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Friday 10 July 2015

The Name Game – Friday Fun

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Its school holidays here in Queensland, two long weeks which often generate challenges for parents. The greatest challenge for me is keeping my nine-year-old busy, so I’ve resorted to some of the old games I played as a child to keep him entertained. The deck of cards came out, as did board games like Guess Who, and Monopoly. But there was one game that has captured both our imaginations, long after its initial introduction.

It’s a word game. My sister and I called it the ‘Name Game’, and would play it continuously throughout the holidays. We would each get a piece of paper, draw columns, and place a topic at the top of each column. The first topics would always be “boy’s name” and “girl’s name”, and then others would follow – animal, place, thing, and even car, flower, or movie. Then one of us would think through the alphabet, while the other would yell, ‘stop’. The letter the stop fell on was the first letter of all the topics we had to name.

I’ve internet searched this game and some call it the Boy/Girl game, while others say it’s a word game – whatever its correct title, its lots of fun. And Tully and I took it to a whole new level. Rather than have the first one finished as winner of that letter, we decided to make the winner the most creative answer. This had some imaginative and hilarious results.

I have also concluded that this game can be very inspiring. Both Tully and I fell upon some magnificent options for future character names--we discussed geographical places, both real and imagined, and laughed over the ‘things’ we could come up with (have you ever tried to think of a ‘thing’ beginning with the letter X that wasn’t an X-Ray or Xylophone?)

Because I found this simple but creative game so much fun--and surprisingly helpful--I thought we could share a round as a Friday fun challenge. So the most creative, interesting, and fun answers to one of the letters below will win a $20 Amazon voucher.

NO GOOGLING IDEAS PLEASE – this is all about getting the creative juices flowing!

Rules: Using one of these letters: W, X, Y, Z, state your best and most creative:
-          Boys Name
-          Girls Name
-          Animal (either a species or a specific breed)
-          Place (of any kind, real or fictional)
-          Thing (basically anything not living)

The most creative will win (as judged by an impartial judge—my son, Tully.)

My Effort:
Boys Name – Walter Nathaniel (also known as a Coral Trout fish.  Old NQ fisherman’s term apparently ;-) )
Girls Name – Wilhelmina
Animal – Wobbegong (a carpet shark)
Place – Woop Woop, (Aussie fictional place - could be anywhere, but generally the middle of nowhere!)
Thing – Whirlybird (device attached to the roof to draw hot air out)

Now it’s your turn!


Entries close midnight Queensland time, Monday 13th July . 

Author - Rose Dee
Rose, who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, was born in North Queensland, Australia. Her childhood experiences growing up in a small beach community would later provide inspiration for her first novel, 'Back to Resolution'.
Her novels are inspired by the love of her coastal home and desire to produce exciting and contemporary stories of faith for women.
'Beyond Resolution' and 'A New Resolution' are the second and third books in the Resolution series.
Rose’s debut novel 'Back to Resolution' won the Bookseller’s Choice award at the 2012 CALEB Awards, while 'A New Resolution' won the 2013 CALEB Prize for Fiction.
She has also released 'The Greenfield Legacy', a collaborative novel, written in conjunction with three other outstanding Australian authors.
Rose resides in Mackay, North Queensland with her husband, young son, and mischievous pup, Noodle.
Visit Rose at: http://rosedee.com/

15 comments:

  1. I couldn't resist, Rose and I chose these with Tully in mind..
    BOY: Zane (Zane Gray, famous writer of Westerns)
    GIRL: Zoe ( Means LIFE from Greek)
    ANIMAL: Zebra (God painted a horse with stripes for variety!)
    PLACE: Zimbabwe ( It sounds mysterious - Southern Africa)
    THING: Zombie. ( Walking dead so definitely NOT alive & opposite of Zoe!.)
    PLANT: Zygocactus ( I had a beautiful plant but someone stole it so I added it to the list.)
    Juices just ran out

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    1. Add comma after Rose, so you know I didn't get help from that quarter! :)

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    2. You may just have the edge with the Zombie reference, Rita. ;-)

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  2. Rules: Using one of these letters: W, X, Y, Z, state your best and most creative:

    - Boys Name. Yohann

    - Girls Name Yasmin

    - Animal (either a species or a specific breed) Yak

    - Place (of any kind, real or fictional) Young (NSW)

    - Thing (basically anything not living) Yoyo.

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    Replies
    1. Ah - the Yoyo. I had a Mello Yello one. Tully has not mastered the 'ways' with his Coca Cola one -but he is impressed.

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    2. I had a coca cola one and also a Fanta one. He will master it.

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  3. We used to play this all the time when we were kids (in the '60s & 70s) - our name for it was Alphabetical - though I believe Scattagories is based on the same concept (but costs a lot more than some paper and pens).

    BOY: Xavier (after the famous Catholic missionary)
    GIRL: Xanthe (Lovely name from the Greek meaning blonde hair)
    ANIMAL: X – for unknown 
    PLACE: Xanadu (in ancient China – and also the subject of the famous unfinished poem by Samuel Taylor Coldridge – Pleasure domes in Xanadu did Kubulai Khan decree…)
    THING: Xylophone – for lots of musical fun.
    PLANT: Xylon – means wood in Greek so that’s close enough, isn’t it (hopeful face).

    well because I didn't do so well on X - I've also added W ;)

    BOY: Wendell (after Wendell Sailor)
    GIRL: Wanda (both fishes and witches)
    ANIMAL: Witchetty Grub (for an Australian flavour)
    PLACE: Wuhan (city in China)
    THING: Wishbone (because we all need one)
    PLANT: Wisteria (because it’s pretty)

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    Replies
    1. I didn't know Scattagories is based on this game. Never played that though. Stands to reason that someone thought to put a dollar value on it. We never needed the board game version though.
      Xanadu - also one of my favorite movies. Tully knows the songs - they are on my IPod. And Witchetty Grub - almost got him to taste one recently. I never have - apparently they taste a lot like omelette - only gritty. YUCK - but great answer. :-)

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    2. LOL I'd heard it tastes like chicken - but that might when it's cooked. Thanks Rose :)

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    3. Haha - was sitting listening to some inspirational speakers at the Ladies Breakfast at our church this morning when suddenly this thought pops into my head - 'Why did I put Xylophone down when I could have used Xiphisternum!!!!' What is a xiphisternum - the bottom bit of your breast bone which is usually cartilage but becomes bony as you grow older.

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    4. Wow - a Xiphisternum is a very impressive 'X' word. I will mention to Tully that there is a replacement 'X' for Xylophone.

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  4. I'll have a go at 'Z' too!
    Boy's Name: Zorro (Well, there used to be a kids' TV show called 'Zorro', which was the main character's name!)
    Girl's Name: Zeynep is a common girl's name in Turkey, a place I have visited five times and means 'jewel' or 'precious jewel'.
    Animal: How about a 'Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz'??? It's an interesting pink and white creature on the 'z' page of 'Dr Seuss's ABC, a book our three-year-old grandson loves right now! Have you read it, Tully?
    Place: Let's go back to Turkey to a town called 'Zonguldak' on the Black Sea! I haven't been to this exact town, but I've been to some others very near there--it's not far from Istanbul.
    Thing: How about a zither? It's an old-fashioned stringed musical instrument that used to be popular in Germany in particular. I used to teach German and also love music, so this word came to mind easily.

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    1. I love Zorro. I'm really surprised (now that I think of it!), that Hollywood hasn't remade that one more recently.
      Never known a Zeynep. That would be very unique - except in Turkey.
      Tull knows a Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz. And can quote quite a few more from the good Dr's 'Wocket in my Pocket.'
      The Turkish people sound very familiar with 'Z's'. I can't even think of a place in Australia starting with a 'Z'. (OK New Zealand - not Aus - but close).
      I am sure a Zither features in the 'Animalia' book by Graeme Base.
      Awesome answers, Jo-Anne.

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  5. They were all great answers, and thank you so very much to everyone for playing. But - after much deliberation, Tully has chosen a winner - it's............ (think drum roll). RITA.
    Tully says:
    'I loved the Greek reference, because I'm into Greek yogurt right now.'
    LOL - child reasoning.
    I think the Zombie reference won him over too. He was very impressed with your answers, too, Jeanette, and Greece only just won over Turkey, Jo-Anne, (because of what the Turks did to our ANZACS - I did point out that WE were invading THEM, so a good opening for a history lesson there. :-) ).
    And, Jenny, your Yoyo answer had him asking; 'Where did I put that Yoyo?' (I've actually hidden it - he wouldn't go outside with it. ;-) )
    Thank you all again. Just wanted to inject a bit of fun to the week.

    xxoo Rose.

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  6. Congratulations Rita. It was fun playing Rose :)

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