What does tiddlywinks mean?
Word: Tiddlywinks
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Tiddlywinks means a game in which players press the edge of small plastic discs with a larger disc to make them jump into a cup.
Word origin: A name from Victorian England, first recorded in the second half of the 19th century; where the name came from is not known for certain.
How do you spell tiddlywinks?
Syllables: tid - dly - winks
Tricky part: The middle has a double d and then a y, not an e: tidlywinks and tiddleywinks are the usual slips.
Watch out for: tidlywinks, tiddleywinks, tiddlywincks
Memory tip: Think of a daddy flicking winks across the table: tiddly borrows his double d and ends with his y.
Tiddlywinks in a sentence
Example 1: On rainy afternoons, Dadi taught us tiddlywinks, and she still won almost every game.
Example 2: Tiddlywinks looks like a toddler's game, but the players at the college tournament took every shot very seriously.
Example 3: The school's indoor games club offers chess, table tennis and tiddlywinks.
Fun Fact
A patent for the game was filed in London in 1888, and students at Cambridge University turned it into a serious competitive sport in the 1950s.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) hopscotch
b) draughts
c) badmington
d) tiddlywinks
Show answer
c) badmington. Badminton has a t before its final on, not a g; the game takes its name from Badminton House in England.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
yiskwidtdnl
a) a table game of making little counters leap into a pot
b) a board game in which players race their counters home after throwing a dice
c) a game in which a heavy ball is rolled to knock down pins
d) a game in which players hop through squares drawn on the ground
Show answer
a) a table game of making little counters leap into a pot. These letters belong to tiddlywinks; hopscotch, ludo and bowling are the games behind the other three meanings.
Word Tally
Each correctly spelt word earns 2 marks. What is the total?
tiddlywinks, marbels, dominoes, skiping, chess
a) 8
b) 4
c) 10
d) 6
Show answer
d) 6. Marbles ends in les and skipping doubles its p, so three words score 2 marks each: 6 in all.
Word Champ
Read the statements and choose the correct option:
1. In tiddlywinks, the larger disc used to flick the small ones is called a squidger. 2. Tiddlywinks is a card game in which players collect matching pairs. 3. The small discs in tiddlywinks are called winks.
a) only 2 and 3 are true
b) only 2 is true
c) only 1 and 3 are true
d) all three are true
Show answer
c) only 1 and 3 are true. Tiddlywinks uses discs, not cards, so statement 2 is false; the squidger and the winks are the real names.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which skill matters most in a game of tiddlywinks?
a) a sharp memory for cards played
b) a powerful throwing arm
c) careful control of a gentle flick
d) fast running over a long distance
Show answer
c) careful control of a gentle flick
2. Tiddlywinks is usually played on ___.
a) a flat table or felt mat
b) a grass court with a net
c) a wooden board with holes
d) an open field with goalposts
Show answer
a) a flat table or felt mat
