ENGLISH BATTLE

How to play: 

Two players take turns saying words, with the goal of saying a word that their opponent does not know. 

All games must start with, “I challenge you to English Battle.” The player issuing the challenge says the first word. The opposite player will either say they do or do not know what the word means. If a player does not know what it means, they are put in “check.” This player must then say a word that they think the other player will not know. If they are successful, they go out of “check,” and the game continues. If their opponent knows the word, the “checked” player loses.

Players may lie. They may say words of which they do not know the definition, or falsely claim to know the definition of a word their opponent said. The opponent may “call out” the opponent if they think the opponent lied in these ways. If called out, the first player must give the definition of the word. If they do not know the word’s definition, the person who called them out wins. If they do know the definition, the person who called them out loses.

Additional Rules:

1. No proper nouns (Japanese, MacDonald’s, Milan)
2. No phrases (Hard Knock Life, Cabin Fever)
3. Loanwords are allowed (tsunami, schadenfreude, yoga)
4. If a word has multiple meanings, players only need to know one.
5. No repeating words.
6. A given definition must be deemed “good enough”, which is decided in good faith by the two players and any onlookers.