Balderdash is a word bluffing game in which you write definitions for weird words. The definitions may or may not be correct.
The ESL variation of the game is played very similarly. The PDF which you can download below, contains words that are balderdash, or nonsense. At least they seem to be. They are actually real words that sound silly. Each word has a real definition, the students will have to come up with two more definitions and the bluffing will begin.
If you like the game and would like to play the original, there are plenty of the game versions on Amazon. This one is the original Game. Or you can try this One.
How I played the game with my students:
- Put the students in groups of three or four.
- Give them the words that you cut into cards.
- Each student draws a card.
- They will read the true definition of the word and make up two more definitions which are not true.
- They read three definitions of the word and the other students guess which definition is correct.
- The student who guesses the correct definition gets a point.
ESL Game: Balderdash
| Argle-bargle — (adj) copious but meaningless talk or writing |
| Bibble — (v) to drink often; to eat and/or drink noisily |
| Yarborough — (n) hand of cards containing no card above a nine |
| Ratoon — (n) a small shoot growing from the root of a plant |
| Ulotrichous — (adj) having wooly or crispy hair |
| Bumfuzzle — (adj) confused, perplexed |
| Cabotage — (n) coastal navigation; the exclusive right of a country to control the air traffic within its borders |
| Widdershins — (adj) a left-handed or contrary direction; counterclockwise |
| Poppycock — (n) nonsense |
| Discombobulate — (v) to disconcert of confuse |
| Salopettes — (n) high-waisted skiing pants with shoulder straps |
| Blatherskite — (n) a person who talks at great length without making much sense |
| Taradiddle — (n) pretentious nonsense |
| Finifugal — (adj) afraid of finishing anything |