Patent Application
20240115932
This disclosure relates generally to a word game.
There are many word games, including crossword puzzles, Wordle, spelling bees, and vocabulary bees, to name a few. Vocabulary bees have grown into large competitions, with many participants studying extensively to be successful.
In a vocabulary bee, a participant may be given a word and a list of four choices, one of which is the meaning of the word. The participant must choose the correct option. Such a question is susceptible to guessing; it is not guaranteed that the participant knew the meaning of the word, even if they picked the correct option.
The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure to provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure, nor does it identify key or critical elements of the claimed subject matter, or define its scope. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed in a simplified form as a precursor to the more detailed description that is later presented.
The instant application discloses, among other things, a word game that may involve a participant being given one or more definitions of a word, the parts of speech it may be, whether it is a plural or a singular noun, the origin of the word, how the word was formed in the language(s) of origin, a history of how the word passed from the language(s) of origin to the language of the word game.
An origin may include details about the origins of the word or its components, for example, the language or languages the word or its components originated from or passed through, how the word or its components were formed in their language(s) of origin, or a history of how the word or its components passed from the language(s) of origin to the language of the word game, what the original words in one or more of the languages of origin were, or what the words meant in one or more of the languages of origin.
An example may be, “This word originated in Latin and is a combination of the Latin word for ‘again, anew, or back’ and the Latin word for ‘to shine’. This word then passed into English.”
In order to make objects, technical details, and advantages of the embodiments of the disclosure apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments will be described in a clearly and fully understandable way in connection with the drawings related to the embodiments of the disclosure. It is understood that the described embodiments are just a part but not all of the embodiments of the disclosure. All other embodiments which may be obtained by one skilled in the art without any creative labor based on the described embodiments of the present disclosure fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
In the present disclosure, unless specified or limited otherwise, the term “coupled,” and the like are used broadly and may be, for example, fixed connections, detachable connections, integral connections, direct connections, or indirect connections via intervening elements; which can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.
The participant may be given the Origin 140 of the word or its components. The moderator may provide an origin and additional information about how the word came to be in the language of the game, which may include, for example, what the word's components meant in the originating language(s). For example, the moderator may say, “This word originated in Latin and is a combination of the Latin word for ‘again, anew, or back’ and the Latin word for ‘to shine.’ This word then passed into English.” Other words may have more complex etymologies. For example, the word “hyperbole” has two separate Greek words combined into Latin and then passed into English, while other words may have a German part and a Greek part that pass into Latin and then into English.
In another implementation, a word in the origin language may be provided. For example, for the word ‘satrap,’ the moderator may say that the word originally comes from the Sanskrit word khshathrapavan, definition “protector of the domain.”
An example turn for the word ‘resplendent’ may go as follows:
A definition: “shining brilliantly; characterized by a glowing splendor.”
Used in a sentence: “She looked blank in her green evening gown.” Note that the word is not pronounced; the word ‘blank’ is said instead of ‘resplendent.’
A part of speech: ‘adjective.’
Origin: “This word originated in Latin and is a combination of the Latin word for ‘again, anew, or back’ and the Latin word for ‘to shine’. This word then passed into English.”
Note that in this example of the word game, no pronunciation of the word is given, and the word is never spoken, even in the example sentence.
Any information provided, including the definition, use in a sentence, and origin, may be provided upon being asked by the participant or automatically provided. The information may be provided in a different order than described herein.
One having skill in the art will recognize that more information may be provided about the word, for example, number of letters, first letter, or other information. For example, this may allow the game to be played by less experienced participants. In another implementation, less information may be provided; the moderator may provide less information about the origin of the word, for example.
In one implementation, the participant may be allowed to ask certain types of questions. In one implementation, the participant may be allowed to ask questions about the origin. For example, if the word is “hyperbole” and the participant is given the clue “This word comes from a combination of two Greek words, the first meaning ‘to go beyond’ and the second meaning ‘to throw,’” the participant may ask the question, “Does it come from the Greek ‘hyper’ meaning ‘to go beyond’?” and the moderator must answer the question by saying “Yes.” If the participant instead asked the question, “Does it come from the Greek ‘kakos’ meaning to go beyond?” the moderator must answer the question by saying “No.” In another implementation, the moderator may answer the question by confirming or saying “Yes,” denying or saying “No,” or another answer implying that the participant is partially but not entirely correct.
If a participant correctly determines the word and spells it properly, they may move on to another round, while misspelling it may lead to elimination from the game.
In another implementation, a participant may be awarded points for a correct spelling and may be allowed to continue playing, even after misspelling the word. This may allow a game to be played with two participants without requiring a new game each time one fails to spell a word correctly. It may also allow one participant to track their score over time, which may allow them to tell if they are improving.
In yet another implementation, a participant may be awarded points for guessing the correct word and additional points for spelling it correctly. One having skill in the art will recognize that various ways of scoring the game may be used.
In another implementation, a process may be provided to challenge a ruling if a participant believes that a moderator made an error. For example, suppose the moderator gives incomplete or incorrect information about the origin of the word or says that a word is a noun rather than saying it is a plural noun. In that case, it may lead a participant to answer with an incorrect word. The participant may then be able to challenge being marked as incorrect with the associated consequences.
In yet another implementation, this game may not require a moderator or the clues to be spoken out. For example, a puzzle may be printed in a newspaper, or a sequence of puzzles may be published in a book for readers to solve.
In addition to enabling vocabulary bees, this may enable spelling bees. In languages with consistent spelling rules, German, for example, the word game may allow for a competition. In contrast, a spelling bee may not be practical for such languages. By not providing any pronunciation, participants may have to have other knowledge of vocabulary and linguistic origins to spell them correctly, rather than relying on translating pronunciations into spelling using rules of the language.
One having skill in the art will recognize that other attributes may also be used to help identify a word.
While various aspects of implementations within the scope of the appended claims are described above, various features of implementations described above may be embodied in a wide variety of forms, and that any specific structure or function described above is merely illustrative. An aspect described herein may be implemented independently of any other aspects, and that two or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, an apparatus may be implemented, or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects disclosed herein. In addition, such an apparatus may be implemented, or such a method may be practiced using other structure or functionality in addition to or other than one or more of the aspects disclosed herein.
While the terms “first,” “second,” etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular implementations only and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims. As used in the description of the implementations and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises” or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, or groups thereof.
