There are many pairs of homophones (some estimate as many as 6,000!), but some syllables work extra hard and mean three or more different things. Again, this is nowhere near an exhaustive list.
Sight
Site
Cite
Need
Kneed
Knead
Rheumy
Roomy
Roomie
Use
Ewes
Yews
Sense
Scents
Cents
Their
They’re
There
Aye
Eye
I
Lean
Lien
Leen
Poor
Pour
Pore
Bawled and Balled and Bald
Do
Due
Dew
New
Knew
Gnu
Bye
Buy
By
Idol
Idle
Idyll
Aisle
I’ll
Isle
Meat
Meet
Mete
Weigh
Way
Whey
Naught
Knot
Not
Pair
Pare
Pear
Furze and Furs and Firs
Some homophones are dependent on the speaker’s accent. Words that sound the same in Johannesburg may be entirely different in Toronto.
All/Awl
Oil
Oral
Aural
Farther
Father
Ant
Aunt
Bizarre
Bazaar
Brooch
Broach
Collander
Calendar
Tot
Taught
Burrow
Burrough
Chilly
Chile
Floor and Flower and Flour
If you really want to go crazy, consider raise, rays, rase, rehs, res, réis, and raze.
Rase is a verb meaning “to erase”
Rehs is the plural of reh, a mixture of sodium salts found as an efflorescence in India
Réis is the plural of real, a currency unit of Portugal and Brazil
Res is the plural of re, a name for one step of the musical scale
Hair and Hare
Homographs
Then there are homographs, words that are spelled the same but differ in meaning or pronunciation. I’ve focused on the former here.
Bar as in drinking place, bar as in fasten the door, bar as in fastener or weapon
Part as in separate, part as in a piece of something
Snuff as in tobacco product, snuff as in smothering a candle flame
Yen as in Japanese currency, yen as in a desire
Clear as in weather, clear as in clean up
Foot as in body part, foot as in length
Wind as in moving air, wind as in turning something
Chair as in furniture, chair as in run a meeting
Stand as in get up, stand as in take a stand, stand as in piece of furniture
Case as in luggage or box, case as in court case
Bit as in took a bite of, bit as in horse harness, bit as in small amount
Swallow as in ingest, swallow as in bird
Pot as in vessel, pot as in plant, pot as in marijuana
Ring as in jewelry, ring as in bell
Wire as in piece of metal, wire as in electrical work, wire as in telegraph
Dig as in make a hole, dig as in “like it”
Bow as in bend from the waist, bow as in front of a boat
Stern as in firm, stern as in back of a boat
Park as in outdoor space, park as in leave a vehicle
Ear as in body part, ear as in corn
Second as in time, second as in between first and third
Bark and Bark
Many of these homographs are variations from a single word origin, and their various meaning can be traced back. If you want to wander down an internet rabbit hole, try looking up the etymology of homophones.
Walk from the Proto-Indo-European root “wel-” meaning “to turn or revolve“
Travel on foot
A pathway along which one might travel on foot
Pregnant from Latin “praegnantem” meaning “before birth“
Person who is with child
Tense pause (full of meaning)
Plate from Proto-Indo-European root “plat-” meaning “to spread“
Flat sheet of metal that holds food
Flat sheet of very thin metal coating an object so it looks like gold or silver
Layer of the planet’s mantle holding continents, floating on magma
Secretary from Medieval French “secretarie” meaning “confidant, someone entrusted with secrets“
Administrative assistant
Officer
Type of desk used by a secretary
Port from Proto-Indo-European root “prtu-” meaning “passage“
Wine variety originating from the Portuguese city Oportus
Place where boats anchor
Left side of a ship when facing forward from the stern
Medical appliance installed under the skin
Book from Proto-Germanic “bōk(ō)-” meaning “the part of a beech tree used to make tablets for written documents“
Reading material
Make a reservation (originally marked in a book, now more likely kept on a tablet)
Table from Latin “tabula” meaning “small flat slab, usually for inscriptions or games“
Furniture for holding meals or other objects
List of numbers and figures
To enter into return to a list
Lift from Proto-Germanic “luftijan” meaning “to elevate”
Pick up
Elevator
Giving a ride
Port and Port and Port and Port
Homographs (non-homophonic)
And then there are homographs that are spelled the same but differ in pronunciation as well as meaning. How many of these do you recognize?
Wind
Buffet
Minute
Bow
Bass
Evening
Coordinates
Proceeds
Does
Axes
Agape
Putting
Moped
Tear
Wound
Double Bass
In many cases, only a shift in stress from one syllable to another indicates whether the word functions as a noun or a verb. As with many elements of the English language, this “rule” has many exceptions.
Attribute
Produce
Refuse
Frequent
Discharge
Second
Entrance
Digest
Interchange
Content
Advocate
Discount
Contract
And just to increase your vocabulary one more time: homonyms can be either or both!
Bottom Line: It’s no wonder people have difficulty learning English as a second language!
Mince and Mints (Do not confuse these two in recipes!)
Sometimes, it’s fun just to fool around with language. Word play comes in wide variety, of course. Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde are famous (infamous?) for their clever manipulation of the English language. Way back before the English language settled into its modern form, Geoffrey Chaucer turned Middle English into his personal plaything.
Anagrams and whimsical stories are two of my favorites because they require nothing but an awake brain! However, for the purposes of this discussion, I’ll write them out.
Anagrams
For anagrams, think of a word—longer is better—and then see how many other words can be made from those letters. Whether plurals or contractions are allowed is up to the player! For example, thanksgiving. The options here are limited by the fact that there is no E, the most frequently used letter in the English language.
thanks
thank
sang
snag
nag
than
tan
gnat
kin
king
stag
stank
stink
ink
skin
sin
gas
tank
tang
aging
staging
thigh
tights
thighs
knights
night
thanking
kings
hats
giving
gating
knit
ask
at
an
as
in
asking
ski
skiing
vast
gist
hat
scathing
gangs
hating
shit
hit
has
having
task
nights
hank
hang
sing
ailing
tin
vat
shank
shiv
shaving
van
shag
shank
gash
this
task
scat
tasking
thinking
his
has
hag
hit
tat
stat
sighing
sighting
tag
sag
sagging
gin
thin
think
gang
sting
shag
sank
hag
sink
shin
saving
hint
gag
skit
shining
gait
having
gas
it
sting
singing
angst
sigh
Story Word
One way I like to launch into writing whimsy is to find a word and ring as many changes on it as I can. Here’s one such piece.
Writers note: this is not the sort of writing that would pass muster in a class or critique group! It’s an example of writing fun, not good writing!
ABSOLUTION
Abelia hates her name. She is forever telling people not to call her Abby, abby being altogether too descriptive for comfort. All her adult life she’s longed to abolish her belly, but she’s seldom succeeded even in abbreviating her abs. They are aboriginal.
Today she is at that abattoir they call a fitness center. She abhors the place, and cannot walk through the door without sinking into abjection. But so strong is her wish for an absolution, she puts her abhorrence in abeyance and follows the yellow brick abscissa to the abs machine. The results are abysmal. After fifteen minutes, she abandons the effort.
The trainer shrieks, “It’s too soon for you to abscond!”
Everyone stares and Abelia is abashed, wishing fervently for an alien abduction. She wishes she were abalone, or perhaps an abstract painting, anything but abnormally abby. She no longer counts leg raises and crunches. She knows they’re absurd. Her abs are absolutely aberrant, an abomination she wishes absent. If she were royalty, she’d have to abdicate. She considers ablation but decides to abstain. The pitfalls of surgery are not abstruse.
Her therapist says, “There’s absolutely nothing abnormal about your abdominals!” She points out that Abelia’s absorption has become an abstraction. “You must abjure that.”
Abelia takes the advice of her high abbess of health, vowing that from this day forward, she will abrogate concern for her abs and embrace abundance. She dons a flowing silk abba in red, gold and purple. No more abstemiousness. No more abstinence. No more abnegation.
Bottom line: When you just want to unwind or jolt some creativity, consider word play!