Aydın Tiryaki (July 29, 2009)

“Baltimore” is worth it…

“Mumbai” is worth it…

“Panama” is worth it…

“London” isn’t worth it…

“Berlin” is worth it…

While walking this evening, it suddenly crossed my mind, and I asked my 12-year-old niece if she knew the game “touches-doesn’t touch”; she hadn’t heard of it. We, 4 adults, used to classify every word we saw or thought of as “worth it” (touches) or “not worth it” (doesn’t touch). We would frequently say:

“Perfect“ touches, “Good” doesn’t

that was actually the most striking part of it…

“Me” counts, “you” don’t…

“Book” counts, “diary” doesn’t…

“Map” counts, “atlas” doesn’t…

“Touches-doesn’t touch” was one of the most beautiful games of our childhood. When we found someone who hadn’t heard of it yet, those of us who knew would all go after them together. Some would figure it out immediately, for others it would take a long time, or they would never find it at all. Some would get obsessed with it, others would give up quickly.

This evening, as we were walking home from the tea garden in Boyranaltı, it came to my mind and we started the game. At first, she got stuck on the letter “m,” and before our walk was even over, she figured out what touches and what doesn’t.

Passing down old games to new generations has become harder than before. Since current habits and new technologies have greatly reduced communication between children and adults, such games are no longer played.

This evening, by playing with my niece Sıla, we transferred an old game to the new generation. If Sıla shares it with her friends, it will go on.

“Perfect“ touches, “Good” doesn’t…

“Me” counts, “you” don’t…

Note: Let me explain the game for those hearing it for the first time: It is the touching of the lips (bilabial sounds like B, M, P) while saying the word that defines the game…

İnebolu, July 29, 2009

| aydintiryaki.org | YouTube | Aydın Tiryaki’nin Yazıları ve Videoları │Articles and Videos by Aydın Tiryaki | Bilgi Merkezi│Knowledge Hub  | ░ Virgülüne Dokunmadan │ Verbatim ░ | ░’Değer” değmez, ”değmez” değer │ ‘Me’ Touches, ‘You’ Don’t ░29.07.2009░8.02.2026░

A Note on Methods and Tools: The original Turkish version of this work was authored entirely by the author, without any assistance from artificial intelligence. (Note: AI was utilized solely as a translation and writing assistant to prepare this English version of the original text. The English section has been adapted with new examples to maintain the phonetic logic of the game in a new language.) This text has been prepared within the scope of the “Verbatim” project for the purpose of transferring previously published articles to the present day.