Nordles is a Hypercard stack that combines words from three different lists randomly together into combinations made by John Stiles.
In the stack’s about screen, Stiles writes, “Nordles is simple, fun, and easy to use. Just fill the three columns with weird, cool words (as demonstrated), click “Nordify,” and have fun. Note that some of the demonstration words aren’t suitable for real prudes :-) But then again, if you can’t handle it, you shouldn’t be using Nordles anyway. . . . P.S. This program can be cool at parties.”
As mentioned in yesterday’s post about ChaosPoetry Generator, Nordles inspired Mathew P. Schmeer to create his word combination generator, which supports seven columns of words and phrases to Nordle’s three.
Nordles is only 48K on disk (40,933 bytes used). As a Hypercard stack, it requires Hypercard Player to be installed. When a Hypercard stack is double clicked, it automatically launches the stack in Hypercard Player.
After launching Nordles, the main window opens. It has three columns of words, which can be edited and added to. Many of the default words are NSFW, and their combinations are even more NSFW.
When the “Nordify” button is clicked it changes to “Click to stop…” and the stack randomly assembles three-word combinations using a word from each list. These generated combinations continue appearing in the box at the bottom of the main window until “Click to stop…” is clicked.
To edit words in a list, the user clicks on a word already there to begin typing. Existing words can be edited or swapped out for a new word. Also, the user can scroll to the bottom of the list, click the last word in the list and press return on the keyboard to add a new line for a new, additional word. In the image above, I added a line in the first column and typed, “Write something,” and I deleted a word from the third column list on the right.
To learn more about the Hypercard stack and its programmer, click on the message bubble icon on the right side of the main window. It includes the text that I included at the beginning of the post along with Stiles’ address and his favorite word combination creations.
While Nordles can be puerile, it can be reconfigured with the way the user enters words into the three columns/lists. Borrowing Schmeer’s suggestion for ChaosPoetry Generator, using one column for nouns, one for adjectives, and one for verbs, might yield some interesting creations that might be useful for writers–whether they be professionals or students in a classroom. The generated combinations could inform how a poem gets written (e.g., your poem must include all three words) or the topic of a flash fiction story (e.g., your story must use all three words in a phrase somewhere in your story).
I found a copy of Nordles in this large archive of Hypercard stacks.
