You Don’t Know That Word | JJMW #480

Board games are supposed to bring people together—but some of them feel more like intellectual flexes than friendly competition. This week, JJ and Tucker dive deep into the board games that secretly say more about you than the game itself.

From Scrabble's smug superiority complex, to Monopoly house rules that feel suspiciously like modern economics, to a surprisingly revealing game of Guess Who, the conversation spirals into stereotypes, pop culture, childhood nostalgia, and why modern board games are having a full-on renaissance.

Along the way, they unpack:

• Why Scrabble feels like someone trying to prove they're smarter than you

• How Guess Who accidentally becomes a psychological profiling tool

• The evolution of Monopoly boards (and why Fargo might have messed one up)

• Carmen Sandiego, Anne Hathaway, and heist-movie logic

• Dead birds, Mr. McGregor, and childhood trauma

• The Olympics lottery, obscure events, and cheering for the flag

 

00:00 – Please put your clothes back on (intro)

01:08 – The board game that feels like an insult

01:49 – Monopoly trash talk and pandemic grudges

03:09 – Fargo Monopoly and questionable city design

04:33 – Monopoly house rules gone completely off the rails

05:15 – Scrabble: the "I'm better than you" game

06:14 – Scrabble boards, editions, and nostalgia

07:47 – Travel games and modern Guess Who

08:49 – Guess Who as personality profiling

10:20 – Bias, stereotypes, and reading strangers

11:25 – Why Guess Who should be a TV show

11:56 – Carmen Sandiego rights and reboots

13:20 – Anne Hathaway and heist movie logic

15:27 – The Princess Diaries (somehow gets darker)

18:50 – Board game collecting and Kickstarter culture

19:35 – Viticulture, birds, and pigeon slander

21:02 – Finding a dead turkey vulture

23:03 – Peter Rabbit and childhood fear

27:32 – Registering for the 2028 Olympics lottery

29:25 – Skateboarding, table tennis, and obscure events

32:27 – Eddie the Eagle and Olympic loopholes

34:09 – Closing and credits

 

Support the show:

For more episodes of JJ Meets World, or to find out how you can support the podcast, visit http://www.jjmeetsworld.com/

Patreon:   / jjmeetsworld  

Merch Shop: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/jj-meets...

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0L9IGvJ...

YouTube:    / @jjmeetsworldpodcast3115