A few weeks ago, I was checking my stats on Words With Friends and saw that I started playing on April 11, 2010. So, five years later, here’s where my life has been, along with 26 words I like to use, one for each member of the alphabet.
Games played: around 5,953, give or take a few.
My all time score: 737, 925.
Longest win streak 32 games in a row.
Highest score: 656.
And now, for the words:
AOUDAD
What it is: A type of sheep found North Africa. It comes from French and Berber, specifically the Berber word udad, meaning “ram.”
Used in a sentence: What a lovely sweater you have there; is it aoudad fur?
BAHT
What it is: The currency of Thailand. It comes from Thai, obviously and refers to a weight.
Used in a sentence: Good lord, Enid, what did you buy in that river market in Phuket that cost twelve million baht?
COHO
What it is: A type of salmon. Its origin is unknown.
Used in a sentence: If you take a hooker out to dinner, order coho for the ho and a bottle of rum.
DJIN or DJINN
What it is: A figure in Islamic mythology, and the inspiration for Robin Williams’ character in Aladdin. Language of origin is Arabic.
Used in a sentence: Were I a djin, I’d want my home to be a bottle of gin.
EDH
What it is: A rune, to stand in for the “th” sound in Old English.
Used in a sentence: There is no funny way to use edh in a sentence.
FEIJOA
What it is: A South American shrub, also known as pineapple guava. Named for Joao da Silva Feijo.
Used in a sentence: I wouldn’t go near that feijoa smoothie if I were you.
GRIOT
What it is: A member of an African tribe whose job it is to tell stories. Originated from French and Portuguese.
Used in a sentence: “Tell us another one, griot,” said Tommy, “before our lands are gone.”
HAEN
What it is: Past tense of “have,” in Scottish.
Used in a sentence: “Oh mother Mary,” said Oona, “I haen no more wool to make the tartans.”
INIA
What it is: A type of river dolphin found in South America.
Used in a sentence: You won’t find no inia in West Virginia.
JUGA or JUGAL
What it is: Of or relating to the jugum (another good word), also known as the cheekbone. From Latin.
Used in a sentence: After Peter’s wife came to prison for a conjugal visit and he went to sleep, she and his cellmate Pedro had a con jugal visit of their own. (Oh oh, see what I did there?)
KARST
What it is: An underground limestone chamber. It comes from German.
Used in a sentence: After Brunhilda slipped and fell in the Alps, she was afraid she was cursed to remain in the karst forever.
LWEI
What it is: Another fun money word, this time from Angola.
Used in a sentence: Holy cannoli, Camilla, what did you buy from that arms dealer in Luanda that cost twelve million lwei?
MAQUI
What it is: A shrub grown in Chile and southern California. Comes from Spanish and Araucanian.
Used in a sentence: In Southern California, sometimes they cut the maqui into the shape of a famous mouse.
NAOS or NAOI
What it is: The inner sanctum of a temple in Greece. Greek origin, obviously.
Used in a sentence: “Oh no,” said Aphrodite, “I think I left my blouse in the naos!”
OBIA or OBEAH
What it is: A form of sorcery practiced mostly in the West Indies. The word claims roots from “Gullah, Jamaican English, Guyanan English, Sranan, Twi and Igbo.” Quite a pedigree for such a small word.
Used in a sentence: If you were scared of sorcery, would that mean you had obiaphobia?
PHAGE
What it is: A shortened form of a biology term, like “bacteriophage.”
Used in a sentence: Mitosis is just two cells going through a phage.
QADI
What it is: A judge in a Muslim community. From Arabic.
Used in a sentence: Abdul was hoping to be reassigned to a courthouse in a town near an oasis, so he could be the first qadi in the wadi.
RINGHALS
What it is: A highly venomous snake from Africa, and Afrikaans.
Used in a sentence: The ringhals is so deadly that it is its own plural.
SAUTOIR
What it is: Well, it’s obviously from French, and it’s a ribbon tied around your neck, sometimes with a pendant.
Used in a sentence: Isabelle refused to let her daughter out of the house unless her sautoir was straight.
THERIACA
What it is: A fancy name for treacle. Latin/Greek origins.
Used in a sentence: Who uses theriaca in cooking anymore?
UREA
What it is: A compound in urine. Either comes from French or Greek.
Used in a sentence: Urea is a great way to end a game, and I resisted the urge to make a pee joke.
VOXEL
What it is: Something to do with medical coding. I don’t know, it’s late.
Used in a sentence: I have never seen a voxel.
WOOMERA
What it is: A notched stick used by Australian Aborigines as a hunting spear. From Dharuk.
Used in a sentence: “Crikey,” said Kyle, “I think I hit a wallaby with my woomera!”
XYST
What it is: A tree-covered promenade or path. From Latin/Greek.
Used in a sentence: Without a good xyst, I think we would cease to exist.
YESHIVA
What it is: An Orthodox Jewish educational institution. Okay, I admit, I put this in for personal reasons but I have used it successfully and even as a plural. It’s Hebrew, if you couldn’t tell.
Used in a sentence: “They’ll never find me here,” giggled Sister Mary-Celine Dion, as she ducked into the yeshiva, thinking to herself that this was the best game of hide-and-seek the convent ever had.
ZAS
What it is: Shortening of “pizzas.”
Used in a sentence: Passover is done so GIVE ME ALL THE ZAS.
That was not as fun as I thought it would be to type but I hope y’all enjoyed it. Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the aoudads bite.
That’s So Jacob 