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But board games need to be chosen with care; some are quite deadly and can be regarded as recipes for a winter of discontent. As a rule of thumb, the more complex the rules, the more tedious is the game, and if you have folk in the house who have not played before – as many of us do at Christmas – it is much more fun all round if the rules are picked up on one dummy run.

I feel no need to extol the virtues of Scrabble, and anyway it has been replaced in our house by Bananagrams which is altogether faster and much more fun. The banana-shaped pouch contains Scrabble-like tiles bearing a single letter. Each player takes the required number and on a cry of "Split" has to arrange them in crossword fashion so that they all fit together. When the first player has completed their acrostic they must shout "Peel" and each player must then pick up another three letters, regardless of the number of tiles they have managed to arrange up to that point. The game continues until one player finishes and there are no longer enough tiles left to allow all players to pick up three, at which point the victor will loudly proclaim "Banana!" This is the cue for everyone else to groan and say, "But I had 'ACCOMMODATE' and 'TOXOPHILITE' and you won with 'SPOT' and 'TREE'!"

Sounds simple? It is, and great fun, too, so much so that it is played, Penelope Wilton informs me, by the cast of Downton Abbey in their idle moments while filming. Well, if it's good enough for Dame Maggie…

Game number two on the Titchmarsh popularity register is Rummikub. Here the tiles have numbers and must be laid down in sequences or else in collections of the same number but different colours (it's rummy by another name and with tiles rather than cards). Any dyslexic members of the family are likely to be the very devil with Rummikub. You will lose your shirt to them.

The other great thing about board games is that whereas television programmes divide the generations, board games bring them together. They can go on for as long as you like. Our latest passion is Sequence, played on a board that is covered with rows of pictures of playing cards. Two packs of real cards are involved and the object is to cover with counters the cards on the board that correspond with the cards in your hand until you have a row of five of them.

You are only dealt six cards to start with and you must pick up when you put down each card – and counter – in order to proceed.

You can keep Cluedo (I've never really got to grips with a lump of lead pipe in the library) and I am much happier when Monopoly stays in its box. I did manage to buy Park Lane and Mayfair once, and I even put hotels on them. The trouble was the feeling of guilt and remorse at fleecing my fellow players.

So this Christmas, go buy the board. You'll not regret it. Pass the chocolate, someone.

Language, Timothy!

We do turn into our parents after a time; not least when it comes to questioning the vernacular of those younger than we are. "Selfies" (self-portraits taken on camera-phones) have been much written about recently. I particularly liked the comment from a Telegraph reader who suggested that photos taken of someone else should be called "Elsies".

My own bêtes noires include the request so often heard in restaurants by those ordering food: "Can I get the steak and fries?" To this request I have the urge to respond, "I think it will probably be better to let the waiter bring them." Then, when I ask someone how they are, the reply will invariably be, "I'm good." Do they mean well-behaved? And can someone tell me when "the secrets of success" became "the secrets to success"? I don't suppose it really matters, but it does irritate me.

Alas the mirror I spotted in a novelty shop while on holiday last year could only apply to my wife and not to myself. I resisted buying it, fearing that it might lead to frosty relations. I do not wholeheartedly agree with the legend it bore, but I know that many female readers will find it strikes a chord. There, beneath the looking glass, in attractive pokerwork, were picked out the words: "MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, I AM MY MOTHER AFTER ALL."