# BZZZT re 2-letter Scrabble words **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 14, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428 "2004-01-14T19:16:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jormundgondir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@jormundgondir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jormundgondir)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/1 "2004-01-14T19:16:58Z")
[Cecil’s post here](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_315b.html) IMHO Cecil ought to have updated this classic rerun; things have changed in Scrabble land. In American play, the Official Word List (OWL) and Total Word List (TWL) utilized in tournament play each include 96 two letter words: AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY BA BE BI BO BY DE DO ED EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EX FA GO HA HE HI HM HO ID IF IN IS IT JO KA LA LI LO MA ME MI MM MO MU MY NA NE NO NU OD OE OF OH OM ON OP OR OS OW OX OY PA PE PI RE SH SI SO TA TI TO UH UM UN UP US UT WE WO XI XU YA YE YO while the SOWPODS list, used in UK/Commonwealth play, as well as many international tournaments, contains, I think, 101 words: AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY BA BE BI BO BY CH DA DE DI DO EA ED EE EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EX FA FY GI GO GU HA HE HI HM HO ID IF IN IO IS IT JO KA KO KY LA LI LO MA ME MI MM MO MU MY NA NE NO NU NY OB OD OE OF OH OI OM ON OO OP OR OS OU OW OX OY PA PE PH PI PO QI RE SH SI SO ST TA TE TI TO UG UH UM UN UP UR US UT WE WO XI XU YA YE YO YU ZO ---
**Author:** ![tofergregg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tofergregg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofergregg)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/2 "2004-01-14T21:42:16Z")
Call me a traditionalist, but I’m not a fan of all those words. “AA”? “WO?” “OX”? Oh yeah, “OX” is actually a legitimate word. Maybe I’d allow them (house rules) when there aren’t any more tiles to pick, but I wouldn’t allow them during normal play. Hmm… -Tofer ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/3 "2004-01-14T23:46:56Z")
What’s a pirate’s favorite Scrabble-allowable two-letter word? AR! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/4 "2004-01-14T23:51:24Z")
Aa is a perfectly fine word imported from Hawaiian, meaning chunky lava flows. Pahoehoe is it’s complement, refering to ropy lava flows. These words are actually used by geologists. Next thing you know you’ll be complaining about ai (a word imported from Brazil meaning tree sloth)! ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/5 "2004-01-15T11:42:10Z")
> [@tofergregg](#): > > Call me a traditionalist, but I’m not a fan of all those words. “AA”? “WO?” “OX”? I’ve used _aa_ before. And I’m not even a vulcanologist, just a fan of volcanoes. One time I named my entire Sims family after volcano terms. “Hi, I’m Caldera Pahoehoe, and these are my neice Tephra and my nephew Andesite.” Oh yeah, Scrabble. I like to be a good sport. If I don’t think the other players know a word, I won’t use it. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/6 "2004-01-15T14:56:29Z")
The last time I played scrable with someone, AA and OD were both used against me. I dont care if its legal or not, playing with people like that isn’t fun. ---
**Author:** ![jormundgondir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@jormundgondir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jormundgondir)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/7 "2004-01-15T18:47:57Z")
Mosier spake thusly: The last time I played scrable with someone, AA and OD were both used against me. I dont care if its legal or not, playing with people like that isn’t fun. Well, there are certainly different types of Scrabble playing- there’s kids on the floor of the den, grownups grabbing a game with relatives over the kitchen table, nerds playing grudge matches with each other for money in the pub, weekend tournament players, and the serious die-hards. And I think it’s a fun game in any of these calibers, despite being a somewhat _different_ game for each, and the “unfun” part is when you’re playing someone else’s game. At the much higher levels, it turns into a hobby of list memorization and probabilities, and they are quite comfortable playing words for which they have know idea what the emaning is, it becomes a set of acceptable letter patterns rather than Words. But if I were to play with my husband’s 11 year old neice, it probably wouldn’t be much fun for either of us, nor if I played the world champion. Me and my pals have sucked it up and all know the full list of twos and most of the threes, and work for the bingo, mostly just keeping up with the joneses. And we play _a lot_, so we must still be having fun. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/8 "2004-01-15T21:50:06Z")
Yo, **Cecil**! Yes, that classic needs an update: Going to the horse’s mouth, indeed we find that there are now 96 accepted 2 letter words: [http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/pl/page.2tomake3/dn/home.cfm](http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/pl/page.2tomake3/dn/home.cfm) Here is another list with definitions: [http://www.yak.net/kablooey/scrabble/2letterwords.html](http://www.yak.net/kablooey/scrabble/2letterwords.html) The missing words from the original list (for the American game) are: > [@](#): > > AB - abdominal muscle {OSPD3} > AG - pert. to agriculture > AL - East Indian tree > HM - intj. expressing thought (hmm) > MM - intj. expressing satisfaction > MO - moment > NE - born with the name of (nee) > UH - intj. expressing hesitation > UM - intj. expressing hesitation > YO - intj. used to call attention {OSPD3} And from the list that **Cecil** posted, I see a mistake! from **jormundgondir** lists we can see that “DA” is not in any of the officially approved lists! [sub]What is with Russian and scrabble? I mention that because an aunt of mine recently thought Nyet was a valid word, she lost a turn after I challenged it. She beat us anyway because her next play was a bingo. (mumble… mumble…)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/9 "2004-01-16T03:21:55Z")
Need to pay more attention: I should have said that DA is accepted, but only in the UK version. However, the list in the article IS for the American version. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/10 "2004-01-16T16:15:26Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Yo, **Cecil**! Yes, that classic needs an update: That’s what we’re here for. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![anthrosciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e495f1/32.png) [@anthrosciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anthrosciguy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/11 "2004-01-16T20:34:04Z")
> [@tofergregg](#): > > Call me a traditionalist, but I’m not a fan of all those words. “AA”? “WO?” “OX”? Oh yeah, “OX” is actually a legitimate word. Maybe I’d allow them (house rules) when there aren’t any more tiles to pick, but I wouldn’t allow them during normal play. Hmm… > > -Tofer “You wouldn’t allow” :dubious: You’d better only play with people you can bully into accepting your own idiosyncratic rules then. I guess you “won’t allow” a lot of other, longer words then too. But please, when you play with someone who knows what they’re doing, don’t be one of those people who accuses them of cheating because they know a few odd words. At home, sure, you can bully your kids; shame they’ll get creamed when they play others. Does a number on their self-esteem, but losing is character building, I guess. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/12 "2004-01-17T02:37:29Z")
Don’t you guys play with an agreed-upon dictionary handy? Not that I don’t occasionally like a little game of gore and guts scrabble ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/13 "2004-01-17T02:56:07Z")
> [@RM Mentock](#): > > Don’t you guys play with an agreed-upon dictionary handy? > > Not that I don’t occasionally like a little game of gore and guts scrabble I wonder if you’ll survive against my family: we are seriously thinking of doing a bilingual melee someday. (spanish-english) Someone knows where one can get some Ñ’s?? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/14 "2004-01-17T03:40:58Z")
What about ll’s? ---
**Author:** ![cdhostage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@cdhostage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdhostage)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/15 "2004-01-17T17:10:27Z")
Is that two vowels or two consonants? Or one each? I love \ ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/16 "2004-01-17T17:41:07Z")
One consonant ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/17 "2004-01-17T20:44:34Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Aa is a perfectly fine word imported from Hawaiian, meaning chunky lava flows. Pahoehoe is it’s complement, refering to ropy lava flows. These words are actually used by geologists. > > Next thing you know you’ll be complaining about ai (a word imported from Brazil meaning tree sloth)! My favorite scrabble word is also Hawaiin. It’s IAO. The waddlebird from Cecil’s colum, “What is an IAO” ---
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/18 "2004-01-17T22:54:06Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I wonder if you’ll survive against my family: we are seriously thinking of doing a bilingual melee someday. (spanish-english) > > Someone knows where one can get some Ñ’s?? 🙂 I’m pretty sure I’ve got somewhere around my house the Spanish version of scrabble, complete with those and 'll’s and 'rr’s and I think 'ch’s as well. I believe I got it as a prize for doing really well on some state-wide Spanish exam in high school. You should dig up that version and stick it together with an English version… put the two boards together and make one big tile pile. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cecil\_Adams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cecil\_Adams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cecil_Adams)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/19 "2004-01-22T20:42:33Z")
Given the relentless march of progress in today’s world, it’s difficult even for me to keep up. I have asked Little Ed to amend the column. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428/20 "2004-01-22T21:06:26Z")
With all these options, no _wonder_ I don’t usually win Scrabble games. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bzzzt-re-2-letter-scrabble-words/224428.md?page=2)