Play an English Vocabulary Game with us
Vanessa:
Hi. I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Dan:
And I’m Dan, her husband and partner and assistant.
Vanessa:
Yes, game expert.
Dan:
Oh, and game expert.
Vanessa:
Today we’re going to be playing a fun game
called Codenames: Duet. There’s a regular
Codenames, but we’re going to be playing the
one that’s meant for two people. During this
game, we’re going to be talking out loud and
trying to explain why we’re doing what we’re
doing, so I hope that you’re going to be able
to catch some real vocabulary, real phrasal
verbs. I’m going to try to explain the game
just a little bit, but overall, I hope that
your goal for this video is to learn some
natural vocabulary and next week in the YouTube
video, I’m going to be explaining some of
these words in more detail. So if you saw
a word that you thought was interesting, don’t
worry. Next week, hopefully we’ll talk about
it in more detail. Are you ready to get started?
Dan:
I’m ready. Let’s do it.
Vanessa:
Okay. Let’s go. Just to give a general overview
of how to play this game, we have this little
key card here and-
Dan:
Don’t show me.
Vanessa:
Yes. Dan sees one side. I see the other and
it’s… I’ll show you here on the screen.
I’m trying to get Dan to guess the green words
on my side and he’s trying to get me to guess
his green words and we don’t want each other
to guess our black words. Those are the bomb
words.
Dan:
Yeah. We have a whole legion of words here
and some of them are the correct words that
we need to guess. And I don’t know what her
side says and she doesn’t know what my side
says.
Vanessa:
Yeah.
Dan:
So we’re going to try to give each other a
one word hint to guess the right word or the
word we’re trying to think of.
Vanessa:
Yeah. You’ll pick it up.
Dan:
And actually… Yeah. It’s better if you try
to give a hint for multiple words which I’m
guessing Vanessa is going to do because she’s
pretty smart.
Vanessa:
Oh, well, thank you. So we’re just going to
play the game and you can try to pick it up
along the way. I’ve already set out the-
Dan:
Just watch. You’ll learn.
Vanessa:
I already set out the cards so we’re ready
to go.
Dan:
Oh.
Vanessa:
Okay. I kind of gave myself a little piece
of paper where I wrote down some hints. These
are all of my words, just so I can visually
see them together. My first word for you,
it’s a big one. Are you ready? It is Gouda.
Dan:
Gouda.
Vanessa:
Three. So that means Gouda, if you know what
Gouda is, I can’t say anything else about
that word.
Dan:
Yeah.
Vanessa:
But Gouda-
Dan:
Gouda is a cheese.
Vanessa:
And three means there are three cards here
on the table that relate to that word. Some
of them might be closely related, some of
them might be a stretch, but I hope that Dan
guesses them correctly.
Dan:
Right. And I have to touch them for it to
be official.
Vanessa:
Yes.
Dan:
so I’m allowed to just speak about what I’m
thinking.
Vanessa:
Yeah.
Dan:
Well, Gouda is a cheese and cheese as a word
down here.
Vanessa:
Yep.
Dan:
Oftentimes cheese comes in a wheel.
Vanessa:
Oh.
Dan:
There’s a wheel. It’s made in a kitchen. It
resembles a clock.
Vanessa:
Okay. That could be a stretch.
Dan:
I think Gouda is smoky. Usually it’s a smoky
Gouda. Let’s see. That’s all I got so far.
Vanessa:
The hard part is that if he says the wrong
word or if he says the right word, I can’t
give a facial expression that hints-
Dan:
I’m going to definitely touch cheese.
Vanessa:
All right. That’s correct.
Dan:
Because that’s obvious.
Vanessa:
So when that’s correct, we put one of these
on it?
Dan:
That one.
Vanessa:
We put this one on it.
Dan:
Yeah.
Vanessa:
Okay, so that means that this word is finished.
All right. I’m going to mark it off on my
paper.
Dan:
And let’s see. Trying to make sure I’m not
missing something obvious. She probably thinks
I am.
Vanessa:
I can’t give any hint with my face-
Dan:
Well…
Vanessa:
Which is really hard.
Dan:
I’m going to go with… Maybe this game will
end right now.
Vanessa:
If he touches a black word, then it means
the game is instantly over.
Dan:
Smoked Gouda.
Vanessa:
Ding, ding, ding. Because you also have to
think a strategy for this game is, “Why did
I say Gouda and not Brie, not cheddar cheese?
Why did I specifically choose Gouda?” There’s
a reason.
Dan:
Now I feel like it’s either wheel or kitchen
because, well, cheese comes in a wheel. You
call it a cheese wheel. You call it a cheese
wheel.
Vanessa:
Don’t make me make a facial expression, I
can’t give it away.
Dan:
Wheel.
Vanessa:
You got it. Wow. I think that was the best
first word that I’ve ever said because all
three of those were related to Gouda.
Dan:
Oh, and you take one of these check marks
and your turn is done.
Vanessa:
Oh, right. I got a check mark.
Dan:
In the single player… Oh, wait. Two player
version.
Vanessa:
Yeah. In this game, we’re trying to beat the
game, so we’re hoping to have everything finished
by the time these little cards are finished.
It’s not too important to explain that part.
Dan:
Okay.
Vanessa:
All right. Do you have a hint for me?
Dan:
I’m ready. Your hint is star, two.
Vanessa:
All right, so two words here are related to
star. Well, a star has five points, so it
could be a pentagon, street star, kitchen
clock, rice, army, blacksmith, dentist, fever,
fog, Earth, penny.
Dan:
As she says every single one.
Vanessa:
Big bang. Oh, stars were created in the big
bang.
Dan:
Were they though?
Vanessa:
Some country stars.
Dan:
Was the big bang even real? I don’t know.
Vanessa:
Some country stars come from Texas. That’s
a little bit of a stretch. Butterfly… Okay,
I’m going to go with pentagon. Are you serious?
Dan:
No. Sort of… Oh, good. But it’s just one
of these.
Vanessa:
Okay. So if this were a black word on his
side, that means the game would be immediately
over and we would lose.
Dan:
Pentagon?
Vanessa:
Yeah, the pentagon because-
Dan:
I was just thinking the building.
Vanessa:
Well, yeah, but this is outside the box.
Dan:
I forgot that that means five points.
Vanessa:
Okay. Even though he said two words, I can’t
guess the second word because I got the first
one wrong.
Dan:
Yeah.
Vanessa:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dan:
So that counts as a turn. We only have nine
turns. We’re trying to finish in nine terms.
Vanessa:
Yeah.
Dan:
But I mean we got a lot in your first one,
so.
Vanessa:
Okay. All right. Now it’s my turn to tell
you a word. Well, I already have another word
ready.
Dan:
Another word or another hint?
Vanessa:
Another hint.
Dan:
Another hint.
Vanessa:
I have another hint. Ready?
Dan:
Okay.
Vanessa:
Let me make sure that it’s not going to clash
with any of the other words.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
Okay. Are you ready?
Dan:
I’m ready.
Vanessa:
Okay. My hint… I don’t feel as certain about
this one.
Dan:
Oh, boy.
Vanessa:
My hint is bike, two.
Dan:
Two, bikes.
Vanessa:
There are two words that relate to bike. Hopefully,
you also think that.
Dan:
Well, some dentists in foreign countries ride
bikes to work but not in America. And we’re
in America, so impossible. Bikes have gears.
That’s pretty obvious. Bikes go on the street.
Bikes ride to the Pentagon and Columbus too.
Vanessa:
I hear that Joan of Arc also rode a bike.
Dan:
Or maybe that’s Christopher Columbus. He definitely
didn’t have a bike so I’m going to start out
with gear.
Vanessa:
Good work.
Dan:
That’s easy.
Vanessa:
All right. We got gear and you have one more
guess because you got that correct.
Dan:
Oh, oh, helmet. Duh. So probably the tough
thing is between helmet and street. I associate
a helmet more with the bike because, well,
you always ride the bike on the street, but
helmet…
Vanessa:
You can also ride a bike on a path, on a trail.
Dan:
Right. Yeah, I know.
Vanessa:
I was hoping you had seen that.
Dan:
I didn’t even see it the first time.
Vanessa:
All right. Good work. So you got all of these.
Dan:
As you can tell, this game can break up relationships.
Vanessa:
We’re doing okay so far.
Dan:
We’re fine so far. I’m a little angry at the
moment about pentagon.
Vanessa:
That you forgot that that has five points?
Dan:
Yeah. Actually that was my fault anyways.
Vanessa:
Now it’s your turn to think of a hint for
me. Do you have a hint ready for me?
Dan:
I have a hint ready.
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
And I’m going to try to make it easy. It’s
lame of me to do this, but sushi, one.
Vanessa:
Oh.
Dan:
Just one.
Vanessa:
Well…
Dan:
But she can make additional guesses after
this because she didn’t get the last one.
Vanessa:
Yeah, I’m going to go with, there’s both rice
and kitchen on the table, but I feel like
rice is a lot more specific. You would have
said something else if it was actually kitchen.
So I’m going to click…
Dan:
Click.
Vanessa:
Touch rice.
Dan:
Rice.
Vanessa:
Okay, so now because I got-
Dan:
You got it.
Vanessa:
All of yours correct, I’m going to continue
to guess the ones that I missed last time.
Dan:
Okay.
Vanessa:
Your hint was star, two so I’m going to go
with big bang, and I’m pretty sure it’s Earth,
but I’m going to take a look around because
pentagon was not right. Yeah, I think that’s
probably the closest thing to star. No.
Dan:
What? Earth is not a star.
Vanessa:
Well, Earth is in outer space. It’s a astronomical
body.
Dan:
See why this breaks up relationships?
Vanessa:
When you don’t understand each other. Okay,
so we only used up two wrong guesses. So we
have five more turns to get everything correct
for star. I guess we could say Joan of Arc
was a star. That’s kind of weird. Okay. Anyway,
it’s my turn.
Dan:
Okay.
Vanessa:
Okay. Are you ready for my next hint?
Dan:
I’m ready.
Vanessa:
I’m a little worried about this one.
Dan:
Hey, so far your signals to me have been very
clear.
Vanessa:
Okay, well-
Dan:
Mine, not so much.
Vanessa:
I hope that this helps. As the game gets goes
along further, there’s less words and so it’s
harder to combine them. I’ll cut out when
I edit this video, the time that it takes
to think about words.
Dan:
It takes a long time to think of a hint.
Vanessa:
Yeah. My next hint is… Let me make sure.
Double check… Nature, two.
Dan:
That’s an easy enough word.
Vanessa:
Yeah, I think-
Dan:
There’s nature everywhere.
Vanessa:
That’s the problem. Nature is such a broad
word, but I chose it.
Dan:
Oh, all right. Well, nothing’s seriously jumping
out at me except for butterfly. Butterflies
are par of nature. Fog is a kind of nature.
I mean it’s in nature. Napoleon is a freak
of nature. Zombies are also freaks of nature.
Natural. I’m going to go with butterfly first.
Vanessa:
Good work.
Dan:
And geez, I don’t know about this next one
though. Well, Earth. Okay. Earth was neutral
for me so maybe it’s not for you. Oh, wait,
no. Yes.
Vanessa:
Yeah. Earth was neutral for you.
Dan:
Okay.
Vanessa:
That’s why you put this on it.
Dan:
Okay. I’m going to say you probably are not
thinking of fog the way I am, so I’m going
to touch Earth.
Vanessa:
No.
Dan:
It’s not an assassin?
Vanessa:
No.
Dan:
It’s neutral?
Vanessa:
It is neutral.
Dan:
Double neutrals, so we’re okay.
Vanessa:
Okay. So that means you have to put another
little tab on there.
Dan:
Yeah, I guess so.
Vanessa:
And we lose one of our turns.
Dan:
Actually, you could put a check mark because
we got one. It already has it on there.
Vanessa:
Okay. So the next time around, if you get
all of my hints, you’ll get an extra guess
and you could potentially guess the final
nature words.
Dan:
Yeah, but Earth is very natural.
Vanessa:
Well, I can’t say anything.
Dan:
You can’t say anything.
Vanessa:
Nope.
Dan:
See, this is where the couple’s tension comes
in.
Vanessa:
I don’t feel any tension.
Dan:
Oh, neither do I. No tension whatsoever.
Vanessa:
All right. It’s your turn to think of a hint
for me.
Dan:
All right. My next hint is amount.
Vanessa:
Amount. Okay.
Dan:
It’s a little vague.
Vanessa:
Yes.
Dan:
Oh, amount, two… Forgot that part.
Vanessa:
Oh, there’s two words.
Dan:
Yes.
Vanessa:
Okay. Well, I feel like the people are out,
so not Columbus, not Napoleon, not Joan of
Arc, not blacksmith or dentist. Texas, stable,
amount. There’s a large amount of zombies.
We could use penny to say like, “What’s the
amount of money you need?” Or, “What’s the
amount?” I feel like if we’re talking about
measurements amounts… You have to measure
if you have a fever. You also could say there’s
an amount on a clock maybe. That’s a little
bit of a stretch. All right. I’m going to
start with penny. I’m scared. I got one. All
right. There’s another one that has an amount.
Well, there’s an amount on the thermometer.
A temperature is an amount. I don’t feel like
clock is stronger than fever. Fever.
Dan:
Ding, ding, ding.
Vanessa:
Yes. Okay. So if I-
Dan:
Are you going to make any additional guesses?
Vanessa:
If I have not yet guessed star, your second
star word, I can guess it now. I haven’t guessed
it yet? It’s still available?
Dan:
Yes, it’s still available.
Vanessa:
Oh, boy. Stark. Come on. Tell… You use stars
for an astronomical clock.
Dan:
This will not make sense to your students
either.
Vanessa:
Really?
Dan:
Oh. Well, that might be a hint. I don’t know.
Vanessa:
How is it make sense to me then? Okay.
Dan:
I thought you understood me.
Vanessa:
Do you understand what I would choose as star
such as pentagon and Earth? No.
Dan:
I get that.
Vanessa:
I’ve never-
Dan:
That was just a miss by me. Earth, I don’t
get that.
Vanessa:
In this game, I have never missed a word twice
like that. I don’t think…
Dan:
Well, then look harder.
Vanessa:
That’s what I’m doing. You know what? I think
I might pass.
Dan:
You’re going to pass? Okay.
Vanessa:
We have four more tokens left, so I feel like
we’re pretty safe.
Dan:
Check mark.
Vanessa:
And now it’s my turn to give you a hint.
Dan:
Okay.
Vanessa:
Maybe our words will overlap. I don’t know.
Dan:
Are you ready? Or do you need a minute?
Vanessa:
I need a minute.
Dan:
She needs a minute.
Vanessa:
Are you ready?
Dan:
I’m ready.
Vanessa:
All right. I have my next hint and it’s simple
as in it’s just one word, but I’m going to
say… Let me make sure. Let me make sure
it is martyr, one.
Dan:
Martyr?
Vanessa:
Martyr… Too simple.
Dan:
Who’s the martyr? Definitely Columbus, savior
of the planet of North America.
Vanessa:
Killer of millions of people.
Dan:
Oh, wait. Wrong martyr. Joan of Arc.
Vanessa:
Yes. You got it outright.
Dan:
Okay. Just for drama’s sake, I’m just going
to give you one hint and see if you can get
my star.
Vanessa:
No.
Dan:
My star… Your hint is time, one.
Vanessa:
Okay. Well, it’s got to be clock.
Dan:
Oh, touch it.
Vanessa:
Oh, no.
Dan:
So I guess we lose if you don’t get this,
right? Oh, no, no. Oh, I think in the rules
you get a Hail Mary guess at the end.
Vanessa:
Oh, yeah?
Dan:
Yeah. There’s one Hail Mary guess at the end.
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
I’ll double check after this, but-
Vanessa:
So you would get that guess?
Dan:
I’m not sure.
Vanessa:
Because actually I have two words… I said
I had one word before, but I have two words.
One is a new word that I’ve never given a
hint for and one’s a word that you missed
before. Oh, star. Okay. Well…
Dan:
Oh, star.
Vanessa:
I would personally not say that Christopher
Columbus is a star. I would consider that
more someone who is a pop star and Columbus,
he was a discover, an explorer. He’s a pretty
bad guy, in my opinion, so I would not say
he’s a star, but we’ll leave it on the table.
Texas, the flag has a giant star in the middle
of it. The flag of Texas has a star. Stable…
Some stars are stable, some stars explode.
A stable can also be a place where horses
are, which is not related to star. Zombie…
I feel like zombies are not related to stars.
Dan:
You don’t have to go over every single one.
Vanessa:
Well, I’ve missed this twice. I’ve never done
this poorly before which is-
Dan:
Look at the ones you think are plausible.
Vanessa:
Napoleon. Well, I got to think about what
you think too, because I’ve obviously missed
from thinking about it from my perspective.
What would Dan think is star? Napoleon? Does
Dan think Napoleon is a star? I’m going to
say no. Does Dan think that fog… You can
see the stars through the fog. Huh? Huh? Army…
I think the Army symbol is a star. The U.S.
Army has a star on their advertising and stuff,
but you might not know that. Maybe you do.
Blacksmith… Blacksmiths could make iron
stars and put them on the wall. I don’t know.
Dan:
She’s reaching.
Vanessa:
Dentists. It’s kitchen star. No, street star.
No, star street. Kitchen street. Kitchen star.
Okay. So in my mind it’s between Texas has
a star on their flag or Columbus. Maybe you
think Columbus was a star even though I don’t.
Okay. My final guests is Texas because Texas'
nickname is the Lone Star State.
Dan:
Gotta touch it.
Vanessa:
I don’t know why that would have been the
first star.
Dan:
Touch it. Touch it. Yes. It’s not the first
star. Big bang was the first star.
Vanessa:
Yeah.
Dan:
Sorry. Texas is associated with stars.
Vanessa:
More than-
Dan:
The Lone Star State, it’s got a big star on
it. The sports team’s name is the Stars.
Vanessa:
More than the pentagon? More than Earth is
in space with stars?
Dan:
Absolutely, more than Earth.
Vanessa:
We’ll let the judges decide.
Dan:
Well, in this American mind.
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
But you’re American.
Vanessa:
Well, I was thinking more universally.
Dan:
She’s a citizen of the world.
Vanessa:
Of the universe… I apparently am. Does that
mean you get another token?
Dan:
Oh, yes.
Vanessa:
All right, so we have one left.
Dan:
Oh, and mine are done.
Vanessa:
Yours are all finished. So I have two that
you need to guess. All right. Are you ready
for my final hint?
Dan:
The drama.
Vanessa:
Yes. It is-
Dan:
Beer for two.
Vanessa:
No. Five for one.
Dan:
Five for one?
Vanessa:
Yeah.
Dan:
Oh, okay. And then my bonus guess is nature.
Okay. Okay. So you’re doing it that way.
Vanessa:
Yes.
Dan:
Okay. Okay. It’s five, one?
Vanessa:
Maybe. Yeah, I guess I can’t take it back,
right?
Dan:
Five.
Vanessa:
A little bit of pressure because there’s only
one guest left.
Dan:
Five.
Vanessa:
Are we going to lose?
Dan:
Oh.
Vanessa:
Thank you.
Dan:
Pentagon.
Vanessa:
Pentagon.
Dan:
Oh, the dramatic word.
Vanessa:
All right. But there is-
Dan:
Nature.
Vanessa:
One more that you need to say.
Dan:
That’s not Earth. I mean, is it fog?
Vanessa:
Are you pointing to it?
Dan:
No.
Vanessa:
This is the final guess.
Dan:
It couldn’t be-
Vanessa:
If you guess the wrong one, we lose the game.
Dan:
Nothing… No, we don’t. We get the one more
guess.
Vanessa:
Oh, you get one more guess?
Dan:
You get a bonus guess.
Vanessa:
Oh, you get a-
Dan:
Yeah.
Vanessa:
Okay. We’re fine. We’re good.
Dan:
Well, I’ll go ahead and touch fog.
Vanessa:
Yes.
Dan:
We win.
Vanessa:
Hurray.
Dan:
Only mildly dramatic.
Vanessa:
Star. Yeah, so I said fog.
Dan:
Fog.
Vanessa:
Fog and butterfly where nature to me.
Dan:
Yeah. It makes sense, but for some reason,
fog just doesn’t hit me as… But it is nature.
Vanessa:
Yeah, it was really hard to combine fog and
butterfly. I was thinking air, flying…
Dan:
No. That was good.
Vanessa:
Something in the air, but then Earth is also
very nature.
Dan:
I mean when I actually look at everything…
Yeah. Earth, was a little more nature to me.
Vanessa:
Yeah. That’s a little hard.
Dan:
I mean it was a toss up.
Vanessa:
Yeah, I feel like if it were butterfly and
Earth I probably would have said a different
word.
Dan:
Because we say Mother Earth for nature, so
it kind of made me think of Earth more than
fog.
Vanessa:
Yeah. Well, in the end, we won. Good game.
Dan:
Congratulations. Good job.
Vanessa:
Yes. Okay. We’re going to do a second round.
That means we have new words-
Dan:
Round two.
Vanessa:
Which you can see here and we have a new little
secret code word card that you’ll be able
to see here. I’m going to try to get Dan to
guess my words. He’s going to try to get me
to guess his words.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
Same as before. Maybe you’ll learn some new
vocabulary. I hope so.
Dan:
Well, let’s find out. Well, I have the first
hint.
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
And it is three.
Vanessa:
Oh, three. Okay.
Dan:
Yes. The word is breakfast.
Vanessa:
Breakfast?
Dan:
Breakfast, three.
Vanessa:
Al right.
Dan:
Is that one word? I guess it is. Yes.
Vanessa:
Breakfast is certainly one word.
Dan:
It’s breakfast… Break fast.
Vanessa:
Yeah, you’re breaking the fast. Well, I’m
going to say milk and toast are looking pretty
good… Maybe tea. I drink tea in the morning,
part of my breakfast. Those three are looking
pretty good. Is there anything I’m missing
here? I can’t look at your face-
Dan:
Kung fu.
Vanessa:
Because you’re going to give me some hints.
Everyone does kung fu in the morning, right?
Dan:
We do.
Vanessa:
Maybe there is an avalanche before breakfast
and you just wear your bikini to breakfast.
Dan:
How about an avalanche of cereal?
Vanessa:
Okay. All right. I’m going to start with toast.
Dan:
Milk, toast.
Vanessa:
Oh, I didn’t say milk, but yes. Milk.
Dan:
Oh, I know.
Vanessa:
Okay, good.
Dan:
There’s the saying, “Milk toast.” It’s a comment.
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
It’s the thing people say nowadays.
Vanessa:
Really?
Dan:
Yeah. It means boring. Plain.
Vanessa:
Oh, I’ve never heard that.
Dan:
Yeah.
Vanessa:
Well, learn something new every day. Next,
I get three for breakfast?
Dan:
If you want to.
Vanessa:
I do. I would feel pretty good about tea.
Sleep might potentially be one. You’re waking
up from your sleep and you eat breakfast,
but I’m going to go with tea.
Dan:
Sleeping for breakfast?
Vanessa:
Well, I don’t know if you thought about tea
as a breakfast item.
Dan:
You don’t know if I thought, period.
Vanessa:
All right. I’m ready with my first hit.
Dan:
Okay.
Vanessa:
It is leg.
Dan:
Leg.
Vanessa:
Two.
Dan:
Two legs?
Vanessa:
Interpret it however you want.
Dan:
Leg, two. Well, I do have two legs.
Vanessa:
Good.
Dan:
My boss has legs. Legs kick. You have to have
pants and a tuxedo.
Vanessa:
For your legs?
Dan:
Yeah, you put your legs in your pants.
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
Reindeer have legs. People who wear bikinis
have legs.
Vanessa:
Not necessary though.
Dan:
Let’s see. Oh, okay. Kick is definitely jumping
out at me. Kung Fu, maybe. Those are related.
Too many things have legs, Honey. Frogs. Frogs
have legs. Okay. I’m going to start out with
kick.
Vanessa:
Great work.
Dan:
But after that, I’m not certain-
Vanessa:
You can always pass. You don’t have to say
the last one.
Dan:
Boxers punch, but kick boxers kick with their
legs. I’m going to go ahead… Step. I didn’t
even see that one, step. You step with your
legs… Well, your feet, really. There’s too
many… I’m going to pass.
Vanessa:
Oh, okay. All right.
Dan:
I’m scared. Last time made me nervous.
Vanessa:
All right, so you’re going to have one waiting.
Dan:
It’s early on. Yeah, I don’t know. To me,
kung fu, step… I mean spurs… Well, they
go on your feet.
Vanessa:
Yeah. Leg…
Dan:
Let, it’s too vague.
Vanessa:
Yeah.
Dan:
Leg is vague.
Vanessa:
Yes, to be honest, it is a very vague word,
but that’s what I said so it’s your turn.
Dan:
All right. I’m ready and I have another triple
hint.
Vanessa:
Whoa. Okay.
Dan:
So might be… I can’t say anymore. The word
is punch, three.
Vanessa:
Punch.
Dan:
Punch. punch. Punch. All come. Food’s looking
Vanessa:
All right. Kung fu’s looking good. Boxer’s
looking good. What else punches? Gangsters
may be punched. They got some fist fights
going on. Those are all looking like the best
possible option. I’m going to start with boxer
because you said punch.
Dan:
Ding, ding, ding.
Vanessa:
I always feel so nervous whenever I touch
one. Maybe it’s not right. You said punch.
Dan:
Maybe have another Lone Star State all over
again.
Vanessa:
I know.
Dan:
It’s always a possibility.
Vanessa:
I know that in kung fu they’re not punching,
but it’s this kind of action, right? All I
know is Kung Fu Panda, so I don’t know the
actual activity. What’s-
Dan:
Just go with the stereotype.
Vanessa:
Let’s go with kung fu.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
Okay. You know what? I’m going to go for all
three.
Dan:
Ooh, how exciting.
Vanessa:
Yeah, because I feel pretty good about gangsters
punching. They get into brawls and you just
imagine that… Your face isn’t looking so
positive here. Kind of just have a-
Dan:
I’m trying to stay vague.
Vanessa:
Yeah. What’s that movie with the gangsters?
Godfather. In The Godfather, I bet there was
lots of punches that were thrown. Actually
haven’t seen The Godfather, but I imagine
there was lots of punching. That was your
word punch, right?
Dan:
Yes.
Vanessa:
Okay. Gangster.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
Yes.
Dan:
(singing)
Vanessa:
Okay, so it’s my turn to think of a hint.
Are you ready for my next hint?
Dan:
Oh, I’m ready.
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
As ready as I’ll ever be.
Vanessa:
I feel a little nervous.
Dan:
Good.
Vanessa:
My hint is routine, two.
Dan:
Routine.
Vanessa:
Routine.
Dan:
Routine.
Vanessa:
We’ll see how Dan interprets this word.
Dan:
Routine. Routine.
Vanessa:
Routine.
Dan:
Routine. Is this code? Routine rhymes with
poutine.
Vanessa:
It is Codenames. It could be anything.
Dan:
Poutine is in Canada. Canada is cold. Avalanches
are cold. I’ve got it. Routine. Okay. Let’s
see. Oh. You shampoo your hair as part of
your shower routine.
Vanessa:
Don’t look at my face. I can’t give it away.
Dan:
Bosses have routines. If you’re the boss,
you know what’s going on and you have a routine.
Frogs, I’d say they just live by the seat
of their pants. They’re not really making
routines. Mummies are wrapped up and dead.
No routines there. Let’s see. Anything else
jumping out at me… Wedding. Wedding? Wedding.
No. Okay. I’m going to go with shampoo.
Vanessa:
Ding, ding, ding.
Dan:
Even though that’s a little odd. I don’t know.
I just have this feeling that Vanessa is thinking
shower routine.
Vanessa:
The thing is, you have to think about it from
my perspective and what I think you would
guess, but also what I would think.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
So it’s this cycle.
Dan:
Yes. How well do we know each other? Not that
well.
Vanessa:
Apparently… I don’t know… That star in
Texas.
Dan:
How well do we know each other’s brain? It’s
very hit or miss. Wait, there was another
one. I missed the first one. What was that?
I already forget. Okay.
Vanessa:
Well, you have one more for routine.
Dan:
Yeah, I know.
Vanessa:
You could skip it, but…
Dan:
Sleep, sleep routine. Sleep. Sleep. It’s probably
more than bus. Okay.
Vanessa:
You got it.
Dan:
She’s like-
Vanessa:
Yep.
Dan:
When I said boss, she was like, arrggg!
Vanessa:
No. You do have one more.
Dan:
Yeah. What was it again? You’re probably not
allowed to tell me, but tell me anyway.
Vanessa:
Yeah. I don’t think I can tell you what the
hint is.
Dan:
I already forget. What was it?
Vanessa:
But it is legs.
Dan:
Oh, leg. That’s right.
Vanessa:
Leg.
Dan:
Leg.
Vanessa:
Leg.
Dan:
Leg. I mean I think we’re, we’re doing fine.
I’m still going to pass for now.
Vanessa:
You’re going to pass? Okay, so you still got
that sitting on the back burner.
Dan:
Yeah, it’s on the back burner.
Vanessa:
All right.
Dan:
If I can remember.
Vanessa:
I’ll take one of these. All right. Now it’s
your turn to think of a hint.
Dan:
Yeah. You might think it was a short amount
of time before. It’s been a long time.
Vanessa:
We are cutting out the pauses where we think
of another hint. All right. It’s your turn.
Dan:
All right. I have my hint ready. It’s a strange
word. Bullish.
Vanessa:
What?
Dan:
Bullish.
Vanessa:
Like a bull but B-U-L-L-I-S-H?
Dan:
That was the best reaction ever. Bullish.
“What?” You’ve never heard that word?
Vanessa:
Like he is bullish?
Dan:
Yeah.
Vanessa:
He’s like a bull?
Dan:
Bullish.
Vanessa:
Stubborn and pushes and like, “…” He’s like
a bull.
Dan:
Yeah, bullish.
Vanessa:
All right.
Dan:
Two, come on. Easy.
Vanessa:
Well, I feel like minotaur… A minotaur is
like a bull, so that’s a pretty good one.
Gangster is already off the board, so that’s
not obviously bullish. Boss. A bad boss could
be like that. I’m going to go first with minotaur.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
And then, just to make sure… Bullish. Certainly
not a vocabulary word I would have said, but
it’s okay. I get the point.
Dan:
Now everybody will know the term bullish.
Are you bullish? They also use this in the
stock market.
Vanessa:
Mm.
Dan:
Yeah, you’re bullish about a stock or a commodity.
Vanessa:
Is that the movie? Oh, that’s The Wolf on
Wall Street or something like that.
Dan:
Yeah.
Vanessa:
But there’s a bull if you go actually visit
the stock market.
Dan:
Yeah, there’s a bull there. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
There’s a bull statue in New York.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
Okay. I’m going to go with bus.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
Oh, wow. Was that it?
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
Yeah.
Vanessa:
All right. Well, good job.
Dan:
This is running so much more smoothly than
the last game.
Vanessa:
Okay. I’m going to think of a hint now. Are
you ready for my next hint?
Dan:
I’m ready.
Vanessa:
Okay. It’s getting a little tougher now. My
next hint took me a long time to think of
and it is Lancelot, two.
Dan:
Lancelot.
Vanessa:
Thankfully, in this game you can use proper
nouns.
Dan:
Double the Lancelot. Lancelot.
Vanessa:
Did you says Lancelot?
Dan:
Lancelot. No. Two hints.
Vanessa:
Oh, two.
Dan:
Two words.
Vanessa:
Yes. There are two words related to Lancelot.
Dan:
Lancelot.
Vanessa:
Hopefully not more.
Dan:
I don’t know a lot about Lancelot. I mean,
he’s a Knight of the Round Table. I know that’s
true. Probably wore armor, guarantee that.
Probably didn’t wear a bikini, just saying.
I don’t think so.
Vanessa:
I think you know enough about him to say that’s
a pretty clear cut no.
Dan:
But if I recall, he might ride a reindeer.
Lancelot comes in on his noble steed, the
reindeer.
Vanessa:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dan:
Is that right?
Vanessa:
I’m certain they had reindeer in England at
that time.
Dan:
So I’m definitely going to tap armor.
Vanessa:
Yes, you are correct. Lancelot wore armor
as far as we know.
Dan:
(singing)
Vanessa:
I mean he’s a fictional character, right?
Dan:
Did he have spurs? I always associates spurs
with cowboys, more modern. Is Lancelot known
for getting married or something? I don’t
know enough about the story. Who is Lancelot?
What’s his story? What’s his deal?
Vanessa:
Well, you have one more-
Dan:
Tell me more about Lancelot.
Vanessa:
I cannot tell you, but you have one more word.
If you get it, you can also guess another
word which you have missed along the way.
Dan:
Lancelot.
Vanessa:
Or you can pass. We’ve got four tokens left,
so we’re doing pretty well. Doing much better
than the last round.
Dan:
I don’t know. It’s between wedding and spurs.
I don’t know why wedding. I just feel maybe
with the story, maybe he gets married to what’s
her name? Guinevere? Or is that somebody else?
Obviously I don’t know enough about Lancelet
and I’m afraid I’m going to get the assassin
so I I don’t want to be a wuss and pass twice.
Can’t do that.
Vanessa:
What are you going to touch them?
Dan:
Spurs.
Vanessa:
Wop wop. It’s neutral so it’s not correct.
Dan:
At least it’s neutral.
Vanessa:
But it’s not a bomb word so we don’t lose-
Dan:
Spurs, you use to get your horse to go.
Vanessa:
Yeah. I didn’t-
Dan:
Lancelet rode a horse, guaranteed.
Vanessa:
I’m sure that, yeah, knights did have spurs.
Dan:
Did they?
Vanessa:
Yeah, I totally didn’t even think about that.
Dan:
Oh, okay.
Vanessa:
Well, they weren’t spurs.
Dan:
I’m not crazy.
Vanessa:
They weren’t spurs in the sense that we think
of them with the little wheel. I think they
were just spikes.
Dan:
Oh, just spikes. That doesn’t sound nice-.
Vanessa:
At least what I know.
Dan:
To a horse.
Vanessa:
But now I know you don’t know much about Lancelot.
Don’t worry. The second one was not so obvious.
The first one, armor was much more obvious.
Dan:
Okay. Okay.
Vanessa:
All right. It’s your turn to think of a hint.
Dan:
I have one more, so I’m just going to give
one hint, obviously. The hint is snow, one.
Vanessa:
Snow. Oh, we’ve got reindeer and avalanche,
but you probably would have said a different
word if it were reindeer. I know it’s only
one, but I feel a little bit of pressure because
that’s the last one. Snow. Let’s go with avalanche.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
Whew.
Dan:
That’s right.
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
I mean, I figured with reindeer…
Vanessa:
You would have said something else.
Dan:
You would say avalanche before reindeer, right?
Vanessa:
Yeah. You would have said something to do
with Santa or something like that.
Dan:
Yeah. I just felt like it’s probably a safe
enough bet.
Vanessa:
Yeah. Yeah.
Dan:
Even though it might confuse you a little
bit. Yeah.
Vanessa:
It did for a moment just because I wanted
to make sure it was right. All right, so you
get one more token and-
Dan:
I’m done.
Vanessa:
Wow. You’re done with all your words? Well,
I have two more.
Dan:
All my words are done.
Vanessa:
Two more that you have passed on, but I’m
going to give you a hint anyway.
Dan:
Passed on both of these.
Vanessa:
I’m going to give you a hint. I’m going to
see if I can try to combine them.
Dan:
Yeah. That way, you got two chances so let’s
see how it goes.
Vanessa:
Yeah. All right. Give me a second. It is time
for my final hint.
Dan:
The final hint.
Vanessa:
Yes. We have two tokens left so there’s not
much pressure on the board as far losing the
game-
Dan:
But not really.
Vanessa:
But I still want to give a good hint.
Dan:
Okay.
Vanessa:
My hint is bases.
Dan:
Bases.
Vanessa:
Two.
Dan:
Bases. Bases. Bases.
Vanessa:
Yeah.
Dan:
First base, second base. We made it to first
base, third base… Yeah, bases. Bases. Something
about that word is throwing me off. Well,
okay, so for some reason, the first thing
that comes to my mind is baseball.
Vanessa:
Well, that makes sense. Bases, baseball.
Dan:
I’m guessing she’s talking about stepping
on the base because that also coincides with
the leg. So I’m going to go ahead and touch
that.
Vanessa:
Good work.
Dan:
All right. And bases… So wait, it’s leg.
What was the other word? Lancelot. Lancelot.
Lancelot.
Vanessa:
Don’t be thrown off too much by Lancelot because-
Dan:
Bases. He made it to first base, which is
kissing. Does Lancelot kiss?
Vanessa:
I can’t tell you.
Dan:
I wish I knew anything about Lancelot other
than he’s a Knight of the Round Table.
Vanessa:
You already said some other important facts
about him though.
Dan:
Did I?
Vanessa:
Yeah.
Dan:
What did I say? What did I say? He’s a Knight
of the Round Table.
Vanessa:
And?
Dan:
He rides a steed.
Vanessa:
And we know it’s not a reindeer.
Dan:
Married somebody? Now she’s giving me hints.
Vanessa:
Okay. I can’t give any facial expressions.
Dan:
So wait, do you consider wedding a base? All
right. Well, I’m pretty sure Lancelot didn’t
wear a tuxedo to his wedding, so I’m going
to touch wedding.
Vanessa:
No.
Dan:
It’s not wedding? You looked at me like it’s
a wedding.
Vanessa:
No. Okay.
Dan:
What?
Vanessa:
So that’s a neutral one, but because you don’t
have any…
Dan:
No.
Vanessa:
Because you don’t have any-
Dan:
At least it’s neutral.
Vanessa:
Other words, then you get another guess. I
can say the same hint again because we still
have one more token left.
Dan:
Okay. Yeah, but the hint is bases. You can’t
say a new one.
Vanessa:
Right.
Dan:
Unless you use that. Are you using it?
Vanessa:
Well, we have to use that new token because
you’ve already missed it so you don’t get
an extra guess, so we have to go back.
Dan:
Oh, I see what you’re saying.
Vanessa:
As if it skips your turn and goes back to
me.
Dan:
Right, right, right.
Vanessa:
But I could say the same hint again, but I’m
going to say something else.
Dan:
Okay. You should say a new hint.
Vanessa:
Yeah. Okay. Let me think about it for a second.
This is the third time I’m trying to connect
this word.
Dan:
All the hints are going right over my head.
Lancelot. Who’s that? Legs. Where? What was
the other one?
Vanessa:
Bases.
Dan:
Bases.
Vanessa:
That did not go over your head.
Dan:
So it must be kissing… Maybe. I don’t know.
I don’t know enough. Lancelot is throwing
me off because I don’t know anything about
him.
Vanessa:
Yeah, I’ll tell you why I said Lancelot later.
Dan:
I’m sure I’ll find out why.
Vanessa:
Okay.
Dan:
Was he even a real guy? I don’t know.
Vanessa:
I’m going to go with…
Dan:
Well, just give me a simple hint. How hard
could it be to get into this brain?
Vanessa:
Ready?
Dan:
Yes.
Vanessa:
Love, one.
Dan:
Love, one. Love. You only wear tuxedos when
you’re in love.
Vanessa:
Please guess the right word. We only have
one left.
Dan:
Kiss.
Vanessa:
Yes. Thank you. So you said-
Dan:
It is first base.
Vanessa:
It is first base. You said, “We made it to
first base.”
Dan:
But when I said he got married, you winked
at me. I was going to say kiss.
Vanessa:
No.
Dan:
But then you were… I was like, “Lancelet
gets married,” right? And you’re like, uh
huh!
Vanessa:
I was trying to have just a goofy face.
Dan:
Oh.
Vanessa:
No, Lancelot and Guinevere, I imagine that
they kissed.
Dan:
Oh, I was right about Guinevere?
Vanessa:
Yes.
Dan:
I knew details I thought I didn’t know.
Vanessa:
The problem was the was the word frog on the
board. I had sleep, kiss and armor and I thought
I could say prince, like in a fairy tale.
A prince wears armor and he kisses the princess
who’s sleeping. But also, if you kiss a frog,
he could become a prince.
Dan:
A frog prince. Was that your assassin word?
Vanessa:
No, but I just didn’t want you to guess it.
Dan:
Yeah.
Vanessa:
Or if I said princess, a princess and the
frog. This word frog killed so many.
Dan:
And frog legs.
Vanessa:
Yeah, I didn’t think about that.
Dan:
I thought of that.
Vanessa:
I should’ve thought of that, but I was going
to say a specific knight who wears armor.
None of the Disney princesses have names though.
Or they’re not like common names. If I said-
Dan:
Princesses?
Vanessa:
Oh, the princes.
Dan:
Oh, the prince.
Vanessa:
None of the princes because Sleeping Beauty,
that’s who I wanted to say. Her name is Aurora.
Dan:
Doesn’t the Cinderella guy have a name?
Vanessa:
Prince Charming? Yeah.
Dan:
No, it was something else. I don’t remember
what it is though.
Vanessa:
Well, there was nothing that was super obvious.
Anyway, the word frog was really throwing
me off, so in the end I said Lancelot because
he kisses Guinevere, I guess. I imagine.
Dan:
Oh, okay. See, when you said Lancelot, I thought
it had to be… So I wasn’t thinking you were
thinking, “Oh, he probably kissed Guinevere.”
Vanessa:
Yeah.
Dan:
I thought it was more like there’s a pivotal
scene where Lancelot swoops up Guinevere and
kisses her and she turns into an eagle…
Something like that.
Vanessa:
Oh, wow. That would be much more epic than
the real story. That was a little bit of a
stretch, but I figured you might connect Guinevere.
I almost said Guinevere instead, but you wouldn’t
say armor for Guinevere.
Dan:
Yeah. Lancelet was better. Well, I mean…
Vanessa:
But you did say Guinevere. Anyway, there was
a connection between all of these.
Dan:
We had enough turns.
Vanessa:
I would say that this round was a lot smoother
than the last round.
Dan:
Yes.
Vanessa:
We cut out a lot of time. This round took
us about half the amount of time that the
other one did-
Dan:
Yeah, half the time.
Vanessa:
But it was still enjoyable.
Dan:
Yeah. It was a good time.
Vanessa:
We beat the game.
Dan:
We did it.
Vanessa:
Good work.
Dan:
We did it again.
Vanessa:
Good work.
Dan:
We killed the assassin. Is that the point
of the game?
Vanessa:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dan:
There’s actually some kind of story. Yeah.
Vanessa:
Well.
Dan:
we’re secret agents apparently.
Vanessa:
Of course.
Dan:
Can’t you tell?
Vanessa:
Yeah.
Dan:
Well, we solved the mystery.
Vanessa:
Yeah. Secret agents play board games late
at night.
Dan:
Case closed.
Vanessa:
Yes. Good work. Well, thank you so much for
joining us for this unique English lesson
where we talk about words and this board game.
What I would like you to do is I want you
to decide if any of these words that we talked
about, that showed up here on the screen,
that we mentioned, were new for you. Learn
something more about them. Look them up. Try
to use them in the comments.
Dan:
Buy the game. Try it.
Vanessa:
Yeah. Try Codenames.
Dan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa:
It’s really cool. I’ll try to find a link
and just put it in the description because
it’s pretty fun. You can play with two people.
You can get the regular one and play it with
more people if you know more people who want
to do it in English, but I think this was
voted top game of 2018 maybe a couple of years
ago.
Dan:
It’s just a good game.
Vanessa:
Yeah, it’s a great game. We play it at a lot
of parties. But next week I’m going to be
making a video where I break down some of
the specific words that we used in this lesson,
so you’ll be able to see them in more detail.
We’ll take a look at some clips from this
game that we played so that you can just get
a better feeling for how you could use these
words as well. Maybe you understood the general
concept, but not in detail, every single thing.
Well, thanks for joining me, Dan.
Dan:
You’re welcome.
Vanessa:
I appreciate you spending your evening playing
this game.
Dan:
Playing games.
Vanessa:
Yeah, we got to drink tea.
Dan:
Nothing wrong with that.
Vanessa:
You got some beer. We, yeah, had a good time.
Cheers.
Dan:
Cheers.
Vanessa:
Well, thanks so much for joining us and I’ll
see you again next Friday for a new lesson
here on my YouTube channel. Bye.
Dan:
Bye.
Vanessa:
The next step is to download my free ebook,
Five Steps to Becoming a Confident English
Speaker. You’ll learn what you need to do
to speak confidently and fluently. Don’t forget
to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more
free lessons. Thanks so much. Bye.