tiddlywinks
noun

- a game whose object is to snap small disks from a flat surface into a small container

Merriam-Webster

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ORIGIN

Probably from English dialect 'tiddly' meaning 'little'.

Even in the matter of nursery games, Victorian children took things very seriously. There were some board games, however, which provided little or no intellectual stimulus. Chief among these was tiddlywinks, whose apparent meaninglessness (to the uninitiated) is often regarded as the ultimate in useless activities.

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OLYMPIC GAMES

Prince Philip once suggested that tiddlywinks be included in the Olympics. To which Ian Wooldridge of the Olympic Committee responded: “At the risk of propagating royal support for tiddlywinks, a game of the utmost tedium played by anti-athletes too tired or apathetic to get up off the floor, I have to concede that his argument makes sense”.

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A SIMPLE GAME FOR COMPLEX MINDS

The general concept of tiddlywinks, that of flicking a disk into the air, is very basic, and yet there are over 80 approved patents known, starting in 1889. Tiddlywinks was an adult craze in the 1890s, then fell into out-of-favour as a simpleminded children’s game.

Notwithstanding, it has been played since 1955 by graduates from Cambridge and Oxford Universities, MIT, Cornell, and Harvard.

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Hey, how about a quick game of TIDDLYWINKS to take our minds off company stuff?”

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THANKS to Nick for suggesting today’s word.

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

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Paul Smith