A few of us recently went to the Divisadero Street Art walk earlier this month. And our first stop was at a coffee shop that had games and marginal-tasting (but filled to the brim) $2 champagne! And to our wonder, we enjoyed a game of ... "Something" and Ladders. Now I admit that the box top said "Chutes and Ladders", but it sounded strange to me. Our friend Anne, who is savvy on the computer found that indeed, we outside of the USA most likely know the game of Chutes and Ladders, from its predecessor called Snakes and Ladders.
I needed to confirm this with a random sampling of folks who know this game. So I went to some of my email addresses and found a set of Canadians and Americans who gave their knowledge of the subject matter. Here are the results:
Out of all the Canadians:
85% called the game Snakes and Ladders
Out of the Americans:
100% called the game Chutes and Ladders
So my friend Anne was correct! Snakes and Ladders is the proper name!
OK, not as obscure as someone offering me an Otter Pop (see earlier post), but at least this game isn't referenced in its simpler form as "Up and Down"!
Finally, I can't help but notice that "chutes" is a homonym of "shoot". Is this an ironic cultural reference? I'll let you be the judge.
Just for the record, as one of your American cousins I do want credit for recognizing that the game was called CHUTES AND LADDERS in the U.S. and SNAKES AND LADDERS outside of the U.S.
ReplyDeleteAs for any symbolic/Freudian meaning, I think it's the puritanical roots of Americans that make them afraid of all those "snakes" that little children have to ride down, if you get my drift...
As far as the homonym goes, I think you're on to something there. Americans love to shoot things, especially when it comes to morality lessons.
ReplyDeleteI remember the commercials with the kids saying, "Oh no *giggle* we're going down down down!"
ReplyDeleteKyoko - no, oddly enough the other 15% were from Toronto. Must be our highly televised American influences.
ReplyDeleteJennifer- I think you just gave yourself credit!
Anne - We also have a store called "Target"...Hmm, I feel a blog coming on...
Diep- That's dirty! *giggle*