Bethump’d with Words
“Zounds! I was never so bethump’d with words since I first call’d my brother’s father dad!”
William Shakespeare, King John, act II, scene 1, line 466
Word nerds, word lovers, word enthusiasts—whatever you call yourselves, you’ll love this game. But, I suppose I shouldn’t make those blanket statements so at least I’m pretty sure you will. You do owe it to yourself to read on and find out more about the games. Bethump’d with Words® is actually a series of games—Senior, Voyager and the Book Edition. The Senior Edition, released in 1996, features 1,000 questions from more than 30 categories for teen through adults. The categories cover the origins, history and evolution of English. Released in September 2001, the Voyager Edition, also for teens through adult, contains 1,200 questions from more than 40 linguistic and etymological categories. Both the Voyager and Book Editions serve as supplemental question sets.
The games are produced by Mamopalire, Inc. in Vermont and you can read more about them at the Bethump’d website at www.bethumpd.com.
To get a sense of the creators’ commitment to language, read this from Covey MacGregor’s introduction in the Book Edition: “Speakers of English rarely profess their love of the language with the emotion or terms used by speakers of other languages. Yet love is there…It’s an affection, however, with a revealing and peculiar difference. While the French, for example, are moved to rapture by the mellifluous sounds and poetic rhythms of their language—and, predictably, react with disdain when the mood’s disrupted by ‘harsh’ foreign entities—speakers of English love words: individual words, French words, German words, Japanese words, Yiddish words, Russian words, Melanesian words, Spanish words, indeed any and all words. In sum, ‘English’ is less the name for a clearly defined language than for an obsessive attitude toward the fundamental tools of language…”
I think there is absolute truth in that statement. The English language is this wonderful melting pot and continues to evolve. And, although, that makes it frustrating for those learning the language; it also makes it tremendously exciting. It’s just so alive. And I love words.
MacGregor continues to write in the introduction: “Bethump’d with Words is an attempt to demonstrate… why Shakespeare’s legacy has endured, why so many of us, his linguistic heirs, are similarly afflicted with logophilia. Instead of games that are played with words, it presents games that are about words. The focus is on the aspects of everyday words, in contrast to the obscure, that together convey the character and comprise the story of English. To a degree, it is an exposé of the factors that have contributed to English’s hybrid vigor.”
This is a wonderful way to explore where our words came from and to show how alive language is. I was at a seminar recently and the instructor stated that approximately 10,000 words were added to last year’s Webster’s dictionary. It was a refresher course in grammar and proofreading and many attending were in the business world and just trying to make sure their business communications presented them and their companies in the best light possible.
During the day I was again reminded about the dynamics of the language and how much is not necessarily set in stone. Our language lives in an environment of shifting sand and we have to be lifelong learners to keep up.
This game is one way to do so. It is a great way for people from all generations to come together and celebrate the world of words. In fact, the company states that the game’s goal is to “trigger sustained interest in words because English is changing so rapidly that continued literacy is an educational need.”
According to the company, Games Magazine has named it a best new word game and it was on a top 10 list from the Chicago Tribune.
Teachers and homeschoolers will find it useful as will those students working to better their chances on the SAT’s verbal section.
Some of the categories covered include: borrowed words; idioms; accents; homonyms, homophones, and homographs; spoonerisms; Americanisms, Australianism, Briticisms and Canadianisms; word evolutions; word origins; history and quotations; acronyms and letter words; slang; euphemisms and jargon; holorimic phrases; calques; dinosaur words; eponyms; sexist English; nicknames; and portmanteau words.
Some sample questions from the teens to adult edition:
- Accents What do Australians mean when they make a statement that sounds like: “Scona rine”?
- Eponyms In 1947, what bathing suit did the French name after an atoll in the Marshall Islands because its impact on viewers was that of an atomic bomb?
- Portmanteau Words What word did Lewis coin in 1871 by blending the words chuckle and snort?
- Borrowed Words What common name for peanut did English borrow from the African Bantu language?
- History What famous lexicographer quite seriously lobbied Congress to enforce the spelling of tough as tuf and women as wimmen?
According to Mamopalire, ESL educators around the world find the games very helpful for those who are learning English as a second language.
Since I originally posted this article at Suite101.com years ago, I checked on the Web site link to make sure it still worked and discovered that the game’s publisher is going out of business and at this time is selling it and other games at a 50% discount.
