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Word Games for Witty People

In sixteenth-century France a new vogue for verbal games took hold. These games were played in courtly circles and were known as jeux d’esprit. They were part of the burgeoning world of the salon and were played alongside discussions of courtly themes such as love, society and politics. These games reached England via some of the first books of games, such as the anonymously written The Mysteries of Love and Eloquence (1658), which describes old word games like Crambo. Many of the games that follow have their beginnings in this early flowering of word games and verbal jousting.

Word games grew in popularity during the nineteenth century and took shape in public events such as the Spelling Bee. ‘Bee’ was a term that became popular in America during the eighteenth century. It was used to describe events where large numbers of people came together—much like bees—to participate in some communal activity. People would gather to weave, spin, make quilts and, eventually, to compete in spelling matches. The first of these Spelling Bees took place in America during the 1870s. The spelling obsession soon made it across the pond and, in 1876, The Leisure Hour