About MadLibs

Disclaimer: This Blog Has Nothing to Do with Mad Libs or Adult Mad Libs (the books and games)

Picture this: I was tending to my chickens, tossing feed and daydreaming about Spanish verbs, when it hit me.

“Mad Libs!”

I laughed so loud I sent chickens in every direction. But it was the perfect name for my newfound approach to learning Spanish.

“Mad” because language etymology is gloriously insane, “Libs” because that was my nickname at school, and “ad libbing” because isn’t speaking a language really just making it up as you go?

Of course, I was devastated when I discovered there was already a trademark for Mad Libs.

It felt like finding the perfect word in Spanish and realizing it doesn’t exist. But after consulting a lawyer (and a glass of wine) I was assured it’s fine to use as long as I include this disclaimer.

So, there it is.

I’m not making any money out of madlibs.org and it has nothing to do with the delightfully quirky game of Mad Libs – go here if you want to purchase the books from Penguin Random House LLC.

Duolingo, I want a divorce

For years, Duolingo ruled my life.

I couldn’t start or end my day without it.

My goal? Not fluency—oh no, that would be too sensible—but climbing into the dastardly “Diamond League”.

It’s the top league on Duolingo (you know) where competitive language learners tap furiously to stay on top while barely remembering how to say “please” and “delighted to meet you” in South-American Spanish.

I’d think about Duolingo before bed. Wake up with it on my mind.

Even Paul, my dear husband of 40 years, began to notice. “Libs, are you coming to bed?” he’d ask.

“In a minute,” I’d mumble, furiously swiping on my phone.

The truth?

I was ignoring him to protect my leaderboard spot.

Then winter hit, and so did disaster: the boiler broke. I was freezing, desperate for a bath, and fumbling through a phone call with the repairman.

“¿El… agua? Romper agua. He roto aguas.”

The poor man was baffled. And who wouldn’t be?

Imagine you’re a plumber on a hot summer’s day and you get a mad English lady in her 60s telling you very excitedly that her waters had broken.

If you don’t laugh… It was the last straw. I realized I needed more than an app.

Falling Madly in Love with Words Again

Here’s the thing: I’ve always loved words.

I spent my career as a journalist crafting feature stories, and my true passion has always been poetry. Words have power, oddities, and histories that make them fascinating.

So why was I turning language learning into a competition?

I decided to ditch the leaderboard and embrace the quirks of Spanish instead—its slang, idioms, and utterly mad etymology. Surely falling in love with words would be more fun (and productive) than obsessing over gamified XP points.

This blog is my journey—a playful alternative to apps, filled with fun, laughter, and the joy of discovering Spanish.

Someday, I hope to create a dictionary of “mad words” for fellow learners.

Let’s see how far we get!