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Word Games Annex

I know some years have passed, but my enjoyment of words never fades.  I just could not continue writing word history articles with any significant authority, and did not want to spread false etymologies, since the internet is already full of bad information.  So, I ended up doing some blurbs about the curiosity of words.  And then some bad times hit and there wasn't much to say for a while.

But now, as several other blogs of mine converge on different aspects of gaming, it seemed fitting to reuse the Word Fixx blog as a place to discuss words and combinations of word in the context of word games, whether you are looking for new Scrabble words or playing one of many online word games, unscrambling or hunting for new combinations.  So, some themed vocabulary builders and pattern finding ideas might be of some interest...

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A STORY about STOREY

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ANT ANTE ANTI

One common series of words that comes up in word games is ANT, ANTE, ANTI.   ANT is a small insect we're all familiar with. ANTE is a wager placed before cards are dealt.  It's an interesting word since it also appears as a verb with a helper word: ANTE UP.  Which leads to the expression "up the ANTE," meaning to raise the stakes.  As a verb, you can be ANTEING.  After placing that bet (or changing the stakes) you have ANTED (prounced "anteed").   As a Latin word, "ante" simply means before, and as such it occurs as a prefix in many words like antediluvian: "before the Flood". ANTI is an odd one.  It's just the common prefix ANTI-, meaning "opposite of", used on its own, like taking an ANTACID to fight acid in your throat.  You can be ANTI crime, which is slightly different than an anti-crime bill.  A fun example from MW is "she is ANTI anything fun," meaning opposed to anything fun.  These all just seem so clunky....
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