 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsEnglish UsageBritish EnglishESL Teaching Learnglish.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007Nostalgia: not what it used to be
My husband gave me a board game for Christmas: "Stratego", from Milton Bradley. I see from the [nice, wooden] box that it is from their "Nostalgia Games" series. Imagine my disappointment, when I opened the box, to find - instead of beautiful wooden pieces in heavy cardboard cases that our childhood set had - the pieces were made of coloured plastic, and were stuck in a flimsy plastic holder, like a cookie package. The set that my brother and I had as children came from the Netherlands: a gift from my aunt. It was actually a German version, and, although the rules came in a multi-lingual brochure, we always called the pieces by their German ranks. My brother pronounced "Stratego" with the the emphasis on the first syllable, while my aunt said "Strat-AY-go" with the emphasis on the second syllable. My new game says that it should be pronounced "Strat-EE-go", but I'm going to say it the way my aunt did. I must ask my brother if he still has the old set. Fran > My brother pronounced "Stratego" with the the emphasis on the first > syllable, while my aunt said "Strat-AY-go" with the emphasis on the > second syllable. My new game says that it should be pronounced > "Strat-EE-go", but I'm going to say it the way my aunt did. I would say it StratEEjo. > My husband gave me a board game for Christmas: "Stratego", from Milton > Bradley. I see from the [nice, wooden] box that it is from their [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > had - the pieces were made of coloured plastic, and were stuck in a > flimsy plastic holder, like a cookie package. The other day, while at Barnes & Noble picking up a couple of Discoworld novels I hadn't yet read, I spotted near the registers a large box containing some sort of deluxe Scrabble set. Price: Fifty smackers (okay, actually $49.95). I don't recall the whole description that appeared on the lid, but I do remember that the tiles were made of elephant ivory and the tile trays were of sapient pearwood -- or something like that. I resisted the temptation to buy one for Mrs. Bob on the occasion of her upcoming birthday. She loves the game, but I don't think she needs quite that much in the way of trappings -- though I certainly agree with Fran that there ought to be some minimum standards set a lot higher than what she found in that Stratego box. I might add that I rarely play Scrabble with my wife. She finds other opponents. I'm not sure whether it's my continued participation in AUE or my past history as a published cruciverbalist that causes her to shun me. I also don't play mah jongg with her, or gin rummy, or a whole bunch of other games, because she beats the crap out of me at most of them. We have other ways of occupying our time.  SignatureBob Lieblich Luv them triple-triple word scores >> My husband gave me a board game for Christmas: "Stratego", from Milton >> Bradley. I see from the [nice, wooden] box that it is from their [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] >whole bunch of other games, because she beats the crap out of me at >most of them. We have other ways of occupying our time. I don't recall being the target of religious discrimination very often, but it has happened to me. Our next-door neighbors in a Chicago suburb were Jewish. Mindy (1) was hostess to weekly mah jongg games. I watched the group play a few times and decided that I would like to learn the game. I have always been a quick-learner of card and board games (2) and figured that I could pick up mah jongg fairly easily. Not so. Mindy tried to explain the game, but she was so quick and so intuitive that she was a bad teacher. Finally, she concluded that "Gentiles just can't learn mah jongg. It's a Jewish thing." I pointed out that the game was invented by the Chinese (3), but she gave one of those Jewish "Nu?" shrugs and dismissed the Chinese origins with her body language. She gave up on me that day, and resisted my pleadings for further lessons. I'm sure it was discrimination. (1) "Mindy" is a cute child's name, but it just doesn't seem appropriate for an adult woman. I'm sure "Mindy" wasn't her "real" first name, but that's all I knew her by. Her husband was "Skip". (2) Well, I can play bridge, but only up to the basic conventions. (3) At least I assume the Chinese invented the game. I wonder why this particular game was adopted by the Jews. I'm tempted to write "Jewish women", but suppose some Jewish men also play. From what I've seen, Jewish women play mah jongg and the Jewish men play gin. Gin I can play. SignatureTony Cooper Orlando, FL > (3) At least I assume the Chinese invented the game. I wonder why > this particular game was adopted by the Jews. I'm tempted to write > "Jewish women", but suppose some Jewish men also play. From what I've > seen, Jewish women play mah jongg and the Jewish men play gin. Gin I > can play. In my youth Jewish women played kalookie and the men played klabiash. When we were in our early twenties I asked a Chinese friend to teach me to play mah jongg. She refused: "Only old ladies like my mother play that!" I was very disappointed and have never, to my knowledge, met anyone else in the UK who plays it. When my American friend Barbara moved to Chicago last year, she joined her sister-in-law's (all female and AFAIK Jewish) mah jongg group, learned to play very quickly and is eagerly waiting for me to visit so that I can learn, too. Among the Jewish community in Oxford, bridge is by far the favourite game among both sexes, although some of the women play Boggle and Scrabble as well. I am a bridge widow several nights a week since Husband was asked to play in a club team. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk had it: > > (3) At least I assume the Chinese invented the game. I wonder why > > this particular game was adopted by the Jews. I'm tempted to write [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > and AFAIK Jewish) mah jongg group, learned to play very quickly and is > eagerly waiting for me to visit so that I can learn, too. I learned to play mah jongg in Hong Kong, and I have a nice set which I brought back. I haven't played for 25 years, but as I remember it's just like Gin Rummy. Brush up on your Gin and you will trounce them. The game is so strongly associated with (illegal) gambling in Hong Kong that were were asked not to play it in the house of our hosts, even though we were playing only for points. obAUE: the name "Mah Jongg" means "twittering of the sparrows" which is the noise made by the tiles as they are shuffled on the table. SignatureDavid ===== > laura@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk had it: > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > it's just like Gin Rummy. Brush up on your Gin and you will trounce > them. Really? My mother-in-law brought back a game with tiles called Rummikub from a trip to the US years ago - I wonder if that was some sort of bastard version of mah jongg. > The game is so strongly associated with (illegal) gambling in Hong > Kong that were were asked not to play it in the house of our hosts, > even though we were playing only for points. > > obAUE: the name "Mah Jongg" means "twittering of the sparrows" which > is the noise made by the tiles as they are shuffled on the table. Rather nice, that. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) > Really? My mother-in-law brought back a game with tiles called > Rummikub from a trip to the US years ago - I wonder if that was some > sort of bastard version of mah jongg. I don't think there's any connection. Rummikub is essentially a two-deck (with jokers) rummy game, in which there is no discarding, melds are played to the table, and (what makes it fun) you're allowed to rearrange the tiles on the table as long as everything on the table when you're done is part of a run or group. The Wikipedia article on the game says that it's similar to a Turkish game called "Okey", although the page for that game says that it's played using the same tiles but different rules. SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |It is a popular delusion that the 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |government wastes vast amounts of Palo Alto, CA 94304 |money through inefficiency and sloth. |Enormous effort and elaborate kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com |planning are required to waste this (650)857-7572 |much money | P.J. O'Rourke http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ > Not so. Mindy tried to explain the game, but she was so quick and > so intuitive that she was a bad teacher. Finally, she concluded > that "Gentiles just can't learn mah jongg. It's a Jewish thing." I > pointed out that the game was invented by the Chinese (3), but she > gave one of those Jewish "Nu?" shrugs and dismissed the Chinese > origins with her body language. [snip] > (3) At least I assume the Chinese invented the game. I wonder why > this particular game was adopted by the Jews. I'm tempted to write > "Jewish women", but suppose some Jewish men also play. From what > I've seen, Jewish women play mah jongg and the Jewish men play gin. > Gin I can play. That's pretty much right, but I don't think they do so much anymore. My grandmother played regularly with similarly-aged female Jewish friends, but I can't recall anybody born after about 1930 who did. My mom doesn't even know how to play. I used to, but only because when I was a freshman at Stanford, one of my TA's was Chinese, and she taught us. For a while, there was a game going most evenings in the third-floor lounge, across from my room. I don't think we played by quite the same rules that Jewish women used. Unfortunately, I can't remember a whole lot about the rules. Looking at the Wikipedia article on the game, they list Chinese Classical, Hong Kong/Cantonese, Japanese, Western Clasical, and American. I suspect that I learned Cantonese and my grandmother and her friends played American. SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |The Society for the Preservation of 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |Tithesis commends your ebriated and Palo Alto, CA 94304 |scrutable use of delible and |defatigable, which are gainly, sipid kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com |and couth. We are gruntled and (650)857-7572 |consolate that you have the ertia and |eptitude to choose such putably http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ |pensible tithesis, which we parage. --clip--- > The other day, while at Barnes & Noble picking up a couple of > Discoworld novels I hadn't yet read, I spotted near the registers a > large box containing some sort of deluxe Scrabble set. Price: Fifty > smackers (okay, actually $49.95). I don't recall the whole > description that appeared on the lid, but I do remember that the tiles > were made of elephant ivory Are you sure about the ivory? I had thought that trade in ivory was still illegal. John Kane, Kingston ON Canada > --clip--- > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Are you sure about the ivory? I had thought that trade in ivory was > still illegal. The really big problem was importing the sapient pearwood (mentioned in my prior post but snipped) from the Discworld. I still haven't figured out how they managed that. Rumor hath it that the tile trays move the tiles around to spell out useful words. As far as I know, the trade in ivory is still illegal. Signaturebob Lieblich I guess Americans can't do ivory either > --clip--- > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Are you sure about the ivory? I had thought that trade in ivory was > still illegal. You'd think. http://www.indianjungles.com/240904.htm "TRAFFIC found that the United States has the highest rate of ivory seizures in the world and that much of the ivory caught at the borders is being brought into the country by individual consumers, often as souvenirs, jewellery and carvings. The growth of online commerce in the last decade has also created a new channel for the ivory trade, with Americans buying ivory from overseas dealers via the Internet with little oversight." SignatureJohn Dean Oxford >I might add that I rarely play Scrabble with my wife. She finds other >opponents. I'm not sure whether it's my continued participation in >AUE or my past history as a published cruciverbalist that causes her >to shun me. I also don't play mah jongg with her, or gin rummy, or a >whole bunch of other games, because she beats the crap out of me at >most of them. We have other ways of occupying our time. Shortly after he moved in, OldBloke undertook to teach me poker, complete with betting. He stopped playing after the first month, when he had to give me twenty pounds. SignatureLinz Wet Yorks via Cambridge, York, London and Watford My accent may vary >>I might add that I rarely play Scrabble with my wife. She finds other >>opponents. I'm not sure whether it's my continued participation in [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >He stopped playing after the first month, when he had to give me >twenty pounds. Maybe you're lucky. An English court has just found that poker is a game of chance, not of skill. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2551244,00.html SignatureRobin Herts, England >Maybe you're lucky. An English court has just found that poker is a >game of chance, not of skill. >http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2551244,00.html Interesting in light of the fact that poker has been a legal game in California for many years simply because California courts decided to the contrary. Signature************* DAVE HATUNEN (hatunen@cox.net) ************* * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow * * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps * >>Maybe you're lucky. An English court has just found that poker is a >>game of chance, not of skill. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > in California for many years simply because California courts > decided to the contrary. Only certain varieties of poker, if memory serves, if your are talking of what's legal to play in card clubs. SignatureRoland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food. NB mail to my.spamtrap [at] verizon.net is heavily filtered to remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it. >> Maybe you're lucky. An English court has just found that poker is a >> game of chance, not of skill. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > in California for many years simply because California courts > decided to the contrary. It would have been a stupid decision (the UK one, not the US one). Anyone who seriously believes poker is a game of chance would be welcomed with open arms in any poker game in the world. However, the verdict wasn't actually saying that poker is not a game of skill. The owner was fined for charging a fee and imposing a levy on winnings. The Gambling Commission's view is at http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=%22gaming+act+1968%22+chance&ei=UTF-8&fr=s fp&x=wrt&u=www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/UploadDocs/Misc/lccp_respondents/PeterW ilson_TarloLyons.pdf&w=%22gaming+act+1968%22+chance&d=GDqF4exsOAaB&icp=1&.intl=u s http://tinyurl.com/2wnofg SignatureJohn Dean Oxford The Robin Bignall entity posted thusly: >>>I might add that I rarely play Scrabble with my wife. She finds other >>>opponents. I'm not sure whether it's my continued participation in [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >game of chance, not of skill. >http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2551244,00.html On the Phil Silvers show... The game is starting. The mark, a new guy, asks "Is this a game of chance?" Phil answers, "Not the way I play it, sonny!" In alt.usage.english, Robin Bignall wrote: >An English court has just found that poker is a >game of chance, not of skill. >http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2551244,00.html Not exactly. AFAICS they decided that it's sufficiently a game of chance that it should be subject to the rules governing games of chance. They didn't decide that it isn't a game of skill. SignatureMike Barnes Cheshire, England > My husband gave me a board game for Christmas: "Stratego", from Milton > Bradley. I see from the [nice, wooden] box that it is from their [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > I must ask my brother if he still has the old set. I find it very difficult to say "strat-EE-go", but quite easy to say "stra-TEE-go". > > My husband gave me a board game for Christmas: "Stratego", from Milton > > Bradley. I see from the [nice, wooden] box that it is from their [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > I find it very difficult to say "strat-EE-go", but quite easy to say > "stra-TEE-go". George Bush says, "stra-TEE-ger-o." |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.