Teetotum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A teetotum is a form of gambling top. It has a polygonal body marked with letters or numbers, which indicate the result of each spin. In its earliest form the body was square (in some cases via a stick through a regular six-sided die [1]), marked on the four sides by the letters A (Lat. aufer, take) indicating that the player takes one from the pool, D (Lat. depone, put down) when a fine has to be paid, N (Lat. nihil, nothing), and T (Lat. totum, all), when the whole pool is to be taken.
Joseph Strutt, who was born in 1749, mentions the teetotum as used in games when he was a boy[2].
Other accounts give such letters as P, N, D (dimidium, half), and H or T or other combinations of letters.
Other combinations of letters that could be found were:
NG, SZ, TA, TG, NH, ND, M.
Which stood for (In Latin):
ZS - Zona Salve, save all
TA - Tibi Adfer, take all
NH - Nihil Habeas, nothing left
LS - L (i.e., 50) Solve, save 50
ND - Nihil Dabis, nothing happens
Teetodum survives today as dreidel, a Jewish game played on Hanukkah.
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- Teetotum is mentioned in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, chapter 5: "'Are you a child or a teetotum?' the Sheep said, as she took up another pair of needles."
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] See also
- Dreidel
- Put and Take
