Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SNAKE-AND-LADDER

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pronounce SNAKE-AND-LADDER: Say it "SNAKE and LAD er." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: If you feel like your career path, your ad campaign, or your fantasy football season is all just a game of snakes and ladders, then you feel powerless, like all your results depend not on skill or effort but on the roll of a die. In other words, the process seems ____tory: it's random, based on luck or chance, or based on things you can't predict or control. More literally, this word ____tory means "depending on the roll of a die." (Need a hint? Think of Caesar saying "the die is cast:" Alea iacta est.) (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) definition: Maybe you've played one or the other as a kid: the board game called Snakes and Ladders, or the friendlier version, Chutes and Ladders. Either way, it's a game of chance. When it's your turn, you roll the die. Land on the snake (or chute) and you have to slide down, but land on the ladder and you get to climb up. It's like a race, but instead of using skill or strength, you rely on luck alone to win.  So, something snake-and-ladder has or involves many successes AND failures that are hard to control and hard to predict. grammatical bits: Part of speech: adjective: "this snake-and-ladder game," "that snake-and-ladder competition." Other forms: You can refer to some situation or some series of events as "snakes and ladders," or as "a game of snakes and ladders." And, when you're talking about some situation, you can refer to the individual ups and downs (the successes and failures) as snakes and ladders: "the snakes and ladders of society" (The Guardian). how to use it: This term provides a clear and colorful metaphor. It can strike a tone that's fun and childlike, or dramatic, or even whiny. If you're talking about people competing with each other, you might talk about snake-and-ladder games, races, sports, competitions, situations, etc. Or, if you're talking about people striving to do things on their own, you might talk about snake-and-ladder progress, a snake-and-ladder career, a snake-and-ladder journey, etc. examples: "The brinkmanship, the dozens of 'last ditch' and 'cliff edge' summits and debates, the snakes and ladders — for those who like political drama, these are gripping times."    — William Booth and Karla Adam, Washington Post, 25 March 2019 "The markets rejoiced, briefly. But as so often in this game of snakes and ladders, the leap up was followed by a slide down. Within days Spanish bond yields had again crossed the 7% threshold."    — The Economist, 14 July 2012 has this page helped you understand "snake-and-ladder"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "snake-and-ladder" without saying "uncontrollable" or "full of ups and downs." try it out: In Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, the narrator says: "For every snake, there is a ladder; for every ladder, a snake." Talk about what this character means, and about why you agree or disagree. Is your life a game of snakes and ladders? Why or why not? If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game this month is "Subject Line Crosswords." We'll revisit some of the email subject lines from 2019 issues, using them as a tool for recall. Each day this month, see if you can complete the mini-crossword with words we studied last year. If you need extra clues, look below the puzzle to view definitions and parts of speech. And I'll share the answers in the following issue. Enjoy! From the previous issue: Extra clues: ACROSS 1. adjective meaning "creepy, spooky, or sinister in a way that seems to suggest that something bad will happen" 3. adjective meaning "hopeful and confident in a cheerful way" DOWN 2. noun meaning "a link, a connection, or an intersection" Answers: If you like, you can review the words ominous, sanguine, and nexus. Try this today:  Extra clues: ACROSS 2. verb meaning "to talk so harshly about things or people that it's as if you're stripping off their skin" 3. adjective meaning "seeming to be as hard as stone or diamonds because they're so firm, strong, and solid that they can't be moved, changed, or defeated" DOWN 1. noun meaning "someone who loves and appreciates (and possibly overindulges in) food" review this word: 1. A near opposite of SNAKES AND LADDERS is A. SABOTAGE. B. BATTLE OF WITS. C. ZERO-SUM GAME. 2. Titled _____, it encourages perseverance through this snake-and-ladder life. A. Outliers: The Story of Success B. Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back C. Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength 1. B 2. B a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.