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SCRABBLE (again)

Frayed Knot Mar 06 2006 11:42 PM

I couldn't find our earlier SCRABBLE thread (and it never hurts to start new ones anyway) but just when you thought it was safe to go back to the board ... they've found new words to add!! There's now apparently an 'Official Word List 2' which serves as the game's standard and, whattayouknow, they've concocted some doozies. New to the two-letter legalties: FE - A Hebrew letter; What's up with dat?!? Did an ancient language like Hebrew just add a freakin letter to their alphabet or were the SCRABBLE folks just somehow excluding this one all along for no particular reason? KI - A vital force in China Amazing how the new words they find usually involve hi-point tiles ain't it? OI - As in OY Apparently, having only one spelling for a non-word expression wasn't enough QI - Same as KI They're probably waiting until next time to add 'CI' ZA - As in Piz-ZA Are you fuckin' kidding me? And not only that, but somehow this "word" can also be pluralized with an 'S' (as can all of them except 'OI') - as in; 'how many Zas did you order?' I guess. Various new 3-letters: AGS - AG was already legal (for agriculture) but they've now decided it can be pluralized. Same with EDS for education ... as if either one would EVER be used in a sentence CIG - as in cigarette They'd probably add 'GAR' for cigar but GAR is already legal as it's a type of fish HOS - yes, as in the same use as last night's Oscar winning song IGG - to ignore They're kidding right? Also IGGS, IGGED and IGGING LES - a lesbian; LEZ was already legal. Can LESBO be far behind? POO - meaning just what your 4-year old thinks it means UTE - short for utility vehicle not the Indian tribe VID - as in video. DVD will apparently have to wait

Willets Point Mar 07 2006 12:04 AM

Old Scrabble thread was neglected and thus archived just last Thursday, but as you noted new threads are never bad.

Johnny Dickshot Mar 07 2006 12:27 AM

I see where you're going here but let's not act like the English language was handed down from the Gods and can't ever be changed or added to. Scrabble isn't the issue here -- the game is based on language, and language is a living, evolving thing that's changing as we speak. QI is a perfectly cromulent word.

Frayed Knot Mar 07 2006 11:28 PM

I'm not objecting to new words, I'm objecting to stupid ones which seem to be added for the sole purpose of giving those in the know new ways to dump off expensive tiles. I mean if they can conclude that ZA is a word, what the heck isn't a word?

Edgy DC Mar 08 2006 08:38 AM

So you don't object to Ki and Qi?

Frayed Knot Mar 08 2006 10:14 AM

I object less to those even though they - it really since it's only one word - is essentially a foreign word which I suspect is being included because it's of foreign origin with no specific proper spelling which is being manipulated so it can be used with several different hard-to-dump tiles. But ZA and IGG are just fargin ridiculous.

Edgy DC Mar 08 2006 10:36 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 09 2006 05:59 PM

I suspect they are included because they have been adopted into English usage and English dictionaries. I agree that IGG and ZA are terrible, not least because they break with the standard of discluding abbreviations, contractions, and slang, of which those two disqualify on two counts. The fact that they don't have apostrophes or periods probably unjustly protects them on the abbreviation count, but that's just because lazy people who eat too much za and igg convention and consideration invented and used the words. What's not a word? Lots of things. ZQ, QWBKRFG, and HUMBER come to mind. More seriously, adapting the game to the the world of web-generated English will be an ongoing challenge, but they have to be much stronger in defining and discarding slang.

sharpie Mar 08 2006 10:53 AM

They shouldn't go looking for easy ways to use a Q, Z or X. They are worth the big points because they are hard to get rid of. The option of making QI or ZA devalues those tiles.

seawolf17 Mar 08 2006 11:18 AM

I think that "za" is a word; I use it from time to time. The problem I have with it is that it's slang, which I'm pretty sure is not allowed; it also should technically have an apostrophe in my mind ('za), so I'd say it's no good. Sharpie's right; the whole point of the big tiles is that they're hard to use.

Willets Point Mar 08 2006 11:32 AM

I've only heard the term "za" when I lived in Virginia where it was used all too often and to my great annoyance. On the other hand if you ever tasted what they call pizza there -- generally a spongeform concoction covered with a catsupy substance, a rubbery cheese product and lots of WD40-like grease -- you would probably agree that it is not accurate to call it "pizza".

Johnny Dickshot Mar 09 2006 05:24 PM

sharpie wrote: They shouldn't go looking for easy ways to use a Q, Z or X. They are worth the big points because they are hard to get rid of. The option of making QI or ZA devalues those tiles. Wouldn't it make them technically more valuable since they can be exploited in more ways but remain just as scarce?

Frayed Knot Mar 09 2006 11:38 PM

Nah, the problem is that it tilts the high-risk/high-reward scale w/those tiles. The reward is still there - maybe even higher since you're more likely to "double/double" it like you can with 'X' - but the risk of getting stuck with it is lessened considerably. ]The problem I have with it is that it's slang, which I'm pretty sure is not allowed Well SOME slang words are illegal while others are welcomed with open arms which is where things get a little hairy. Now at some point certain slang creeps toward everyday usage so it does get a bit gray at times, but they do the same thing with selected foreign words and abbreviations which are specifically illegal in the rules (but only sometimes in practice). And the problem with all those inconsistancies is that it makes it near impossible - at least for those of us who don't have enough Rainman in us to memorize the entire catalog - to logically guess at what might or might not be allowed.

Giant Squidlike Creature Apr 13 2006 03:47 PM

Play more Scrabble.