History[]
Beethoven is a game that Lemony Snicket, Jacques Snicket, and their mother, E. Snicket, played every morning while waiting for the bus. Mr. Snicket reports that his sister, Kit Snicket, refused to play it because she thought it was inane, a word which here means "lacking sense or meaning; silly". It is unknown as to when the three began playing this game, but it is suspected that they were very young or on a visit home after completing their apprenticeship. It is first mentioned in the All the Wrong Questions series.
Object of the Game[]
The object of the game Beethoven is quite simple and very clever. It can begin at virtually any time, and it is most fun when the other participating party is not aware that you are playing this game. Beethoven begins when you falsely repeat something that the other person just said, creating the illusion that you did not hear them correctly- hence the Ludwig van Beethoven connection. A game of Beethoven could go something like this:
"Hey Mike!"
"Pike? Where?"
"What? No pike, I said Mike."
"Oh no! The pike ate Mike?"
"No!"
"Oh?"
And so on until someone gets too frustrated to continue.