Abbreviations

Level: Advanced.

Skills: writing.

Topic: vocabulary.

Materials: pencils and paper.

Time: 5 to 15 minutes.

The object of this activity is to guess a phrase or saying from its initials.

One student writes down on a piece of paper the first letters of the words of a well-known phrase or saying, such as a proverb, quotation, book title, etc. All the other students are told what type of phrase it is, and they try to guess the phrase from its initials. The first person to guess the phrase a new phrase for the other players to solve.

Example:

Student X writes down the initials HWHIL and tells the other students that these are the initial letters of a five-word proverb. They rack their brains and eventually Student Z guesses correctly that the proverb is 'He who hesistates is lost'. Student Z then writes down ITFEWBFFFM and tells the others that it is a quotation by Andy Warhol. Student Y immediately recognizes the saying as: 'In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes'.