Play an English Vocabulary Game with us!

Vanessa: Hi. I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.

Dan: And I'm Dan, her husband and partner and assistant.

Vanessa: Yes, game expert.

Dan: Oh, and game expert.

Vanessa: Today we're going to be playing a fun game

called Codenames: Duet. There's a regular Codenames, but we're going to be playing the

one that's meant for two people. During this game, we're going to be talking out loud and

trying to explain why we're doing what we're doing, so I hope that you're going to be able

to catch some real vocabulary, real phrasal verbs. I'm going to try to explain the game

just a little bit, but overall, I hope that your goal for this video is to learn some

natural vocabulary and next week in the YouTube video, I'm going to be explaining some of

these words in more detail. So if you saw a word that you thought was interesting, don't

worry. Next week, hopefully we'll talk about it in more detail. Are you ready to get started?

Dan: I'm ready. Let's do it.

Vanessa: Okay. Let's go. Just to give a general overview

of how to play this game, we have this little key card here and-

Dan: Don't show me.

Vanessa: Yes. Dan sees one side. I see the other and

it's... I'll show you here on the screen. I'm trying to get Dan to guess the green words

on my side and he's trying to get me to guess his green words and we don't want each other

to guess our black words. Those are the bomb words.

Dan: Yeah. We have a whole legion of words here

and some of them are the correct words that we need to guess. And I don't know what her

side says and she doesn't know what my side says.

Vanessa: Yeah.

Dan: So we're going to try to give each other a

one word hint to guess the right word or the word we're trying to think of.

Vanessa: Yeah. You'll pick it up.

Dan: And actually... Yeah. It's better if you try

to give a hint for multiple words which I'm guessing Vanessa is going to do because she's

pretty smart. Vanessa:

Oh, well, thank you. So we're just going to play the game and you can try to pick it up

along the way. I've already set out the- Dan:

Just watch. You'll learn. Vanessa:

I already set out the cards so we're ready to go.

Dan: Oh.

Vanessa: Okay. I kind of gave myself a little piece

of paper where I wrote down some hints. These are all of my words, just so I can visually

see them together. My first word for you, it's a big one. Are you ready? It is Gouda.

Dan: Gouda.

Vanessa: Three. So that means Gouda, if you know what

Gouda is, I can't say anything else about that word.

Dan: Yeah.

Vanessa: But Gouda-

Dan: Gouda is a cheese.

Vanessa: And three means there are three cards here

on the table that relate to that word. Some of them might be closely related, some of

them might be a stretch, but I hope that Dan guesses them correctly.

Dan: Right. And I have to touch them for it to

be official. Vanessa:

Yes. Dan:

so I'm allowed to just speak about what I'm thinking.

Vanessa: Yeah.

Dan: Well, Gouda is a cheese and cheese as a word

down here. Vanessa:

Yep. Dan:

Oftentimes cheese comes in a wheel. Vanessa:

Oh. Dan:

There's a wheel. It's made in a kitchen. It resembles a clock.

Vanessa: Okay. That could be a stretch.

Dan: I think Gouda is smoky. Usually it's a smoky

Gouda. Let's see. That's all I got so far. Vanessa:

The hard part is that if he says the wrong word or if he says the right word, I can't

give a facial expression that hints- Dan:

I'm going to definitely touch cheese. Vanessa:

All right. That's correct. Dan:

Because that's obvious. Vanessa:

So when that's correct, we put one of these on it?

Dan: That one.

Vanessa: We put this one on it.

Dan: Yeah.

Vanessa: Okay, so that means that this word is finished.

All right. I'm going to mark it off on my paper.

Dan: And let's see. Trying to make sure I'm not

missing something obvious. She probably thinks I am.

Vanessa: I can't give any hint with my face-

Dan: Well...

Vanessa: Which is really hard.

Dan: I'm going to go with... Maybe this game will

end right now. Vanessa:

If he touches a black word, then it means the game is instantly over.

Dan: Smoked Gouda.

Vanessa: Ding, ding, ding. Because you also have to

think a strategy for this game is, "Why did I say Gouda and not Brie, not cheddar cheese?

Why did I specifically choose Gouda?" There’s a reason.

Dan: Now I feel like it's either wheel or kitchen

because, well, cheese comes in a wheel. You call it a cheese wheel. You call it a cheese

wheel. Vanessa:

Don't make me make a facial expression, I can't give it away.

Dan: Wheel.

Vanessa: You got it. Wow. I think that was the best

first word that I've ever said because all three of those were related to Gouda.

Dan: Oh, and you take one of these check marks

and your turn is done. Vanessa:

Oh, right. I got a check mark. Dan:

In the single player... Oh, wait. Two player version.

Vanessa: Yeah. In this game, we're trying to beat the

game, so we're hoping to have everything finished by the time these little cards are finished.

It's not too important to explain that part. Dan:

Okay. Vanessa:

All right. Do you have a hint for me? Dan:

I'm ready. Your hint is star, two. Vanessa:

All right, so two words here are related to star. Well, a star has five points, so it

could be a pentagon, street star, kitchen clock, rice, army, blacksmith, dentist, fever,

fog, Earth, penny. Dan:

As she says every single one. Vanessa:

Big bang. Oh, stars were created in the big bang.

Dan: Were they though?

Vanessa: Some country stars.

Dan: Was the big bang even real? I don't know.

Vanessa: Some country stars come from Texas. That's

a little bit of a stretch. Butterfly... Okay, I'm going to go with pentagon. Are you serious?

Dan: No. Sort of... Oh, good. But it's just one

of these. Vanessa:

Okay. So if this were a black word on his side, that means the game would be immediately

over and we would lose. Dan:

Pentagon? Vanessa:

Yeah, the pentagon because- Dan:

I was just thinking the building. Vanessa:

Well, yeah, but this is outside the box. Dan:

I forgot that that means five points. Vanessa:

Okay. Even though he said two words, I can't guess the second word because I got the first

one wrong. Dan:

Yeah. Vanessa:

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Dan:

So that counts as a turn. We only have nine turns. We're trying to finish in nine terms.

Vanessa: Yeah.

Dan: But I mean we got a lot in your first one,

so. Vanessa:

Okay. All right. Now it's my turn to tell you a word. Well, I already have another word

ready. Dan:

Another word or another hint? Vanessa:

Another hint. Dan:

Another hint. Vanessa:

I have another hint. Ready? Dan:

Okay. Vanessa:

Let me make sure that it's not going to clash with any of the other words.

Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: Okay. Are you ready?

Dan: I'm ready.

Vanessa: Okay. My hint... I don't feel as certain about

this one. Dan:

Oh, boy. Vanessa:

My hint is bike, two. Dan:

Two, bikes. Vanessa:

There are two words that relate to bike. Hopefully, you also think that.

Dan: Well, some dentists in foreign countries ride

bikes to work but not in America. And we're in America, so impossible. Bikes have gears.

That's pretty obvious. Bikes go on the street. Bikes ride to the Pentagon and Columbus too.

Vanessa: I hear that Joan of Arc also rode a bike.

Dan: Or maybe that's Christopher Columbus. He definitely

didn't have a bike so I'm going to start out with gear.

Vanessa: Good work.

Dan: That's easy.

Vanessa: All right. We got gear and you have one more

guess because you got that correct. Dan:

Oh, oh, helmet. Duh. So probably the tough thing is between helmet and street. I associate

a helmet more with the bike because, well, you always ride the bike on the street, but

helmet... Vanessa:

You can also ride a bike on a path, on a trail. Dan:

Right. Yeah, I know. Vanessa:

I was hoping you had seen that. Dan:

I didn't even see it the first time. Vanessa:

All right. Good work. So you got all of these. Dan:

As you can tell, this game can break up relationships. Vanessa:

We're doing okay so far. Dan:

We're fine so far. I'm a little angry at the moment about pentagon.

Vanessa: That you forgot that that has five points?

Dan: Yeah. Actually that was my fault anyways.

Vanessa: Now it's your turn to think of a hint for

me. Do you have a hint ready for me? Dan:

I have a hint ready. Vanessa:

Okay. Dan:

And I'm going to try to make it easy. It's lame of me to do this, but sushi, one.

Vanessa: Oh.

Dan: Just one.

Vanessa: Well...

Dan: But she can make additional guesses after

this because she didn't get the last one. Vanessa:

Yeah, I'm going to go with, there's both rice and kitchen on the table, but I feel like

rice is a lot more specific. You would have said something else if it was actually kitchen.

So I'm going to click... Dan:

Click. Vanessa:

Touch rice. Dan:

Rice. Vanessa:

Okay, so now because I got- Dan:

You got it. Vanessa:

All of yours correct, I'm going to continue to guess the ones that I missed last time.

Dan: Okay.

Vanessa: Your hint was star, two so I'm going to go

with big bang, and I'm pretty sure it's Earth, but I'm going to take a look around because

pentagon was not right. Yeah, I think that's probably the closest thing to star. No.

Dan: What? Earth is not a star.

Vanessa: Well, Earth is in outer space. It's a astronomical

body. Dan:

See why this breaks up relationships? Vanessa:

When you don't understand each other. Okay, so we only used up two wrong guesses. So we

have five more turns to get everything correct for star. I guess we could say Joan of Arc

was a star. That's kind of weird. Okay. Anyway, it's my turn.

Dan: Okay.

Vanessa: Okay. Are you ready for my next hint?

Dan: I'm ready.

Vanessa: I'm a little worried about this one.

Dan: Hey, so far your signals to me have been very

clear. Vanessa:

Okay, well- Dan:

Mine, not so much. Vanessa:

I hope that this helps. As the game gets goes along further, there's less words and so it's

harder to combine them. I'll cut out when I edit this video, the time that it takes

to think about words. Dan:

It takes a long time to think of a hint. Vanessa:

Yeah. My next hint is... Let me make sure. Double check... Nature, two.

Dan: That's an easy enough word.

Vanessa: Yeah, I think-

Dan: There's nature everywhere.

Vanessa: That's the problem. Nature is such a broad

word, but I chose it. Dan:

Oh, all right. Well, nothing's seriously jumping out at me except for butterfly. Butterflies

are par of nature. Fog is a kind of nature. I mean it's in nature. Napoleon is a freak

of nature. Zombies are also freaks of nature. Natural. I'm going to go with butterfly first.

Vanessa: Good work.

Dan: And geez, I don't know about this next one

though. Well, Earth. Okay. Earth was neutral for me so maybe it's not for you. Oh, wait,

no. Yes. Vanessa:

Yeah. Earth was neutral for you. Dan:

Okay. Vanessa:

That's why you put this on it. Dan:

Okay. I'm going to say you probably are not thinking of fog the way I am, so I'm going

to touch Earth. Vanessa:

No. Dan:

It's not an assassin? Vanessa:

No. Dan:

It's neutral? Vanessa:

It is neutral. Dan:

Double neutrals, so we're okay. Vanessa:

Okay. So that means you have to put another little tab on there.

Dan: Yeah, I guess so.

Vanessa: And we lose one of our turns.

Dan: Actually, you could put a check mark because

we got one. It already has it on there. Vanessa:

Okay. So the next time around, if you get all of my hints, you'll get an extra guess

and you could potentially guess the final nature words.

Dan: Yeah, but Earth is very natural.

Vanessa: Well, I can't say anything.

Dan: You can't say anything.

Vanessa: Nope.

Dan: See, this is where the couple's tension comes

in. Vanessa:

I don't feel any tension. Dan:

Oh, neither do I. No tension whatsoever. Vanessa:

All right. It's your turn to think of a hint for me.

Dan: All right. My next hint is amount.

Vanessa: Amount. Okay.

Dan: It's a little vague.

Vanessa: Yes.

Dan: Oh, amount, two... Forgot that part.

Vanessa: Oh, there's two words.

Dan: Yes.

Vanessa: Okay. Well, I feel like the people are out,

so not Columbus, not Napoleon, not Joan of Arc, not blacksmith or dentist. Texas, stable,

amount. There's a large amount of zombies. We could use penny to say like, "What's the

amount of money you need?" Or, "What's the amount?" I feel like if we're talking about

measurements amounts... You have to measure if you have a fever. You also could say there's

an amount on a clock maybe. That's a little bit of a stretch. All right. I'm going to

start with penny. I'm scared. I got one. All right. There's another one that has an amount.

Well, there's an amount on the thermometer. A temperature is an amount. I don't feel like

clock is stronger than fever. Fever. Dan:

Ding, ding, ding. Vanessa:

Yes. Okay. So if I- Dan:

Are you going to make any additional guesses? Vanessa:

If I have not yet guessed star, your second star word, I can guess it now. I haven't guessed

it yet? It's still available? Dan:

Yes, it's still available. Vanessa:

Oh, boy. Stark. Come on. Tell... You use stars for an astronomical clock.

Dan: This will not make sense to your students

either. Vanessa:

Really? Dan:

Oh. Well, that might be a hint. I don't know. Vanessa:

How is it make sense to me then? Okay. Dan:

I thought you understood me. Vanessa:

Do you understand what I would choose as star such as pentagon and Earth? No.

Dan: I get that.

Vanessa: I've never-

Dan: That was just a miss by me. Earth, I don't

get that. Vanessa:

In this game, I have never missed a word twice like that. I don't think...

Dan: Well, then look harder.

Vanessa: That's what I'm doing. You know what? I think

I might pass. Dan:

You're going to pass? Okay. Vanessa:

We have four more tokens left, so I feel like we're pretty safe.

Dan: Check mark.

Vanessa: And now it's my turn to give you a hint.

Dan: Okay.

Vanessa: Maybe our words will overlap. I don't know.

Dan: Are you ready? Or do you need a minute?

Vanessa: I need a minute.

Dan: She needs a minute.

Vanessa: Are you ready?

Dan: I'm ready.

Vanessa: All right. I have my next hint and it's simple

as in it's just one word, but I'm going to say... Let me make sure. Let me make sure

it is martyr, one. Dan:

Martyr? Vanessa:

Martyr... Too simple. Dan:

Who's the martyr? Definitely Columbus, savior of the planet of North America.

Vanessa: Killer of millions of people.

Dan: Oh, wait. Wrong martyr. Joan of Arc.

Vanessa: Yes. You got it outright.

Dan: Okay. Just for drama's sake, I'm just going

to give you one hint and see if you can get my star.

Vanessa: No.

Dan: My star... Your hint is time, one.

Vanessa: Okay. Well, it's got to be clock.

Dan: Oh, touch it.

Vanessa: Oh, no.

Dan: So I guess we lose if you don't get this,

right? Oh, no, no. Oh, I think in the rules you get a Hail Mary guess at the end.

Vanessa: Oh, yeah?

Dan: Yeah. There's one Hail Mary guess at the end.

Vanessa: Okay.

Dan: I'll double check after this, but-

Vanessa: So you would get that guess?

Dan: I'm not sure.

Vanessa: Because actually I have two words... I said

I had one word before, but I have two words. One is a new word that I've never given a

hint for and one's a word that you missed before. Oh, star. Okay. Well...

Dan: Oh, star.

Vanessa: I would personally not say that Christopher

Columbus is a star. I would consider that more someone who is a pop star and Columbus,

he was a discover, an explorer. He's a pretty bad guy, in my opinion, so I would not say

he's a star, but we'll leave it on the table. Texas, the flag has a giant star in the middle

of it. The flag of Texas has a star. Stable... Some stars are stable, some stars explode.

A stable can also be a place where horses are, which is not related to star. Zombie...

I feel like zombies are not related to stars. Dan:

You don't have to go over every single one. Vanessa:

Well, I've missed this twice. I've never done this poorly before which is-

Dan: Look at the ones you think are plausible.

Vanessa: Napoleon. Well, I got to think about what

you think too, because I've obviously missed from thinking about it from my perspective.

What would Dan think is star? Napoleon? Does Dan think Napoleon is a star? I'm going to

say no. Does Dan think that fog... You can see the stars through the fog. Huh? Huh? Army...

I think the Army symbol is a star. The U.S. Army has a star on their advertising and stuff,

but you might not know that. Maybe you do. Blacksmith... Blacksmiths could make iron

stars and put them on the wall. I don't know. Dan:

She's reaching. Vanessa:

Dentists. It's kitchen star. No, street star. No, star street. Kitchen street. Kitchen star.

Okay. So in my mind it's between Texas has a star on their flag or Columbus. Maybe you

think Columbus was a star even though I don't. Okay. My final guests is Texas because Texas'

nickname is the Lone Star State. Dan:

Gotta touch it. Vanessa:

I don't know why that would have been the first star.

Dan: Touch it. Touch it. Yes. It's not the first

star. Big bang was the first star. Vanessa:

Yeah. Dan:

Sorry. Texas is associated with stars. Vanessa:

More than- Dan:

The Lone Star State, it's got a big star on it. The sports team's name is the Stars.

Vanessa: More than the pentagon? More than Earth is

in space with stars? Dan:

Absolutely, more than Earth. Vanessa:

We'll let the judges decide. Dan:

Well, in this American mind. Vanessa:

Okay. Dan:

But you're American. Vanessa:

Well, I was thinking more universally. Dan:

She's a citizen of the world. Vanessa:

Of the universe... I apparently am. Does that mean you get another token?

Dan: Oh, yes.

Vanessa: All right, so we have one left.

Dan: Oh, and mine are done.

Vanessa: Yours are all finished. So I have two that

you need to guess. All right. Are you ready for my final hint?

Dan: The drama.

Vanessa: Yes. It is-

Dan: Beer for two.

Vanessa: No. Five for one.

Dan: Five for one?

Vanessa: Yeah.

Dan: Oh, okay. And then my bonus guess is nature.

Okay. Okay. So you're doing it that way. Vanessa:

Yes. Dan:

Okay. Okay. It's five, one? Vanessa:

Maybe. Yeah, I guess I can't take it back, right?

Dan: Five.

Vanessa: A little bit of pressure because there's only

one guest left. Dan:

Five. Vanessa:

Are we going to lose? Dan:

Oh. Vanessa:

Thank you. Dan:

Pentagon. Vanessa:

Pentagon. Dan:

Oh, the dramatic word. Vanessa:

All right. But there is- Dan:

Nature. Vanessa:

One more that you need to say. Dan:

That's not Earth. I mean, is it fog? Vanessa:

Are you pointing to it? Dan:

No. Vanessa:

This is the final guess. Dan:

It couldn't be- Vanessa:

If you guess the wrong one, we lose the game. Dan:

Nothing... No, we don't. We get the one more guess.

Vanessa: Oh, you get one more guess?

Dan: You get a bonus guess.

Vanessa: Oh, you get a-

Dan: Yeah.

Vanessa: Okay. We're fine. We're good.

Dan: Well, I'll go ahead and touch fog.

Vanessa: Yes.

Dan: We win.

Vanessa: Hurray.

Dan: Only mildly dramatic.

Vanessa: Star. Yeah, so I said fog.

Dan: Fog.

Vanessa: Fog and butterfly where nature to me.

Dan: Yeah. It makes sense, but for some reason,

fog just doesn't hit me as... But it is nature. Vanessa:

Yeah, it was really hard to combine fog and butterfly. I was thinking air, flying...

Dan: No. That was good.

Vanessa: Something in the air, but then Earth is also

very nature. Dan:

I mean when I actually look at everything... Yeah. Earth, was a little more nature to me.

Vanessa: Yeah. That's a little hard.

Dan: I mean it was a toss up.

Vanessa: Yeah, I feel like if it were butterfly and

Earth I probably would have said a different word.

Dan: Because we say Mother Earth for nature, so

it kind of made me think of Earth more than fog.

Vanessa: Yeah. Well, in the end, we won. Good game.

Dan: Congratulations. Good job.

Vanessa: Yes. Okay. We're going to do a second round.

That means we have new words- Dan:

Round two. Vanessa:

Which you can see here and we have a new little secret code word card that you'll be able

to see here. I'm going to try to get Dan to guess my words. He's going to try to get me

to guess his words. Dan:

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa:

Same as before. Maybe you'll learn some new vocabulary. I hope so.

Dan: Well, let's find out. Well, I have the first

hint. Vanessa:

Okay. Dan:

And it is three. Vanessa:

Oh, three. Okay. Dan:

Yes. The word is breakfast. Vanessa:

Breakfast? Dan:

Breakfast, three. Vanessa:

Al right. Dan:

Is that one word? I guess it is. Yes. Vanessa:

Breakfast is certainly one word. Dan:

It's breakfast... Break fast. Vanessa:

Yeah, you're breaking the fast. Well, I'm going to say milk and toast are looking pretty

good... Maybe tea. I drink tea in the morning, part of my breakfast. Those three are looking

pretty good. Is there anything I'm missing here? I can't look at your face-

Dan: Kung fu.

Vanessa: Because you're going to give me some hints.

Everyone does kung fu in the morning, right? Dan:

We do. Vanessa:

Maybe there is an avalanche before breakfast and you just wear your bikini to breakfast.

Dan: How about an avalanche of cereal?

Vanessa: Okay. All right. I'm going to start with toast.

Dan: Milk, toast.

Vanessa: Oh, I didn't say milk, but yes. Milk.

Dan: Oh, I know.

Vanessa: Okay, good.

Dan: There's the saying, "Milk toast." It's a comment.

Vanessa: Okay.

Dan: It's the thing people say nowadays.

Vanessa: Really?

Dan: Yeah. It means boring. Plain.

Vanessa: Oh, I've never heard that.

Dan: Yeah.

Vanessa: Well, learn something new every day. Next,

I get three for breakfast? Dan:

If you want to. Vanessa:

I do. I would feel pretty good about tea. Sleep might potentially be one. You're waking

up from your sleep and you eat breakfast, but I'm going to go with tea.

Dan: Sleeping for breakfast?

Vanessa: Well, I don't know if you thought about tea

as a breakfast item. Dan:

You don't know if I thought, period. Vanessa:

All right. I'm ready with my first hit. Dan:

Okay. Vanessa:

It is leg. Dan:

Leg. Vanessa:

Two. Dan:

Two legs? Vanessa:

Interpret it however you want. Dan:

Leg, two. Well, I do have two legs. Vanessa:

Good. Dan:

My boss has legs. Legs kick. You have to have pants and a tuxedo.

Vanessa: For your legs?

Dan: Yeah, you put your legs in your pants.

Vanessa: Okay.

Dan: Reindeer have legs. People who wear bikinis

have legs. Vanessa:

Not necessary though. Dan:

Let's see. Oh, okay. Kick is definitely jumping out at me. Kung Fu, maybe. Those are related.

Too many things have legs, Honey. Frogs. Frogs have legs. Okay. I'm going to start out with

kick. Vanessa:

Great work. Dan:

But after that, I'm not certain- Vanessa:

You can always pass. You don't have to say the last one.

Dan: Boxers punch, but kick boxers kick with their

legs. I'm going to go ahead... Step. I didn't even see that one, step. You step with your

legs... Well, your feet, really. There's too many... I'm going to pass.

Vanessa: Oh, okay. All right.

Dan: I'm scared. Last time made me nervous.

Vanessa: All right, so you're going to have one waiting.

Dan: It's early on. Yeah, I don't know. To me,

kung fu, step... I mean spurs... Well, they go on your feet.

Vanessa: Yeah. Leg...

Dan: Let, it's too vague.

Vanessa: Yeah.

Dan: Leg is vague.

Vanessa: Yes, to be honest, it is a very vague word,

but that's what I said so it's your turn. Dan:

All right. I'm ready and I have another triple hint.

Vanessa: Whoa. Okay.

Dan: So might be... I can't say anymore. The word

is punch, three. Vanessa:

Punch. Dan:

Punch. punch. Punch. All come. Food's looking Vanessa:

All right. Kung fu's looking good. Boxer's looking good. What else punches? Gangsters

may be punched. They got some fist fights going on. Those are all looking like the best

possible option. I'm going to start with boxer because you said punch.

Dan: Ding, ding, ding.

Vanessa: I always feel so nervous whenever I touch

one. Maybe it's not right. You said punch. Dan:

Maybe have another Lone Star State all over again.

Vanessa: I know.

Dan: It's always a possibility.

Vanessa: I know that in kung fu they're not punching,

but it's this kind of action, right? All I know is Kung Fu Panda, so I don't know the

actual activity. What's- Dan:

Just go with the stereotype. Vanessa:

Let's go with kung fu. Dan:

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa:

Okay. You know what? I'm going to go for all three.

Dan: Ooh, how exciting.

Vanessa: Yeah, because I feel pretty good about gangsters

punching. They get into brawls and you just imagine that... Your face isn't looking so

positive here. Kind of just have a- Dan:

I'm trying to stay vague. Vanessa:

Yeah. What's that movie with the gangsters? Godfather. In The Godfather, I bet there was

lots of punches that were thrown. Actually haven't seen The Godfather, but I imagine

there was lots of punching. That was your word punch, right?

Dan: Yes.

Vanessa: Okay. Gangster.

Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: Yes.

Dan: (singing)

Vanessa: Okay, so it's my turn to think of a hint.

Are you ready for my next hint? Dan:

Oh, I'm ready. Vanessa:

Okay. Dan:

As ready as I'll ever be. Vanessa:

I feel a little nervous. Dan:

Good. Vanessa:

My hint is routine, two. Dan:

Routine. Vanessa:

Routine. Dan:

Routine. Vanessa:

We'll see how Dan interprets this word. Dan:

Routine. Routine. Vanessa:

Routine. Dan:

Routine. Is this code? Routine rhymes with poutine.

Vanessa: It is Codenames. It could be anything.

Dan: Poutine is in Canada. Canada is cold. Avalanches

are cold. I've got it. Routine. Okay. Let's see. Oh. You shampoo your hair as part of

your shower routine. Vanessa:

Don't look at my face. I can't give it away. Dan:

Bosses have routines. If you're the boss, you know what's going on and you have a routine.

Frogs, I'd say they just live by the seat of their pants. They're not really making

routines. Mummies are wrapped up and dead. No routines there. Let's see. Anything else

jumping out at me... Wedding. Wedding? Wedding. No. Okay. I'm going to go with shampoo.

Vanessa: Ding, ding, ding.

Dan: Even though that's a little odd. I don't know.

I just have this feeling that Vanessa is thinking shower routine.

Vanessa: The thing is, you have to think about it from

my perspective and what I think you would guess, but also what I would think.

Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: So it's this cycle.

Dan: Yes. How well do we know each other? Not that

well. Vanessa:

Apparently... I don't know... That star in Texas.

Dan: How well do we know each other's brain? It's

very hit or miss. Wait, there was another one. I missed the first one. What was that?

I already forget. Okay. Vanessa:

Well, you have one more for routine. Dan:

Yeah, I know. Vanessa:

You could skip it, but... Dan:

Sleep, sleep routine. Sleep. Sleep. It's probably more than bus. Okay.

Vanessa: You got it.

Dan: She's like-

Vanessa: Yep.

Dan: When I said boss, she was like, arrggg!

Vanessa: No. You do have one more.

Dan: Yeah. What was it again? You're probably not

allowed to tell me, but tell me anyway. Vanessa:

Yeah. I don't think I can tell you what the hint is.

Dan: I already forget. What was it?

Vanessa: But it is legs.

Dan: Oh, leg. That's right.

Vanessa: Leg.

Dan: Leg.

Vanessa: Leg.

Dan: Leg. I mean I think we're, we're doing fine.

I'm still going to pass for now. Vanessa:

You're going to pass? Okay, so you still got that sitting on the back burner.

Dan: Yeah, it's on the back burner.

Vanessa: All right.

Dan: If I can remember.

Vanessa: I'll take one of these. All right. Now it's

your turn to think of a hint. Dan:

Yeah. You might think it was a short amount of time before. It's been a long time.

Vanessa: We are cutting out the pauses where we think

of another hint. All right. It's your turn. Dan:

All right. I have my hint ready. It's a strange word. Bullish.

Vanessa: What?

Dan: Bullish.

Vanessa: Like a bull but B-U-L-L-I-S-H?

Dan: That was the best reaction ever. Bullish.

"What?" You've never heard that word? Vanessa:

Like he is bullish? Dan:

Yeah. Vanessa:

He's like a bull? Dan:

Bullish. Vanessa:

Stubborn and pushes and like, "..." He's like a bull.

Dan: Yeah, bullish.

Vanessa: All right.

Dan: Two, come on. Easy.

Vanessa: Well, I feel like minotaur... A minotaur is

like a bull, so that's a pretty good one. Gangster is already off the board, so that's

not obviously bullish. Boss. A bad boss could be like that. I'm going to go first with minotaur.

Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: Okay.

Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: And then, just to make sure... Bullish. Certainly

not a vocabulary word I would have said, but it's okay. I get the point.

Dan: Now everybody will know the term bullish.

Are you bullish? They also use this in the stock market.

Vanessa: Mm.

Dan: Yeah, you're bullish about a stock or a commodity.

Vanessa: Is that the movie? Oh, that's The Wolf on

Wall Street or something like that. Dan:

Yeah. Vanessa:

But there's a bull if you go actually visit the stock market.

Dan: Yeah, there's a bull there. Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: There's a bull statue in New York.

Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: Okay. I'm going to go with bus.

Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: Oh, wow. Was that it?

Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: Okay.

Dan: Yeah.

Vanessa: All right. Well, good job.

Dan: This is running so much more smoothly than

the last game. Vanessa:

Okay. I'm going to think of a hint now. Are you ready for my next hint?

Dan: I'm ready.

Vanessa: Okay. It's getting a little tougher now. My

next hint took me a long time to think of and it is Lancelot, two.

Dan: Lancelot.

Vanessa: Thankfully, in this game you can use proper

nouns. Dan:

Double the Lancelot. Lancelot. Vanessa:

Did you says Lancelot? Dan:

Lancelot. No. Two hints. Vanessa:

Oh, two. Dan:

Two words. Vanessa:

Yes. There are two words related to Lancelot. Dan:

Lancelot. Vanessa:

Hopefully not more. Dan:

I don't know a lot about Lancelot. I mean, he's a Knight of the Round Table. I know that's

true. Probably wore armor, guarantee that. Probably didn't wear a bikini, just saying.

I don't think so. Vanessa:

I think you know enough about him to say that's a pretty clear cut no.

Dan: But if I recall, he might ride a reindeer.

Lancelot comes in on his noble steed, the reindeer.

Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Dan: Is that right?

Vanessa: I'm certain they had reindeer in England at

that time. Dan:

So I'm definitely going to tap armor. Vanessa:

Yes, you are correct. Lancelot wore armor as far as we know.

Dan: (singing)

Vanessa: I mean he's a fictional character, right?

Dan: Did he have spurs? I always associates spurs

with cowboys, more modern. Is Lancelot known for getting married or something? I don't

know enough about the story. Who is Lancelot? What's his story? What's his deal?

Vanessa: Well, you have one more-

Dan: Tell me more about Lancelot.

Vanessa: I cannot tell you, but you have one more word.

If you get it, you can also guess another word which you have missed along the way.

Dan: Lancelot.

Vanessa: Or you can pass. We've got four tokens left,

so we're doing pretty well. Doing much better than the last round.

Dan: I don't know. It's between wedding and spurs.

I don't know why wedding. I just feel maybe with the story, maybe he gets married to what's

her name? Guinevere? Or is that somebody else? Obviously I don't know enough about Lancelet

and I'm afraid I'm going to get the assassin so I I don't want to be a wuss and pass twice.

Can't do that. Vanessa:

What are you going to touch them? Dan:

Spurs. Vanessa:

Wop wop. It's neutral so it's not correct. Dan:

At least it's neutral. Vanessa:

But it's not a bomb word so we don't lose- Dan:

Spurs, you use to get your horse to go. Vanessa:

Yeah. I didn't- Dan:

Lancelet rode a horse, guaranteed. Vanessa:

I'm sure that, yeah, knights did have spurs. Dan:

Did they? Vanessa:

Yeah, I totally didn't even think about that. Dan:

Oh, okay. Vanessa:

Well, they weren't spurs. Dan:

I'm not crazy. Vanessa:

They weren't spurs in the sense that we think of them with the little wheel. I think they

were just spikes. Dan:

Oh, just spikes. That doesn't sound nice-. Vanessa:

At least what I know. Dan:

To a horse. Vanessa:

But now I know you don't know much about Lancelot. Don't worry. The second one was not so obvious.

The first one, armor was much more obvious. Dan:

Okay. Okay. Vanessa:

All right. It's your turn to think of a hint. Dan:

I have one more, so I'm just going to give one hint, obviously. The hint is snow, one.

Vanessa: Snow. Oh, we've got reindeer and avalanche,

but you probably would have said a different word if it were reindeer. I know it's only

one, but I feel a little bit of pressure because that's the last one. Snow. Let's go with avalanche.

Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: Whew.

Dan: That's right.

Vanessa: Okay.

Dan: I mean, I figured with reindeer...

Vanessa: You would have said something else.

Dan: You would say avalanche before reindeer, right?

Vanessa: Yeah. You would have said something to do

with Santa or something like that. Dan:

Yeah. I just felt like it's probably a safe enough bet.

Vanessa: Yeah. Yeah.

Dan: Even though it might confuse you a little

bit. Yeah. Vanessa:

It did for a moment just because I wanted to make sure it was right. All right, so you

get one more token and- Dan:

I'm done. Vanessa:

Wow. You're done with all your words? Well, I have two more.

Dan: All my words are done.

Vanessa: Two more that you have passed on, but I'm

going to give you a hint anyway. Dan:

Passed on both of these. Vanessa:

I'm going to give you a hint. I'm going to see if I can try to combine them.

Dan: Yeah. That way, you got two chances so let's

see how it goes. Vanessa:

Yeah. All right. Give me a second. It is time for my final hint.

Dan: The final hint.

Vanessa: Yes. We have two tokens left so there's not

much pressure on the board as far losing the game-

Dan: But not really.

Vanessa: But I still want to give a good hint.

Dan: Okay.

Vanessa: My hint is bases.

Dan: Bases.

Vanessa: Two.

Dan: Bases. Bases. Bases.

Vanessa: Yeah.

Dan: First base, second base. We made it to first

base, third base... Yeah, bases. Bases. Something about that word is throwing me off. Well,

okay, so for some reason, the first thing that comes to my mind is baseball.

Vanessa: Well, that makes sense. Bases, baseball.

Dan: I'm guessing she's talking about stepping

on the base because that also coincides with the leg. So I'm going to go ahead and touch

that. Vanessa:

Good work. Dan:

All right. And bases... So wait, it's leg. What was the other word? Lancelot. Lancelot.

Lancelot. Vanessa:

Don't be thrown off too much by Lancelot because- Dan:

Bases. He made it to first base, which is kissing. Does Lancelot kiss?

Vanessa: I can't tell you.

Dan: I wish I knew anything about Lancelot other

than he's a Knight of the Round Table. Vanessa:

You already said some other important facts about him though.

Dan: Did I?

Vanessa: Yeah.

Dan: What did I say? What did I say? He's a Knight

of the Round Table. Vanessa:

And? Dan:

He rides a steed. Vanessa:

And we know it's not a reindeer. Dan:

Married somebody? Now she's giving me hints. Vanessa:

Okay. I can't give any facial expressions. Dan:

So wait, do you consider wedding a base? All right. Well, I'm pretty sure Lancelot didn't

wear a tuxedo to his wedding, so I'm going to touch wedding.

Vanessa: No.

Dan: It's not wedding? You looked at me like it's

a wedding. Vanessa:

No. Okay. Dan:

What? Vanessa:

So that's a neutral one, but because you don't have any...

Dan: No.

Vanessa: Because you don't have any-

Dan: At least it's neutral.

Vanessa: Other words, then you get another guess. I

can say the same hint again because we still have one more token left.

Dan: Okay. Yeah, but the hint is bases. You can't

say a new one. Vanessa:

Right. Dan:

Unless you use that. Are you using it? Vanessa:

Well, we have to use that new token because you've already missed it so you don't get

an extra guess, so we have to go back. Dan:

Oh, I see what you're saying. Vanessa:

As if it skips your turn and goes back to me.

Dan: Right, right, right.

Vanessa: But I could say the same hint again, but I'm

going to say something else. Dan:

Okay. You should say a new hint. Vanessa:

Yeah. Okay. Let me think about it for a second. This is the third time I'm trying to connect

this word. Dan:

All the hints are going right over my head. Lancelot. Who's that? Legs. Where? What was

the other one? Vanessa:

Bases. Dan:

Bases. Vanessa:

That did not go over your head. Dan:

So it must be kissing... Maybe. I don't know. I don't know enough. Lancelot is throwing

me off because I don't know anything about him.

Vanessa: Yeah, I'll tell you why I said Lancelot later.

Dan: I'm sure I'll find out why.

Vanessa: Okay.

Dan: Was he even a real guy? I don't know.

Vanessa: I'm going to go with...

Dan: Well, just give me a simple hint. How hard

could it be to get into this brain? Vanessa:

Ready? Dan:

Yes. Vanessa:

Love, one. Dan:

Love, one. Love. You only wear tuxedos when you're in love.

Vanessa: Please guess the right word. We only have

one left. Dan:

Kiss. Vanessa:

Yes. Thank you. So you said- Dan:

It is first base. Vanessa:

It is first base. You said, "We made it to first base."

Dan: But when I said he got married, you winked

at me. I was going to say kiss. Vanessa:

No. Dan:

But then you were... I was like, "Lancelet gets married," right? And you're like, uh

huh! Vanessa:

I was trying to have just a goofy face. Dan:

Oh. Vanessa:

No, Lancelot and Guinevere, I imagine that they kissed.

Dan: Oh, I was right about Guinevere?

Vanessa: Yes.

Dan: I knew details I thought I didn't know.

Vanessa: The problem was the was the word frog on the

board. I had sleep, kiss and armor and I thought I could say prince, like in a fairy tale.

A prince wears armor and he kisses the princess who's sleeping. But also, if you kiss a frog,

he could become a prince. Dan:

A frog prince. Was that your assassin word? Vanessa:

No, but I just didn't want you to guess it. Dan:

Yeah. Vanessa:

Or if I said princess, a princess and the frog. This word frog killed so many.

Dan: And frog legs.

Vanessa: Yeah, I didn't think about that.

Dan: I thought of that.

Vanessa: I should've thought of that, but I was going

to say a specific knight who wears armor. None of the Disney princesses have names though.

Or they're not like common names. If I said- Dan:

Princesses? Vanessa:

Oh, the princes. Dan:

Oh, the prince. Vanessa:

None of the princes because Sleeping Beauty, that's who I wanted to say. Her name is Aurora.

Dan: Doesn't the Cinderella guy have a name?

Vanessa: Prince Charming? Yeah.

Dan: No, it was something else. I don't remember

what it is though. Vanessa:

Well, there was nothing that was super obvious. Anyway, the word frog was really throwing

me off, so in the end I said Lancelot because he kisses Guinevere, I guess. I imagine.

Dan: Oh, okay. See, when you said Lancelot, I thought

it had to be... So I wasn't thinking you were thinking, "Oh, he probably kissed Guinevere."

Vanessa: Yeah.

Dan: I thought it was more like there's a pivotal

scene where Lancelot swoops up Guinevere and kisses her and she turns into an eagle...

Something like that. Vanessa:

Oh, wow. That would be much more epic than the real story. That was a little bit of a

stretch, but I figured you might connect Guinevere. I almost said Guinevere instead, but you wouldn't

say armor for Guinevere. Dan:

Yeah. Lancelet was better. Well, I mean... Vanessa:

But you did say Guinevere. Anyway, there was a connection between all of these.

Dan: We had enough turns.

Vanessa: I would say that this round was a lot smoother

than the last round. Dan:

Yes. Vanessa:

We cut out a lot of time. This round took us about half the amount of time that the

other one did- Dan:

Yeah, half the time. Vanessa:

But it was still enjoyable. Dan:

Yeah. It was a good time. Vanessa:

We beat the game. Dan:

We did it. Vanessa:

Good work. Dan:

We did it again. Vanessa:

Good work. Dan:

We killed the assassin. Is that the point of the game?

Vanessa: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Dan: There's actually some kind of story. Yeah.

Vanessa: Well.

Dan: we're secret agents apparently.

Vanessa: Of course.

Dan: Can't you tell?

Vanessa: Yeah.

Dan: Well, we solved the mystery.

Vanessa: Yeah. Secret agents play board games late

at night. Dan:

Case closed. Vanessa:

Yes. Good work. Well, thank you so much for joining us for this unique English lesson

where we talk about words and this board game. What I would like you to do is I want you

to decide if any of these words that we talked about, that showed up here on the screen,

that we mentioned, were new for you. Learn something more about them. Look them up. Try

to use them in the comments. Dan:

Buy the game. Try it. Vanessa:

Yeah. Try Codenames. Dan:

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa:

It's really cool. I'll try to find a link and just put it in the description because

it's pretty fun. You can play with two people. You can get the regular one and play it with

more people if you know more people who want to do it in English, but I think this was

voted top game of 2018 maybe a couple of years ago.

Dan: It's just a good game.

Vanessa: Yeah, it's a great game. We play it at a lot

of parties. But next week I'm going to be making a video where I break down some of

the specific words that we used in this lesson, so you'll be able to see them in more detail.

We'll take a look at some clips from this game that we played so that you can just get

a better feeling for how you could use these words as well. Maybe you understood the general

concept, but not in detail, every single thing. Well, thanks for joining me, Dan.

Dan: You're welcome.

Vanessa: I appreciate you spending your evening playing

this game. Dan:

Playing games. Vanessa:

Yeah, we got to drink tea. Dan:

Nothing wrong with that. Vanessa:

You got some beer. We, yeah, had a good time. Cheers.

Dan: Cheers.

Vanessa: Well, thanks so much for joining us and I'll

see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye.

Dan: Bye.

Vanessa: The next step is to download my free ebook,

Five Steps to Becoming a Confident English Speaker. You'll learn what you need to do

to speak confidently and fluently. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more

free lessons. Thanks so much. Bye.