Small Talk, the Word Game (minicast)

Welcome to another summer minicast of A Way with Words. I’m Martha Barnette.

If you listen regularly, you know that Grant and I love to play those word games with our quiz guys, John Chaneski and Greg Pliska.

Each week, one of them drops by and tries to trip us up with a puzzle.

But few word games have been as much fun as the time they both showed up.

They divided us into teams, and they told us that the object of the game is to take a list of words and make your partner guess them one by one.

But here’s the catch.

You’re only allowed to give one-syllable clues.

It’s harder than you might think.

This game is called Small Talk.

So you guys are ganging up on us this week?

Yeah.

Oh, boy.

We need help.

This must be a special occasion.

What do you got there?

Well, you know, we don’t want to take up too much of your time, so we brought with us a game called Small Talk.

-huh.

Yes.

It’s based on a game from my book, Super Party Games, Fun and Original Ideas for Ten or More.

That’s John’s book, Super Party Games, Fun and Original Ideas for Ten or More.

John Chaneski.

And we’ll have two teams.

We’ve decided on Greg and Grant versus Martha and myself.

Like that?

We’re calling that the G-Men.

The G-Men versus whatever Martha and I are.

Team Barneski.

Barneski.

Okay, we’ll go for it.

Each player will have a list of items and will take a turn giving clues to those items to their partner.

The only catch is you can only use one-syllable words to describe the items.

Oh, no.

Yes.

For example, if I said, it lives in the woods, it has a big flat tail, and can make a dam, you would say…

Beaver.

A beaver.

So the answer doesn’t have to be just one syllable.

It could be a single syllable.

It could be anything.

It could be a person, a place, a thing.

For every correct answer, the team gets one point.

If the person giving the clues uses a word that’s longer than one syllable,

They have to move on to the next item on the list,

And they get no point for the misdescribed item.

Okay.

Okay?

We’ll have four one-minute rounds, so let’s begin.

I think we’ll start with me, John, giving clues to Martha.

That’s John, the author of Super Party Games.

Fun and original ideas.

And that would be Sterling Press.

One more.

Sterling Press.

Oh, man.

So, John, are you ready to clue?

I am ready to go.

On your mark, get set, go.

Okay.

This is a game, a famous game.

Scrabble.

Famous two syllables.

She plays a game.

Chris Everett.

Where you hit a ball.

Right.

Close.

Billie Jean King.

Maria Sharapova.

Venus Williams.

Yes.

Venus Williams.

You tie this on your foot.

Your shoe?

But you tie it.

Lace?

Shoelace?

That’s it.

These are in soup.

Noodles?

They have meat or shrimp.

Dumplings?

Broth?

A kind.

Wontons?

That’s it.

Oh, come on.

You can find Big Bird here.

Sesame Street?

That’s it.

You scratched this.

Itch.

Right.

This is the good book.

Bible.

He.

Or John Chaneski’s book.

He was.

He was.

Now, that was going to be Albert Einstein.

How many was that?

I counted five or six.

Six.

Wow.

Fantastic.

On that one.

Thank you.

Did you give him that first one?

I tried to give you another plug for your book.

No, he does not get credit for it.

I know.

He’s doing Super Bowl with, okay, it’s a famous game.

The score was six.

Six, correct, for Team Barneski.

Okay.

And now Greg will clue to Grant.

Absolutely.

Are you ready?

Okay, yes, I’m ready.

Okay, ready, set, go.

It is a known place in the States.

Big heads.

Mount Rushmore.

Four big heads.

Good.

I should have just said that first.

You eat wontons with these.

Chopsticks.

It is a windstorm.

Hurricane, cyclone, tornado.

There you go.

You play this reed.

Clarinet.

Flute.

Big.

There’s no flute.

Big reed.

Big reed.

Big reed.

Long reed.

Oboe.

Long.

Saxophone.

Low.

Trombone.

Tuba.

Reed.

Reed.

I don’t know.

Start over.

First part fish.

First part kind of fish.

Kind of fish.

Kind of fish.

We’re looking for the bassoon.

Oh, bassoon.

You couldn’t, obviously you can’t.

Those are evil.

Evil.

We got three.

Oh, God.

Three, but three hard ones, so it’s worth six points.

Right?

I did like how you said four big heads, because that’s also, that could have just tried the show.

Now, Martha, you are going to clue John.

My heart is pounding.

Relax.

My heart will go on.

I like John, too, but really.

Okay.

So are you ready, Martha?

I guess so.

John, you’re ready?

I’m ready to go.

Then on your marks, get set, go.

That’s the way it is.

He is old.

Walter Cronkite?

Yes.

Yes.

Cats cough them up.

Hairballs.

Right.

She was told, I don’t give a damn.

Scarlett O’Hara.

She played her.

Oh, Vivian Lee.

Yes.

Yeah, Vivian Lee.

You put your tunes in here.

IPod?

Right.

Bright like the sun.

And like us.

Smart, intelligent, witty.

Like?

Yes.

Shines.

Shines.

Sparkling.

You.

Me.

No, it’s not helping.

Can we skip it?

No.

No.

What does it rhyme with?

Oh, what was it?

Oh, brilliant.

Oh, brilliant.

I didn’t use brilliant?

Nothing is funnier than hearing.

I should have broken it up into fish parts.

Nothing.

That’s always the first thing you do.

When in doubt, you break it into fish parts.

Well, I made that four points, is that right?

I made that four points.

Even with that stumper at the end.

I know.

All right, let’s see how we do here, Greg.

I’m ready.

Tell us when we can go.

Okay.

This is going to be Grant, Cluene, Greg.

Grant, ready to go?

Yes.

Ready, set, go.

You put food on it.

Plate.

Dinner plate.

Stove.

Under.

Ow.

Oh, no.

Sorry.

You turn on the radio.

Clocks.

TV.

Remote control.

Yes.

In the west, it howls.

In the woods.

Yes.

A state in the north and in the east that is small and is made of two words.

New Hampshire.

Yes.

You eat it in a restaurant.

Yeah.

It doesn’t work that way.

That was a series of one-syllable words.

You look up words in it.

Dictionary.

Thesaurus.

Yes.

You put it on a Mac and you do things with it.

Software.

Yes.

You drink it.

Beer.

Wine.

From a bean.

From a bean?

Yes.

From a ground bean.

Coffee.

Yes.

Coffee.

Whoa.

But black coffee.

No.

Coffee beverage.

Espresso.

Cappuccino.

Latte.

Latte.

That’s it.

Tall, part-skinned, double-soy, half-lattte.

You know, so much for the single-syllable words there.

I ruined two of those.

The first one was placemat.

As soon as you said under, I knew what you meant.

And then the other one I ruined was burrito.

So what did we get there?

Four or five?

One, two, five.

I believe the final score then, Team Barneski with 10 points and the G-Man with only eight.

All right.

Barneski.

What a great game.

What book did you find this in?

Thank you.

I found that game in my book.

Super party games, fun and original ideas for 10 or more.

Fun, right?

Trust me, this is great for your next summer road trip.

Meanwhile, here at A Way with Words, we’re hard at work preparing for our new fall season.

So keep those calls and letters coming.

You can send your language questions and comments to words@waywordradio.org.

Or you can leave a message anytime.

The number’s 1-877-929-9673.

And if you’d like to meet fellow language lovers, drop by our discussion forum.

That’s at waywordradio.org/discussion.

Grant and I are hanging out there, too, all summer long.

That’s all for this minicast.

For A Way with Words, I’m Martha Barnette.

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