Sunday, February 8, 2009

I "Taboo" that!!



For the uninitiated, Taboo is just like Dumb Charades, the only difference being that unlike dumb charades here you can actually speak to describe the word that your team has to guess, but cant use specific obvious taboo words related to that word. For e.g. if the word is fish, while describing the word you can say anything that you want except for the words from this taboo list - water, animal, eat, sushi, seafood. I am sure you get the drift. Also, it works in one minute time slot for each turn. 

You get 1 point for each word that you get right during that one minute and minus 2 points if you don’t get the word, or you use any of the taboo words. So you see, speed is important…and so is caution of not using the taboo words. And sometimes in the quest to perfect these two (speed & caution), we get to see situations like the one mentioned below.


During one of my team turns, this one guy was trying to describe one word.

Him -  “What I like”.
Me  - “Pizza?”
He shook his head and said - "No"
Me – “Alcohol? Partying?”
Shook his head again
Me – “Women?”

Some more head shaking followed….
… and we couldn’t think of anything more to fit in that description. We gave up and got a minus two on that one.

After the turn finished , when he came and sat next to me I asked him –“Dude, what was the damn word?”
He responded, with a long face – “Potato”

And the following words came out of my mouth as if they were meant to be the most natural response –“Really? Potato?? Duhh… you should have said What you look like rather than what you like” (If you havent guessed it already... the guy is big. Tall and bulky) He gave me a nasty look and then, the sweet pal that he is, he gave me company along with others in laughing it out.

After a few rounds, another one of my team members went up to take on the turn. By this time the other team was winning by a wide margin (Really, it wasn’t very unexpected  given our team had people with the aforementioned articulation skills!! Sigh…Even the great guessing powers of other team members like myself couldn’t save us!). 
Anyway this time we got as much as 4 words right and were on the 5th one (You see, usually in one minute time on an average, you can get 3-4 words right, 6-7 if you are good and about 9-10 if you & your team are incredibly great at it!) So crossing the average by getting onto the 5th one obviously translated into the excitement running high in the team. All of us had by now left our respective seats and in an attempt to stand close to the guy performing on the center stage, ended up standing very close to each other as well.
So the performer picked up this 5th card, his eyes lit up and we reckoned it was going to be an easy one. He said, pointing in my direction – “What she looks like”…and I tried to decide (silently of course, in my head!) between konkana sen, madhu (yeah that forgotten actress), a school teacher (people label me that sometimes…though more for my rare but tough reprimanding acts than my looks)…and some more unmentionable resemblances that i am charged guilty of, by various people....

....yeah so while i was busy deciding which ones of these would embarrass me the least, all my team shouted in unison …. (take a guess….) – “POTATO!”
WTF!!!

At this point I would like to mention that all this(my mental calculations & my teams luck with deciphering the correct word) happened in less than a second! I am not exaggerating, I promise!!

Ha! So much for not being embarrased.... (in retrospect..only if i had said out loud any of the things that came to my mind, who knows i might have been able to steer the team away from thinking of a potato!)

At first, I thought the performer had pointed wrongly at me while he was just trying to point at that other guy standing right behind me and very close (who I spoke those words to, in the first place!) ... and just when i was about to give this whole thing, the benefit of doubt (we were standing close, rem?) ...it just hit me - he said “she” and not “he”. 
WTF, really!!

Ok ok, I know I planted the idea of building an instantaneous association between “looks like” and “potato”…but the context was that guy NOT me, for crying out loud. Maybe all my team members have the selective hearing syndrome. But really, all of them yelling? In UNISON? As if it was the most obvious answer? No, scratch that. As if it was the ONLY answer??
DAMN!!!!

Moral of the story – Being a hostess of a fun night which includes alcohol, barbecue, a fantastic view from the balcony and a lot of games like Uno, Taboo, Playing cards and so on.. might add to a great fun quotient ….But in the end, doesn’t guarantee that the next time anyone says potato, you are NOT the first visual that appears in all those peoples head!!


Yeah, the world is a funny place …apparently so is my body shape. :P

Maybe next time when i am explaining the rules for playing taboo to all those present/particpating in the game, i should include "not pointing towards me when the word is potato" as the first rule!

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sweet blog. Absolut sweetness.

Paradox Philic said...

Sweet Dhaka - Glad that you find it sweet. But which part? :P

Anonymous said...

hahahahaha... hilarious... got a taste of your own act earlier :P

Paradox Philic said...

I Walk Alone - Yeah i tend to forget that Karma is a bitch!!
:D

Bubbly Vodka said...

Taboo is an awesome game! I only came to know of it a few months back and am totally in love with it.

Anonymous said...

We used to play a lot of Taboo too. Haven't in a long time. It was mostly guys vs. girls and loads of fun when you come up with the weirdest things.

Anonymous said...

next time please post a video of your fun night

Paradox Philic said...

Bubbly Vodka - Yeah it is such an awesome game. Havent met anyone yet whos played it once and hasnt fallen in love with it!!

Paradox Philic said...

Solilo - I can imagine how much fun would a guys vs. girls taboo game could be. Good idea for the next Taboo game at my house. Thankyou ;)

Paradox Philic said...

Burf - Cos you dont want to read? Or it would be more fun to watch than to read? :D

But good idea... at least about making a video (Putting it up is a bridge we will cross when we come to it)
I forget to even take still pictures of these get togethers :(

Anonymous said...

You hosted a party in Bangalore with Alcohol and did not invite me?? Grrr.... :D :D

Paradox Philic said...

mirrorcracked - Cairo got rechristened as Bangalore...and no one bothered to tell me?? :O

Anonymous said...

he he, that was funny indeed!

So now you're added to the taboo list for 'Potato'??? :-D

Anonymous said...

btw, how do alcohol and kiddo games go together?

Paradox Philic said...

Rakesh - Yeah, i think i will....at least to the taboo list of all future games with the same set of people.

And yes , alcohol and these games [not kiddo at all...when adults play them ;)]go very well together.. Maybe you should try it sometime, esp in the company of alcohol! I assure you, you would never make that statement again..at least not about the games being kiddo!!

Cheers :)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Stupidosaur said...

So was the answer actually potato? :)

Paradox Philic said...

Stupidosaur - What do you think?

Idling in Top Gear said...

Haha - hilarious!

Anonymous said...

Cairo? Egypt? The sandy mummy place? Oh wow! :D
And ignore that Bangalore part, I think I was drunk when I commented! :D

Zombie said...

he he funny! looks like you are beginning to spread the magic in Egypt too..hope they let you come back after one year...we in India need potatoes too :)

Anonymous said...

Haha...good one!

Pi

Stupidosaur said...

Busy doing the egyptian mummy dance these days?

Funny word verification: centi

Paradox Philic said...

Idling in top gear - Glad you enjoyed the post.

Mirrorcracked - Yeah..thats right. But you know Egypt is so much more than just Mummies & Sand. You must experience it first hand to know what i mean. Let me know if can be of any assistance! :)

Zombie - :P Dont you worry, no one can have potatoes for ever!!

PI - Thx :)

Stupidosaur - Thanks buddy, for bringing me back to life :)

Serendipity said...

Hahahahaha!!!!

This once we were playing, and the word was 'plucker'

this girl had to expain to a friend of ours, whose a guy. she said 'what do girls use to shape their eyebrows at home'

the guy said 'sandpaper'
:D

Serendipity said...

I was having MAJOR deja vu and wondering why. then i realized i have left the SAME comment on your dumb charades post.

Im dying of laughter here :D:D

Paradox Philic said...

Serendipity - Lol... dont worry , happens to the best of us!
:)