I never had much patience as a kid for board games. About 15 minutes into “Monopoly” or “Life,” I would realize that I’d be sitting on the floor for at least another hour or two before anything was settled. Suddenly, climbing a tree, catching bubble bees in a mayonnaise jar or tossing a tennis ball against the side of the house seemed like better plans.
I cannot recall if I ever actually finished one of those lengthy games. I usually was much too greedy, thinking that buying up everything on Baltic Avenue would one day pay off, only to go into board game bankruptcy and borrowing several of the yellow bills from my sister just to stay afloat.
But, here I am at 50 playing “Words with Friends” as if I am a stockholder and I’ll get a residual check with each game I play.
The greatest thing about “Words with Friends” is that I can get up, make a sandwich, grab a beverage, watch a movie, go to the store, or even take a nap, and no one is left sitting there angrily awaiting your return because chances are they have multiple games going, too.
I’ve also learned more new words in the last year while playing the mobile game than I did covering a Billy Martin postgame tirade once in a locker room in Kansas City.
Who knew that “aa” was an actual word, rather than an acronym for Alcoholics Anonymous? Aa is a type of Hawaiian Lava.
Here are some other two-letter words I’m quite certain I never used prior to playing “Words”:
Xi –the 14th letter of the Greek Alphabet; or a river in China.
Qi – vital energy believed to circulate round the body in currents.
Jo – darling or sweetheart.
Ka – the eternal soul in the religion of ancient Egypt.
Xu – Vietnamese money.
And there are some nifty three-letter words that come in handy:
Joe – coffee or guy.
Qat – variation of the spelling of khat, which means the leaves of the shrub Catha edulis, which are chewed like tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric stimulant. In Yemen, it is used daily by 85 percent of adults.
Qis – the circulating life energy that in Chinese philosophy is thought to be inherent in all things.
Zax – a tool similar to a hatchet, used for cutting and dressing roofing slates.
I’m not sure why some words that are not in Webster’s Dictionary are allowed. And why is fax allowed when it’s short for facsimile? Nevertheless, where else would I have learned that zygote and ajee were actual words?
Besides, I can’t get hooked on that phone app “Draw Something” when I have the artistic ability of a drunken chimp… on a good day. My daughters have made so much fun of me that I refuse to continue that torture.
There’s actually a pretty neat story about a young couple that had dated for a while and had played “Words” often during their courtship. The guy found a way to get a screen shot of “MARRY” with an “E” placed under the “M” on a “Words with Friends” board. He sent her the email while they played side-by-side. She glanced at it and said, “Yes.”
“Words with Friends” has become so addictive that “30 Rock” star Alec Baldwin had to be scolded by a flight attendant for not turning off his phone while sitting on a runway late last year. When he refused, Baldwin was escorted off the plane, leading to his tweet: #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt.
(Incidentally, “bankrupt” is worth a minimum of 20 points.)
This article was originally published in the Hamilton County Herald on July 6, 2012.