Word Association

Word Association

is a common word game involving an

exchange of words that are

associated together.

The game is based on the noun phrase word

association, meaning "stimulation of an

associative pattern by a word" or "the

connection and production of other words

in response to a given word, done

spontaneously as a game, creative

technique, or in a psychiatric evaluation."

How to Play?

Once an original word has been chosen, usually

randomly or arbitrarily, a player will find a word that

they associate with it and make it known to all the

players, usually by saying it aloud or writing it down

as the next item on a list of words so far used.

The next player must then do the same with this

previous word. This continues in turns for any length

of time, but often word limits are set, so that the

game is agreed to end after, for instance, 400 words.

Usually, players write down the next word by

merely using the first word that comes to their

mind after they hear the previous one.

Sometimes however they may put in more

thought to find a more creative connection

between the words.

Exchanges are often fast and sometimes

unpredictable (though logical patterns can usually

be found without difficulty).

Sometimes, a lot of the game's fun can arise

from the seemingly strange or amusing

associations that people make between

words.

It is also found amusing what you can get from

an original word, and how they contrast

distinctly, for example, from the word "tea"

you could get the word "murder".

The game can be played actively or passively,

sometimes taking many weeks to complete,

and can in fact be played with any number of

players, even one.

Example: Soda, Sprite, Fairy, Tinkerbell,

Peter Pan, Pans, Skillet, Kitchens, Refrigerator,

Drinks, Soda

Variants

In some games, extra limitations are added, for

instance:

• The associations between words must be

strictly obvious, rather than the usual "first

word that comes to mind", which can often

require explaining to see how it is connected

with the previous word.

• Word Disassociation (sometimes called Dissociation) is sometimes played. In this game, the aim is to say a word that is as unrelated as possible to the previous one. In such games, however, it is often found that creativity is lowered and the words stray towards having obvious associations again. There is a song about Word Disassociation by Neil Cicierega (Lemon Demon) on his Damn Skippy album. This game is sometimes known as "Word for Word“.

• Sometimes, repeated words are forbidden or otherwise noted on a separate list for interest.

• A variant with an arbitrary name (sometimes called Ultra Word Association) involves associating words in a grid, where the first word is placed in the top-left, and where each word must be placed adjacent to another one and must associate with all those words adjacent to it.

• A game based on the Word Association game which is sometimes popular for informal social gatherings is Bobsledding.

Examples

A. Subject Matter:

RestaurantWords:

BusboyWaiterCaptainChefCashier

B.

Subject Matter:University

Words:

ProfessorsStudentsLibrariesAthletesAdministration