May I Have a Word?

Beau Handsome at his podium

May I Have a Word? is an animated game-show segment shown between and at the end of episodes on WordGirl. It features the host, Beau Handsome, asking three contestants, Phil, Tommy, and Emily, the definition of a particular word, such as crestfallen, fatigued, evade, or snare. The contestant who gives the correct definition wins a prize that often has something to do with the featured word, but sometimes is more random. WordGirl herself appears only once in the show in person, during the segment on the word Fumble, when she streaks in and returns Beau Handsome to his podium following the previous episode, when he was kidnapped by Seymour Orlando Smooth.

May I Have a Word? did not appear in the WordGirl movie The Rise of Miss Power. It was replaced with the Pretty Princess and Magic Pony Power Hour. However, if the movie is split into two parts (one half plays one day and the other half plays the next day), then May I Have a Word? is played in between the segments.

Audience

Here are some of the recognizable regulars seen in the audience (from left to right, front to back):

• Green-jacketed man
• Tessa from Favorite Word
• The Pointing lady from the opening cinematic
• Grey-shirted lady
• Stubble guy
• Toque guy
• Beehive lady
• Oak Street lady
• Star Sandy

Gameplay

The contestant podiums with the buzzer lights on.

There are three contestants, who are apparently always Tommy, Emily, and Phil. They are standing at three podiums. Beau Handsome is to the left, in another podium, there is also a screen somewhere in the headquarters, but its location is unknown. The game begins with Beau Handsome announcing the featured word, then showing several clips from the WordGirl show to give hints to the word's meaning. Then a contestant must buzz in from their podium which lights the light above them, and define the word. If the player incorrectly defines the word, then another player has the opportunity to buzz in and respond. If all three contestants buzz in at the same time and correctly define the word, they all win the round. This has happened on multiple occasions.

The Bonus Round

The bonus round is the second round of the game. Only the contestant that correctly defined the word plays this round. Three pictures are shown on the screen and the player must say which one shows the correct definition of the word. If all three contestants won the first round, then the first contestant to buzz in and give the correct answer wins. If no one correctly defined the word in the first round, the first one to buzz in and give the correct answer wins.

Prizes

The winner(s) of each round receives a prize, usually an Official WordGirl product, an Official Beau Handsome product, or something else, e.g. a tub of chocolate pudding, a cream pie. Captain Huggyface presents the prize.

Statistics

Here is a tally of the number of individual wins in the main round:

• Emily - 17 wins
• Phil - 13 wins
• Tommy - 13 wins

(In Enormous, ALL contestants were declared winners.)

Other anomalies in the scoring:

• In Bewilder, Phil gave the correct definition, but in an indirect manner, and at first was disqualified and Emily overheard Beau and said what he said and when Tommy buzzed Beau said he already gave the definition and a bewildered Tommy asked if he did making Beau so upset making no one win. But at the start of the bonus round, Beau reversed his decision and declared Phil to have won the main round.
• In Scowl, no one won the main round, but all contestants won the bonus round.
• In Stroll, Emily won the main round, but did not choose the correct picture for the bonus round.
• In Dazed, Phil won the main round, but did not choose the correct picture for the bonus round.
• In Tiff, all contestants buzzed in the same time (just like Enormous), but this time Phil ended up giving the correct answer.
• In Shatter, Emily gave the correct definition after all the contestants' podiums and buzzers were "shattered" by Huggy. Even though she couldn't buzz in, Beau asked the judges if her answer would be accepted, which it was.
• Also in Bewilder, the contestants saw a clip in which Becky changed from her Pretty Princess costume into WordGirl.

The Paradox of the Show

The game show May I Have a Word? presents several interesting contradictions. First of all, the show uses episode scenes from the WordGirl series as examples for word definitions. The announcer and contestants are fully aware of the events that take place in the series, as any fan would be. Many of the sample clips and pictures focus on the Botsford family, and in fact, at least one clip shows Becky changing into WordGirl (during Bewilder).

On the other hand, the audience is filled with characters who actually inhabit the WordGirl series. They live their lives in Fair City, and they would therefore have no idea of who WordGirl really is. Huggy is a regular on the game show, although he is also in the series. Tommy is also shown as a character in several WordGirl episodes. And with the episode Tell Her What She's Won!, Becky is shown watching May I Have a Word?, meaning that the show (which reveals her secret identity) is being broadcast to households (and villains) all over Fair City.

What does all of this mean? Nothing, really. It's simply an interesting concept to ponder. The series and the game show are both fun ways of teaching kids how to use words properly, and that's what's really important.

Episodes

1. The 2007-2008 episodes were season 1.
2. The 2009 words were season 2.
3. The 2010-2011 words were season 3.
4. The 2012-2013 words were season 4.
5. The 2015 words were season 5.

2007 words:

Word	Orig Airdate	Main winner	Bonus winner	Main prize	Bonus prize
Hurl	9/3/2007	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG 10-ft Paper Clip	Giant Stapler
Pounce	9/14/2007	Emily	Emily	Dr. Two-Brains Balloon	Captain Huggy Face Balloon
Stroll	9/21/2007	Emily	no one	Official WG Jet Pack	Official WG Jet Pack w/bubble action
Devour	9/28/2007	Emily	Emily	Official WG Largest Stalk of Broccoli	Official WG Largest Baby Carrot
Dazzling	10/5/2007	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Giant Disco Ball	no prize
Soar	11/23/2007	Emily	Emily	Official WG Soar-like-an-eagle Hang Glider w/attached eagles	Official WG Eagle Wings
Swerve	11/30/2007	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Unicycle	Stationary Bike
Smash	12/21/2007	Phil	Phil	Official WG Styrofoam Statue of Dr. Two-Brains	Use of Mr. Botsford and his grape-stomping skills for a week
Scowl	12/28/2007	no one	ALL	State-of-the-art Official WG Six-wheeler Motorcycle	Official WG Tunnel-To-The-Center-Of-The-Earth-Mobile

2008 words:

Word	Orig Airdate	Main winner	Bonus winner	Main prize	Bonus prize
Enormous	2/18/2008	ALL	ALL	Official WG Enormous Ball of Rubber Bands	Official WG Shetland Pony
Dazed	2/15/2008	Phil	no one	All-expense paid trip to the moon	Astronaut food for the trip to the moon

2009 words:

Word	Orig Airdate	Main winner	Bonus winner	Main prize	Bonus prize
Evade	2/16/2009	Emily	Emily	Official WG Balance Beam	WG Portable Windshield
Disguise	2/17/2009	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Trunk Full of Disguises	Cheerleader Disguise
Fatigued	3/23/2009	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Trampoline Bed	Official WG Trip to Hawaii
Stench	3/24/2009	Phil	Phil	Official WG Huge-gantic Fan	Year's Supply of Stench-B-Gone Perfume
Snare	4/30/2009	Phil	Phil	Official WG Snood	Official WG Snare
Crestfallen	5/1/2009	Emily	Emily	Official WG Broom (and dustpan, which Beau throws in)	World's Biggest Bottle of Bubbles
Silhouette	5/4/2009	Emily	Emily	Official WG Movie Screen	Your Very Own Parade
Petrified	10/23/2009	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Microphone	Your Very Own Stage to Perform
Hover	6/19/2009	Emily	Emily	Official WG State-of-the-art Hovercraft	Official WG Hovering Device for your elephant
Tiff	7/13/2009	Phil	Phil	Official WG Huge Cream Pie	Another Cream Pie

2010 words:

Word	Orig Airdate	Main winner	Bonus winner	Main prize	Bonus prize
Collection	9/7/2010	Phil	Phil	Official WG Super-charged Trampoline	Official WG Mystery Package
Doze	9/13/2010	Emily	Emily	Official WG Waterbed	Official WG Gigantic Hair Dryer
Elegant	9/14/2010	Emily	Emily	Official WG Velvet Cape	Official WG Gigantic Boom Box
Shatter	9/15/2010	Emily	Emily	Official WG Rope Swing	Official WG Tub of Chocolate Pudding
Smudge	9/16/2010	Phil	Phil	Official WG Life-size Beau Handsome Cutout	Official WG Larger-than-Life Beau Handsome Cutout
Binoculars	10/11/2010	Tommy	Tommy	Gift Certificate for a Bird-Watching Trip with Beau Handsome	Official Beau Handsome Bird Watching Hat
Imitate	11/8/2010	Emily	Emily	Official Beau Handsome Microphone	Official Beau Handsome Microphone Storage Box

2011 words:

Word	Orig Airdate	Main winner	Bonus winner	Main prize	Bonus prize
Bewilder	1/3/2011	no one	Phil	Go Cart	Official WG Pogo Stick
Perspire	2/8/2011	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Absurdly Large Launch Ramp	Official WG Frozen Treats
Strenuous	4/1/2011	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Weight Bench	Official WG Crane

2012 words:

Word	Orig Airdate	Main winner	Bonus winner	Main prize	Bonus prize
Apprehend	9/10/2012	Phil	Phil	Official Captain Tangent Pirate Costume	Official Captain Tangent Pirate Ship
Clutch	9/12/2012	Emily	Emily	Official WG Dune Buggy	Official WG Sand Dune
Console	9/13/2012	Phil	Phil	Official WG Rocket-powered Merry-Go-Round	Official WG Microphone Cleaning Kit
Flicker	10/29/2012	Emily	Emily	Official WG Hover Board	Official WG Non-hovering Skate Board
Cower	12/28/2012	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Indestructible Shield	Official WG Clown for a Day

2013 words:

Word	Orig Airdate	Main winner	Bonus winner	Main prize	Bonus prize
Dangle	3/11/2013	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Supersized Dictionary	Official WG Gargantuan Calculator
Recline	6/14/2013	Phil	Phil	Official WG Lemonade Pitcher	Official WG Beach Umbrella
Fumble	8/7/2013	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Extremely Valuable Diamond-encrusted Egg	Tube of official WG super-glue (to fix the egg Huggy broke)

2015 words:

Word	Orig Airdate	Main winner	Bonus winner	Main prize	Bonus prize
Wedged	6/24/2015	Phil	Phil	Official WG Rocket-powered Trapeze	Official WG Two-person Rocket-powered Trapeze
Inflate	6/19/2015	Emily	Emily	Official Beau Handsome Giant Inflatable Head	Pump for your giant inflatable head
Scamper	6/12/2015	Emily	Emily	Official WG Super Duper Supercharged Super Ball	200 More Official WG Super Duper Supercharged Super Balls
Irritable	7/8/2015	Tommy	Tommy	Official WG Supercomputer	Every Single Book Ever Written
Consume	7/10/2015	Emily	Emily	Lifetime Supply of Animal Crackers	Lifetime Supply of Milk
Discard	6/10/2015	Phil	Phil	Dance Lessons from Beau Handsome	More Dance Lessons from Beau Handsome

See Wikipedia:List of WordGirl episodes#May I Have a Word episodes for more info.

Gallery

Emily turning her head.

All the contestants are upset for not winning the main round.

Emily is thinking what Console means.

Huggy and the Gigantic Boombox.

Beau and his contestants saw Phil in his podium.

We'd like to answer the question, but Huggy shattered our buzzer. We mean, they're totally broke into pieces!

Uh-oh, Huggy wiped out in front of the contestants again.

The contestants minus Beau Handsome.

The Superduper Supercharged Superball is going out of control in the studio.

Beau meets WordGirl

Picture #1 from Recline

Beau is sad.

It’s number two.

I’m totally puzzled!

You’ve got to be kidding me!

Even the MONKEY knows what it means!

Very big!

One time, I was at Phil's house, and the lights started to flicker. I was sure it was because there was a ghost in the house.

It was my cat.

What did you do, Huggy?

Behind the Scenes

Trivia

• 2014 was the only year to not feature any new words due to a repeat of the same feature words.
• Some countries outside of the U.S. that aired WordGirl did not include this segment in order to air commercial breaks.
• Emily is the winner for the entire segment but Tommy and Phil are tied for second place.