The basic premise of Scrabble is that each contestant must make a word from the seven letters available on their rack. Being a game of skill, it is presumed that one player may know more or less words in the Scrabble dictionary than another.
No player though, not even at the highest ranking members of the National Scrabble Association, is expected to know every possible word.
Naturally, a combination in the disparity in each player's knowledge, and the fact that no player has complete knowledge, leads to disagreements about whether a word is or is not viable.
To solve this conflict, Scrabble instructs that a player has the right to challenge the placing of a word by an opponent. If this word is found (a) not to be in the Scrabble dictionary, then the offending player loses their turn; (b) to be in the Scrabble dictionary, then the challenging player loses their turn.
Note that Scrabble allows the use of a non-word, if another player does not challenge. The player who places the word bears no responsibility to Scrabble, nor to their competitors to ensure that the word is a word, and may play the word at their own risk.
This simple rule, coupled with access to a Scrabble dictionary, either in print, or available on-line, for free, at Scrabble's website, has managed to police the game just fine since its widespread release in 1968.
Aa is not a word
As Scrabble manifests itself, the player with the greatest English vocabulary is not necessarily in the best position to succeed. Words longer than seven or eight letters have little chance of being used.
Egregious, incongruent, and superfluous, are all words that, if used in normal conversation, might belie a superior vocabulary. Each is for the most part useless in Scrabble.
Better are to know words that are seven letters long and use the tiles more common in Scrabble, such as “etaerio,” “treason,” and “trained.”
And best yet is familiarity with two-letter words.
By definition, anyone can name the common two-letter words in the Scrabble dictionary: "me," "to," "as," "of," and "so" "on," But who knew that "qi," is a word?
It's "the vital force that in Chinese thought is inherent in all things."
"Ar"? Sure. It's the “letter R,” and legally playable in Scrabble. "Aa"? It means “rough, cindery lava.” It's in the dictionary. Look it up.
Oo is a Word
Playing a four-person Scrabble game, with my friend, Harold, a Korean-American born in Seattle, Cavester, an Egyptian who immigrated in his late childhood, and Pannda, a Thai native, I saw an opportunity to play the word "oil," parallel to the word, "igloo."
Using the last two letters of igloo, I would form three new words: "oo," "io," and, of course, "oil."
The return on the points was not great, but this was late in the game where the bag was empty and it became a priority to just use one's letters in as few rounds as possible.
Problem was, nobody was sure if I had made real words. Oil was obviously a word, but "oo" and "io," engendered less confidence.
Not wanting them to challenge, I defended my case, "Io is a moon of Jupiter," I explained. Figuring that Earth and Mars are in the Scrabble dictionary, I felt confident that I could get away with this proper noun.
After all, it's not like I had used the word "Peoria." This was "Io." We're talking about a moon here people.
Neither the Caveman nor Pannda felt confident in challenging, not wanting to lose a turn if I proved them wrong. Harold, however, proved more belligerent.
"I might give you Io," he said, "but there is no way Oo is a word."
"But aa is a word," I explained.
"I don't care. I'm challenging."
"Which word?" I asked.
"What do you mean which word? I'm challenging them both."
It's Part of the Game
As it turned out, neither "io," nor "oo," proved to be real words. Who knew? I lost my turn, took the letters back on my rack, and waited for Harold to play. In the meantime, my opponents called me a "cheater." Which, incidentally, is a word.*
Playing fake words in Scrabble** does not make a cheater. Fake words are part and parcel to the strategery of the game.
There are avenues of recourse for an opponent to take in the event that they believe their opponent to have, either intentionally or not, played an illegible letter combination.
Putting down a fake word in this context did not make me a cheater. (Though lying about the word did make me a liar.)
I was well within my rights to take a risk, hoping that none of my opponents would challenge me. It was, to borrow from poker, a bluff, and one that I was called on.
But bluffs are part of the game. And anything part of the game, especially a move that has been addressed with specific legislature, should not be considered illegal.
Though, while we're at it, a professional writer*** trying to convince two non-native speakers of English of what and what is not a word, when he knows it to not be a word, might make said person a bully.
But that still didn’t make me a cheater. It’s part of the strategery of Scrabble, and I plan to use it for all it can do for me.
I Challenge That Strategery Is A Word
I love the word "strategery." And I love the word, "misunderestimate," too. The latter was invented by the 43rd President of America; the former to spoof him.
Both “strategery” and “misunderestimate” enrich the English language in a way that the nonsense word “irregardless” does not.
Irregardless is not a word because it is a double negative. The prefix “ir-“ negates regard, and the suffix “-less” negates regard. Regardless is perfectly capable of accomplishing the task at hand without the need of the extra “ir-“.
On the other hand, “mis-“ adds a layer of meaning to “under-“, in terms of “estimating” someone. If adds a dimension.
Not only did you underestimate, thinking someone to be less qualified than they are, but that underestimation is markedly wrong.
“Misunderestimate” should be used to express an underestimation that has been proven, by the underestimated, to bear negative consequences; while underestimate can be reserved for more benign quantification errors that may not necessarily factor into conflict.
Meanwhile "strategery" adds a layer to “strategy.” Where strategy is a plan or method to contribute towards a goal, strategery adds a layer of mischief or chicanery.
With strategery, not only does one have strategy, it is implied that a component of this strategy is guile.
In either case, I embrace these words, whether they were created by the dumbest chief executive in our nation’s history, or a comedian on a weekend variety show.
A word should be judged on its own merit, neither condemned for the sins of its father, nor praised for the accomplishments of its author.
A Neat-o Idea for a Party
I don't need an excuse to drink. But it helps. One excuse I recently thought of was an Oxford English Dictionary party, where every year that the OED announces the new words that are added to the lexicon, you have a "word" themed party.
(One of these days "strategery" will be added to the dictionary, and I would hope to, again, as a professional writer, one day make my own mark on the dictionaries of the English speaking work in such a profound way.)
The party could include a Spelling Bee tournament. And for team play, some Taboo.I wouldn't want to play Scrabble at a party, unless there was some sort of drinking tied into the letters. Or international contestants.
My idea in college was to have my friend who had moved to America from Vietnam when he was 12, to pit off in Scrabble against a Korean foreign exchange student.
Everyone at the party would pick sides, and when their opponent put down a word, they would drink. Two drinks for a double word score. Three drinks for a triple word score.
Drink bonuses for using the letters J, K, Q, X, and Z. Also, double drinks for making three words at once, like in running the letters parallel to an established word.
But this party never happened.
Most people surveyed thought this pitting an immigrant Vietnamese person against a Korean exchange student was a cruel idea. They thought we were making fun of the contestants.
That's ridiculous. In no way were we making fun of the Korean exchange student.
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*I enjoy playing Scrabble with curse words allowed. Obviously this poses the problem of challenging a word that's not known not to be in the Scrabble dictionary. But if you stick to the George Carlin words, and maybe dabble in a few alternatives on excrement, there shouldn't be any conflicts.
**Though we now tend to think of Scrabble as a proper noun, Scrabble is itself a word playable in Scrabble. It means “to claw or grope around frantically.”
***Granted, “professionally” write advertisements, not blog posts (or books, yet, for that matter), but that still counts. |
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