Balderdash games with the rels

By Alan Linda | The Daily Journal

Published 12:00 p.m., December 1, 2009

By now, you know what the holidays mean: Balderdash games with the rels. This Thanksgiving weekend, I got to break in some greenhorns. They were a bit clumsy, but we managed to get through a game.

As you remember, a word is read and spelled to the players, and they each come up with their version of what it means. Points go to those players with abundant amounts of balderdash—or hot air, or whatever other term you wish to label that skill by. Extra points go to whom ever guesses the correct definition of the word, but anyone who gets their version picked also gets a point for each pick. Here we go. Since we played this game out of the dictionary, the first word may seem easy.

And the first word is: Legume. A plant harvested for its foliage. Any plant that is a member of the bean or pea family. Beans. (One word. Says it all.) A nitrogen-fixing plant such as soybeans or alfalfa. Any plant that grows a nodule, like a bean. Anything that can be gathered. A type of fruit. A type of plant that produces pods.

The next word is: Clinkerbuilt. Built with the planks of the ship’s hull overlapping. A belt buckle that isn’t latched, causing it to clink. Anything built from spare or extra parts. The name of a process for the production of steel using coal-based coke. A house or dwelling built in the Germanic style. The condition of being poorly built and not appropriate for its intended purpose. Derived from the coal rich mixture that is slagged off during the smelting process.

The next word is: Bindlestiff. A motor shaft that is stripped. A South African song bird. A bundle of sticks. A chemical used to kill broad leaf plants. A migrant worker or hobo. The bag and stick in which hoboes carried their possessions.

The next word is: Gynechoid. A space empty of any type of magnetic field. An allergic reaction to some types of medicines. A small blue gecko that inhabits the Amazon River basin. Someone who is obsessed with female genitalia. Someone who cannot remember numbers. Something of or characteristic of women. Someone who is afraid of machinery. Some one who is afraid of women.

The next word is: Rafflesia. The art of portraying oneself as solitary. A skin ailment that results in circular lesions containing small black pustules. A tropical flower with white and pink stripes leaves and black stems. A condition of the blood causing red blood cells to develop faulty edges. A weaving or tapestry made of raffia grasses. Any form of skin disorder. A foul smelling plant from Sumatra of a parasitic nature. A compulsion involving involuntary addiction to raffle gambling.

The next word is: Monstrance. Something of large and unsightly appearance. A terrible representation of some item. The ability to stand firm in the face of danger. A single opening or entrance. A receptable in which the Host is exposed for adoration. The type of pulp left after grapes have been processed for wine. An idea about monsters.

Last, the word is: Gyrose. A Greek flat bread sandwich containing onions, tomatoes, and lamb. A motor that keeps a spinning object stable. The action of circular motion created by magnetic fluctuations. A small, dwarf type of double leafed rose bush. An instrument that measures rotation of a spinning object. A food item popular in Greece. Something marked with wavy lines.

There you have it. The dictionary definition of legume got us all: Anything that can be gathered, says the dictionary, is a legume. I’m not sure about that, but…

Clinkerbuilt. As much as this sounds like something built badly from spare or junk parts, nope. It is a ship building word, describing overlapping planks used in the construction of a ship’s hull.

Bindlestiff. This question has two possible answers, namely either describing a hobo directly, or the stick and bag which he carried over his shoulder. Two chances to get a point on this one.

Gynechoid. Although you obsessive-compulsive types are somewhat sure that this is some one who is afraid of women, the answer is “of or characteristic of women.”

Rafflesia. A foul smelling plant from Sumatra.

Monstrance. No monsters here. Good Catholics should have gotten this one: a receptacle in which the Host is displayed for adoration.

Gyrose. Nope. Got nothing to do with Greece. It is something marked with wavy

lines.

Legume. This one got all of us. According to the dictionary, it is anything that can be gathered. Huh. I didn’t know that.

Seven points possible. Seven is genius. Five or six is good as rocket science. Four or three, not too bad, considering this and that.

One or two, better go back to the Reader’s Digest word learning sections. Better luck next time.

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