Telegrams 
| No. of Players: | 1+ |
| Type of Game: | written |
| What you need: | pen and paper |
Goal
To write a message using words that start with the letters of a given word.
How to play
Players challenge themselves or others to write a short message from a given word or phrase, either one deliberately chosen, or one chosen at random from a book or dictionary. The words of the message must start with the successive letters of the chosen word, and be 'signed' by a name at the end, like in a telegram. For extra fun, players can decide that messages must be associated with the chosen word in some way. For instance, store might read as "SELLING THINGS OVER RETAIL —ERNIE." The players can then vote on their favorite message. Alternatively, players can suggest a letter in turn, and then write messages based on the random series of letters that result.
Example
Annie writes telegrams to herself based on words she randomly selects from a magazine. She gives herself three minutes to write each of them:
fish
FINS IN STREAM —HECTOR
shower
SLIPPED, HELD ON, WATER EVERYWHERE —RON
ghost
GHOUL HOVERING OVER SANDBOX —TERESA
listen
LUCKILY, I SECURED TEN EARS —NED
profit
PRICE RADISHES OVER FRIENDS IMPRESSIONS —TONY
astonish
AWE, SO THAT OHIO NEVER IS SLEEPY —HENRY
bee
BIT, ENFEEBLED —EVA
heaven
HOLY, EXCELLENT ABOVE VAST EVIL —NATALIE
escargot
EDIBLE SLIPPERY CREATURES, AFTER RESTAURANTS GET ONIONS —TRAVIS
Did you know?
Your family may call her grandma, granny, or gram. But these nicknames are relatively recent, historically speaking. The full word 'grandmother' actually dates back to 1375–1425. It derives from the Old English ealde mōdor, literally meaning 'old mother.'
The origin of 'great-grandmother' (þridde mōdor, or 'third mother') is slightly more recent. It was first recorded around 1520–30. Incidently, the prefix grand- is used to refer to a person who is one generation removed, and the prefix great- indicates yet another generation.
Following this convention, 'great-great-grandmother' would be fēowerþe mōdor (fourth mother) and great-great-great-grandmother would be fīfte mōdor (fifth mother). Given that the average person lived just 35 years in the Early Middle Ages when Old English was spoken, few people back then would have had use for these terms. Other than speaking of mothers who were long since gone, of course.
However, that is not true today. There have been a few cases of single families with six generations alive at the same time. And even one family with seven. This occurred with the birth of Christopher John Bollig on January 21, 1989, which made Augusta Bunge Pagel a very-much-alive sixte mōdor – that is, a great-great-great-great-grandmother!
According to Guinness World Records, Augusta was born on October 13, 1879 in Tonawanda, New York. This made her 109 years, 3 months, and 8 days old at the time. Followed by her daughter Ella Sabin (aged 89), her granddaughter Anna Wendlandt (70), her great-granddaughter Betty Wolter (52), her great-great-granddaughter Debra Bollig (33), her great-great-great-granddaughter Lori Bollig (15), and her great-great-great-great-grandson Christopher.
Augusta died on May 18, 1989 in Medford, Wisconsin – no doubt quite proud of her amazing family!
In case you're wondering, the images under the title of this word game form a rebus puzzle:
TELEVISION - VISION + GRAMS = TELEGRAMS
