# Banned Scrabble words **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 9, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803 "2020-07-09T03:21:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/1 "2020-07-09T03:21:22Z")
Scrabble has [banned 225 words](https://kotaku.com/scrabble-bans-hundreds-of-offensive-words-from-competit-1844301407) from tournament use. But they don’t even list the banned words correctly, [giving them with the letters rearranged in alphabetical order](https://www.scrabbleplayers.org/w/Slurs). Some of them are pretty easy to figure out, but others not so much. For instance, near the bottom of the list is “abbbu”. I stared at that one for a while before finally realizing–“bubba”? Bubba is an offensive slur needing to be banned and scrambled? So, will we crowdsource untangling the whole list? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/2 "2020-07-09T12:07:24Z")
They’re banning “ginger”?? The red-headed rights lobby must be more powerful than I thought. Oh wait, maybe there’s another anagram of those letters… ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/3 "2020-07-09T12:54:52Z")
This is just the North American list, right. This doesn’t affect the SOWPODS list? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/4 "2020-07-09T13:10:11Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > They’re banning “ginger”?? The red-headed rights lobby must be more powerful than I thought. > > Oh wait, maybe there’s another anagram of those letters… Obligatory Tim Minchin song: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN\_0qvuhhw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw) ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/5 "2020-07-09T13:12:07Z")
aabeiorrstu aaborrtuy cmmopsy cmmopssy aefiimnz aefiimnsz bbeilr bbeilrs aaehmrstu aaehmrsstu These are the “political” ones. I can’t work any of them out. Edit: Just as i post i get feminazi ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/6 "2020-07-09T13:13:47Z")
Well, the first two are arse and arsehole. The gender slurs are cunt, cunts, hos, poontang, and poontangs. I’m pretty surprised that any of the last three were considered valid words – the last two show up as misspellings in my browser. So, there’s my five. Next! ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/7 "2020-07-09T13:16:18Z")
> [@CardboardBoxx](#): > > bbeilr bbeilrs libber and libbers? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/8 "2020-07-09T13:40:20Z")
Scrabble words have always been a hodgepodge. Earlier dictionaries were, in fact, better - where using high level letters was challenging. Banned words, too. Some were okay, some were not. No real reason to allow them. Not like there aren’t plenty of other words. In casual play, people will do what they want anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/9 "2020-07-09T13:42:12Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Some of them are pretty easy to figure out, but others not so much. For instance, near the bottom of the list is “abbbu”. I stared at that one for a while before finally realizing–“bubba”? Bubba is an offensive slur needing to be banned and scrambled? Wiktionary says that Babbu is Sicilian for “stupid person” so that’s a possibility too. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/10 "2020-07-09T13:59:33Z")
I can go along with DQing some of them on the basis that they’re slang. Bubba, for instance, from “brother” should be declined because anything goes if they take slang. But is it such a slur? A Ctrl F search for bemoor yields no hits in the list, indicates that it’s still open season on “boomer.” Some were trying to compare it to the N bomb. Maybe next year? > **['OK boomer' has the internet in a tiff. How did we get here?](https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/ok-boomer-diving-generation-what-does-it-mean-ncna1077261)** > > Why 'OK boomer' may be our best chance to bridge the inter-generational divide. ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/11 "2020-07-09T14:10:35Z")
Boomer is a word like queer that will never be removed because it is also a completely inoffensive alternate word. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/12 "2020-07-09T14:45:44Z")
In the Gender Identity section, it only has bcehstu, which an anagram solver tells me is “butches” – why that and not “butch”? Maybe I’m missing another shuffle. ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/13 "2020-07-09T14:48:48Z")
I’d say because although butch can be used as an offensive noun, it is also an inoffensive adjective. Butches can only be the noun. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/14 "2020-07-09T14:56:25Z")
I guess. You mean “butch” defined as aggressively masculine or something? ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/15 "2020-07-09T15:12:34Z")
> [@CardboardBoxx](#): > > aabeiorrstu aaborrtuy cmmopsy cmmopssy aefiimnz aefiimnsz bbeilr bbeilrs aaehmrstu aaehmrsstu cmmopsy cmmopssy = comsymp/s, aaehmrstu aaehmrsstu = shamateur/s ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/16 "2020-07-09T15:14:45Z")
I have no idea what either of those means. I’m really out of the loop. (I can look up the definition, so please don’t post it here and get a warning) ETA: I just looked them up – communist sympathizer? Is that offensive? And, shamateur is an amateur athlete that’s really pro – how is that possibly offensive? ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/17 "2020-07-09T15:22:01Z")
A lot of these words wouldn’t offend too many people. The whole profane section seems to be variants of “god damn”. Who does that offend, gosh darn it? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/18 "2020-07-09T16:05:49Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Well, the first two are arse and arsehole. The first banned anatomical word is “aers.” Sure, the unscrambled banned word might be “arse,” but it could also be “ears.” Some people are sensitive about the size or shape of their ears, you know, or if they stick out. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/19 "2020-07-09T16:18:37Z")
What’s the point of scrambling the words? To “obsfucate them from the casual reader”? So does that mean in scrabble we can now put the letters of a word down in any order, as long as no “casual readers” are around? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803/20 "2020-07-09T16:47:11Z")
Can someone explain bbbuy? Looks like “bubby” to me, meaning grandma. Does it have some other, more sinister, meaning? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-scrabble-words/914803.md?page=2)