# Scrabble. I love Scrabble. Don't you love Scrabble? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 31, 2004, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397 "2004-12-31T08:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/21 "2004-12-31T19:56:29Z")
I do love me some scrabble. My roommate and I play sometimes, but he’s the only one that I really ever play with. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/22 "2004-12-31T21:11:12Z")
A friend and I have gotten into the habit of listening to old-time radio broadcasts and playing Scrabble. Apparently it’s the 40s. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/23 "2004-12-31T21:12:52Z")
Yup, Scrabble is great. My best Scrabble story … We’re playing Scrabble with another couple. She spells out P-E-N-I-S. Her hubby, looking at the board inverted, says “Pennis! [sub](rhymes with tennis)[/sub], there’s no such word as pennis! You’re cheating.” She, with wicked grin, says “Are you sure?”. He, a Greek scholar and would-be word geek says “Heck yeah I’m sure, let’s get the dictionary”. So she sloowly turns the board around facing his way. After about 45 degrees, boy did he turn red. My pennis nearly wet my pants I was laughing so hard. ---
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/24 "2004-12-31T21:50:46Z")
I got Super Scrabble for Christmas, too. Haven’t opened it up yet. Frankly the concept of the Quadruple Word Score scares me. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/25 "2004-12-31T22:35:07Z")
> [@Gadfly](#): > > I think the lowest point in the history of my Scrabble playing was attempting to play “gank”. C’mon! Gank’s a perfectly cromulent word! I use it all the time. It means “to boldly steal, often through stealth.” ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/26 "2004-12-31T22:39:17Z")
[gank (vt.)](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gank&f=1) ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/27 "2004-12-31T22:40:06Z")
Scrabble is my second favorite game under Monopoly (the evidence for this is while I do have about 7 scrabble games including super scrabble I have about 70 monopoly games plus other stuff) I have a Tshirt witl all the Q w/o U words on it 🙂 I get many compliments and many more confused looks! The latest version of computer scrabble resurrected Email scrabble! Happy Dance!! ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/28 "2004-12-31T23:46:08Z")
[Obligatory post containing nothing but a link to a flash movie] [http://www.vidlit.com/craziest/craziest.html](http://www.vidlit.com/craziest/craziest.html) [/opcnbaltafm] ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/29 "2005-01-01T00:05:32Z")
All you Scrabble fans, you need to track down the documentary _Word Wars._ Very interesting and entertaining, and no matter how obsessed you are with the game, you’ll meet dozens of people who make you look like a dilettante. Trust me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/30 "2005-01-01T02:20:12Z")
The two-letter, three-letter, U-less Q words, high-frequency six-letter stems (SATIRE, SATINE, et al.) can be found easily enough with a web search. Yeah, they’re pretty important. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/31 "2005-01-01T02:28:20Z")
In high school, we always used to play “dirty word” Scrabble when we were bored. Yeah, it’s lame and childish, but it’s good for giggle. ---
**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 1, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/32 "2005-01-01T02:46:01Z")
Last year, I found a web site that had the new corrected list of 2 letter words approved to be used in Scrabble, I used it to show Cecil that his list in a Straight dope classic was outdated. Cecil used the link for the update on the classic article. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/33 "2005-01-01T02:52:34Z")
I love Scrabble too. In fact, I play in a club every week and memorize lists of words and such. Pretty soon “qi” will be acceptable in tournament play in North America. That, I am looking forward to. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/34 "2005-01-01T07:54:52Z")
Does anyone else play with house rules on acceptable words? We allow most common profanities, which aren’t in the Official Scrabble Dictionary. Not that we go out of our way to spell them, but it’s kind of silly to pretend “shit,” which has been an English word for much longer than most words, isn’t a word. We have a few others written out we didn’t find in the OSD, mostly modern coinings. ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/35 "2005-01-01T10:50:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Scrabble, let’s be honest, is a wonderful game. There’s nothing more satisfying that laying down a big ol’ 7-letter word that jacks up your score and blocks your opponents from the best squares and drives them insane because you blocked all the Us and they’re stuck with the Q. (Remember, kids: “Qat” is a word.) > > I’m not like a champion or anything but I play at every opportunity. The time I laid down a 140-point word may well have been the happiest moment of my entire life. We got a travelling Scrabble kit so we wouldn’t miss any chances to play. I got a video game Scrabble so I could play on the plane. > > The game is so simple, and yet so fiendishly deep. Strategic and tactical decisions await at every turn. > > Who else loves Scrabble? I love scrabble. My best scrabble experience was the short period I was hooked to it online, and played an old 82 year old lady from the U.S. whose 84 year old husband had fought to liberate my country in World War II. After our 2 games and a very pleasant conversation she had to politely take leave from me to tend the roses in her garden before the sun sets. The full implications of this short interaction and the mental image it projects in my head surely warrant a poem some day. ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/36 "2005-01-02T02:20:35Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Does anyone else play with house rules on acceptable words? > > We allow most common profanities, which aren’t in the Official Scrabble Dictionary. Not that we go out of our way to spell them, but it’s kind of silly to pretend “shit,” which has been an English word for much longer than most words, isn’t a word. We have a few others written out we didn’t find in the OSD, mostly modern coinings. From [Scrabble FAQ - General Information](http://www.faqs.org/faqs/games/scrabble-faq/general/) > [@](#): > > In October 1995, NSA issued an Expurgated Scrabble Players Dictionary (“ESPD”), calling it OSPD3, omitting approximately 167 words labeled as offensive to specific ethnic, racial, sexual and other groups, such as the words “dago”, “jew” and “fatso”. Hasbro, the NSA’s parent, gave as major reasons for the change its desire to promote Scrabble in elementary schools using the OSPD and complaints by offended ethnic groups. > > Facing much opposition by competitive players who did not want their playing vocabulary restricted to those words considered safe for children, NSA has made the ESPD _not_ the official reference for club and tournament play. (It says on the dust jacket, “for recreational and school play.”) Instead, starting February 1, 1996, competitions used OSPD2 plus the words added in ESPD. (A few words which reappear in ESPD because of its sloppy basing on early printings of OSPD2 --before some corrections – will not be added back, though.) > > It’s anomalous to have the “Official Scrabble Players Dictionary” not be official. Here’s a list of the removed words: [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1217/scrabble/expurgated.html](http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1217/scrabble/expurgated.html) And yes, I love Scrabble very much and am rather good at it: [http://www.scrabbleassociation.com/cgi-bin/player.pl?given=Nathan&surname=Benedict&country=United%20States&exact=1](http://www.scrabbleassociation.com/cgi-bin/player.pl?given=Nathan&surname=Benedict&country=United%20States&exact=1) [http://www.scrabbleassociation.com/tourneys/2004/nsc/build/player/1/011.html](http://www.scrabbleassociation.com/tourneys/2004/nsc/build/player/1/011.html) I play frequently on the Internet Scrabble Club. Check out www.isc.ro to get on it yourself–it’s really incredible. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/37 "2005-01-02T05:28:55Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Does anyone else play with house rules on acceptable words? Yeah, in my family we always disallowed slang, or even words that were marked in the dictionary as “dialectical” or “informal”. It was Standard Written English or bust. We liked it that way–it was more challenging and you didn’t have to memorize all of short jargon and slang words in the “official” dictionary. Unfortunately having mastered all of the strategy that way I’d never be able to re-learn it the “right” way. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/38 "2005-01-02T11:46:23Z")
I would note that Filapinos are Scrabble killers. The train as kids it seems by betting their lunch money on games. Here in the Kingdom, they have a national championship. ---
**Author:** ![Suse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Suse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suse)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/39 "2005-01-02T17:24:19Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > Anyone ever play Literati on [yahoo.com](http://yahoo.com)? I play it with friends some time, it’s pretty fun. I play it occasionally, too. Want to meet for a game? ---
**Author:** ![maleinblack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@maleinblack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maleinblack)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397/40 "2005-01-02T23:39:51Z")
I got hooked on to scrabble pretty late in life. About 4 years ago when I was 20, my friend **calm kiwi** introduced me to the online version and I never looked back. I play on Yahoo Literati too and I think all scrabble playing dopers should unite for tournaments and the like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-i-love-scrabble-dont-you-love-scrabble/282397.md?page=3)