Matrimony, Intrigue, Pope
My parents were great ones for culture and were always taking me around museums, art galleries, country houses and so on in the hopes that my already precocious brain would turn into some kind of genius. Sadly I was an odious little swot and revelled in it all.

Picture the scene at one such mansion, full of the usual antique furniture and dreary old paintings. Picture the young Cabbage following the guide around. Picture the guide pointing to an ornament and saying "...and this is some kind of item used in card games..."

"It's a Pope Joan board," quote I. (Google them. They're very distinctive. And I'd been reading a book about card games that very week.)

The guide was mightily impressed that a mere 8 year old could correct him on the nuances of antique card game accoutrements.

Which was a good job really, as a quarter of an hour later he caught me nicking handfuls of coins out of the wishing well in the garden.
(Rise and Fall of the Atomic Cabbage Haven't you heard of suspension of disbelief?, Tue 31 Jan 2012, 2:47, 2 replies)

A Pope Joan board?
When I Googled it, what came up was a marital aid, sort of a counterpart to a Prince Albert bolt.
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Tue 31 Jan 2012, 4:35, closed)

Bloody hell, that sounds like a boring game.

( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Tue 31 Jan 2012, 5:50, closed)