# Scrabble- Why is H worth 4 points? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 25, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002 "2011-03-25T20:23:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002/41 "2011-03-28T01:03:15Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > The “permissiveness” comment is because they go out of their way include words that make it easier to make big plays Can you cite that they do this, or is this your theory? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002/42 "2011-03-28T01:18:37Z")
Er, amend my previous post, there: I meant to say _less_ obscure than “a’a”. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002/43 "2011-03-28T03:06:13Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > Can you cite that they do this, or is this your theory? No, no cite, but that’s my belief. Do you think they _don’t_ load up on two-letter words beyond what their usage in speech and writing would call for? Does anyone? I didn’t think that was controversial. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002/44 "2011-03-28T06:03:18Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > No, no cite, but that’s my belief. Do you think they _don’t_ load up on two-letter words beyond what their usage in speech and writing would call for? Does anyone? I didn’t think that was controversial. Ok, well I don’t. I’d be a little surprised to find out this is the case. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002/45 "2011-03-28T18:19:46Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > No, no cite, but that’s my belief. Do you think they _don’t_ load up on two-letter words beyond what their usage in speech and writing would call for? Does anyone? I didn’t think that was controversial. The basis for inclusion in the Scrabble Players’ Dictionary is that a word has to be found in at least one of five collegiate dictionaries: Funk & Wagnalls, Merriam-Webster’s, American Heritage Dictionary, Webster’s New World Dictionary, or Random House. The exceptions are (1) the Players Dictionary doesn’t bother with words beyond eight letters long due to their rarity in home play; (2) there was mid-90s purge of swears and ethnic slurs. Both types of words are included in the Official Word List that governs tournament play. So, if you think ‘hm’ or ‘za’ shouldn’t be words, you need to complain to the compilers of whichever of the five dictionaries decided to include them. (List of the five dictionaries comes from Stefan Fastis’ “Word Freak.”) ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002/46 "2011-03-28T23:25:02Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Although looking at it in the mathematical sense that **Chronos** describes makes two-letter strings of any description seem pretty weak, the rules accept them and apparently they’re a big part of the game. I’ve heard serious players comment that the addition of QI has significantly changed the game. Where as serious players usually exclusively knew the high scoring odd words (XI, XU, JO, QAT, TAJ), ZA and especially QI has allowed novices to garner big scores. Especially in the case of QI where U-less Q words are rare. > [@42fish](#): > > (2) there was mid-90s purge of swears and ethnic slurs. Both types of words are included in the Official Word List that governs tournament play. A fact that threw a wrench into ESPN’s early efforts to broadcast Scrabble tourneys IIRC. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002/47 "2011-03-29T00:04:04Z")
Interestingly, this past summer when I was home visiting family, there was a friendly Scrabble game going where folks where trying to help Gramma use the last of her letters so she wouldn’t be stuck with a big point deduction. I suggested “qi”, but nobody else was sure if it was a word, and it certainly wasn’t in the fifty-year-old dictionary we dug out. This would have been after it was added to the tournament dictionary, but I didn’t know it at the time. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002/48 "2011-03-29T04:44:08Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Do you have problems in a regular (non-tournament) game if the dictionary is a regular dictionary rather than the _Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary_? If you play something like qi or za, it’s not in our household dictionary, and wouldn’t be legal. I suspect a lot of those “weird” words aren’t in there. The main thing that’s really nice about using the OSPD (aside from it being an agreed-upon standard) is that it’s completely explicit about what is and is not a word… which may sound like an odd comment about a dictionary, but if you look up “dig” in the OSPD it specifically and clearly lists not just “dig” but “digs, digging, digger, diggers, dug” etc, and will tell you whether or not “diggings” is a word. Regular dictionaries can be less explicit about things like that. In addition, regular dictionaries will have prefixes and suffixes in there by themselves confusing you about whether “pre” is a word or not, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002/49 "2011-03-29T04:45:43Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > The basis for inclusion in the Scrabble Players’ Dictionary is that a word has to be found in at least one of five collegiate dictionaries: Funk & Wagnalls, Merriam-Webster’s, American Heritage Dictionary, Webster’s New World Dictionary, or Random House. I thought it was three out of five or something like that. But the point remains… if “qe” starts being used to mean something, the makers of the OSPD will not consider its impact on gameplay (which would be huge) when deciding whether to include it. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002/50 "2011-03-31T18:56:47Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > The basis for inclusion in the Scrabble Players’ Dictionary is that a word has to be found in at least one of five collegiate dictionaries: Funk & Wagnalls, Merriam-Webster’s, American Heritage Dictionary, Webster’s New World Dictionary, or Random House. This is [backed up at ScrabblePages](http://www.scrabblepages.com/scrabble/dictionary/), for the first edition at least. I’d say calling the OSPD “permissive” is accurate. Also from that link: > [@](#): > > Scrabble players proved to be more skilled at editing the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary than the editors. Within a couple of years, enough omissions and errata were found that Merriam-Websters considered a 2nd edition of the book. They may not have a _policy_ of “loading up” on useful words, but I’d expect those to be the words that people will request, so that would be the effect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrabble-why-is-h-worth-4-points/576002.md?page=2)