# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785 "2024-07-25T15:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 232
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4621 "2026-05-17T17:00:12Z")
A word for something that doesn’t even exist? I have to admit I had to google it, because in German that fantasy is rendered as “Chi”. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4622 "2026-05-17T17:06:10Z")
The poor players can’t think of anything better with the letter Q. There **[must be](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/words-containing-q)**. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4623 "2026-05-17T17:18:06Z")
We’ve got a lot of interesting names for mealtimes. Dewbit is a pre-breakfast bite of a meal, for people who had to get up at the crack of dawn - apparently in East Anglia the meals of the day were: dewbit, breakfast, nuncheon, cruncheon, nammet, crammet, supper. ‘Nammet’ is thought to derive from ‘noon-meat’, so it appears that four of these meals were in the morning. Nuncheon might possibly be at nine o clock. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4624 "2026-05-17T17:53:01Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > The poor players can’t think of anything better with the letter Q. There **[must be](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/words-containing-q)**. Then why not lay “Quinoa” instead of “Qi”? Gets you more points, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4625 "2026-05-17T17:58:20Z")
If they had a U, there’d be no need to play “qi.” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4626 "2026-05-17T18:01:30Z")
Ah, I see, the last time I played Scrabble must have been more than 45 years ago, and I forgot about some of the fine points of the game. Anyway, when we play it, it looks like this: [![](https://demotywatory.pl//uploads/201411/1415998032_f41dhf_fb_plus.jpg) ](https://demotywatory.pl//uploads/201411/1415998032_f41dhf_fb_plus.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4627 "2026-05-17T18:40:23Z")
I find it hard to believe the player does not have at least an _a_ or two to choose from, finding a _u_ in the board with space left and right gives you either _qua_ or _aqua_. If you have a _u_ and an _a_, find another free standing _a_ and get the same. Seems like the least you should do, and not this lousy qi. Without the proper letters at hand everything remains inconsequential spequlation, of qourse. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4628 "2026-05-17T19:07:13Z")
One should also distinguish between competitive Scrabble and casual play. Among highly-skilled players, two-letter words get a lot of use, from playing one word parallel to another word (this is also allowed with the crossings forming longer words, but much rarer, because it’s harder to do). So maybe the player with the Q is, in fact, playing “quinoa” or “aqua”, and the “qi” is coming along for the ride. For the record, by the way, it’s also usually spelled “chi” in English. “Qi” is an alternate spelling, that was just barely common enough to make it into a couple of dictionaries. But that was enough to make it legit, and so Scrabble players (who care not one whit about commonness) seized on it as being very useful. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4629 "2026-05-17T19:12:56Z")
You don’t understand how to play at a higher level. For example you can line up two words alongside each other horizontally and then there can be a few words made vertically between them. You can now have the Q making two different words and it’s even better if the Q is on a double or triple for a massive score. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4630 "2026-05-17T19:17:43Z")
I also played decades ago for the last time, but I remember that when you put two words parallel to each other ALL the transversal combinations must make sense. So if you put AQUA parallel to whatever, say TIME, so that you have the QI you mention, it would not be valid in my childhood because AT and QI are valid words, but UM or MU and AE or EA are not. Does that rule no longer apply? ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4631 "2026-05-17T19:20:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think Tolkien used the word. In the book, the hobbits’ meals were just “breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, second lunch, dinner, second dinner”. At Bilbo’s birthday party: There were three official meals: lunch, tea, and dinner (or supper). But lunch and tea were marked chiefly by the fact that at those times all the guests were sitting down and eating together. At other times there were merely lots of people eating and drinking --continuously from elevenses until six-thirty, when the fireworks started. Second breakfast isn’t mentioned though, as far as I can tell. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4632 "2026-05-17T19:25:41Z")
No, all of the connecting words must be valid, so AQUA directly next to TIME wouldn’t work, as you said. Which makes a solid repertoire of valid two-letter words all the more crucial. Even with all of the words needing to be valid, competitive players manage it quite often. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4633 "2026-05-17T19:26:20Z")
You’re correct but experienced players have ways of making it work and being able to use the Q twice. The Greek letter XI is used similarly. I’ll try to find some examples later. I’m on my phone now. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4634 "2026-05-17T19:29:04Z")
Haha. Chromos keeps jumping in ahead of me. Btw a great word in those situations is AA (a type of lava) to make those combos work. Another favorite is ZA (slang for pizza) ---
**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:** [May 17, 2026, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4635 "2026-05-17T19:32:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, all of the connecting words must be valid, so AQUA directly next to TIME wouldn’t work, as you said. AT, QI, UM and AE are all valid Scrabble words. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4636 "2026-05-17T19:37:10Z")
OK, two things: I chose the wrong word with TIME. And English has much too many valid two letter words. I played Spanish as a child, there are perhaps **[50](https://www.scribd.com/doc/32987495/Scrabble-Palabras-de-dos-y-tres-letras)** valid two letter words in Spanish. Perhaps 100, depending on the rules about acronyms (banned in my childhood). And German? German is fantastiq! There is not one single valid two letter word in German!\* Makes the game much more interesting. \* That is a joke, but not wide off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4637 "2026-05-17T20:12:47Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > because AT and QI are valid words, but UM or MU and AE or EA are not. UM and MU and AE are most definitely valid Scrabble words. EA is not. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4638 "2026-05-17T20:17:37Z")
There are 107 accepted 2-letter words when playing Scrabble, according to this list. > **[Two Letter Words | Scrabble application](https://scrabble.merriam.com/2-letter-words)** ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4639 "2026-05-17T20:47:28Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I chose the wrong word with TIME Play AQUA next to TIPS, and all the cross-words, save QI, will be commonly-used two-letter English words. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4640 "2026-05-18T14:06:38Z")
This comes in the category of: “How could I possibly not know this before now?!” Everyone knows Al and Peggy Bundy along with Kelly and Bud. What I didn’t know until this morning is that Peggy Bundy isn’t “Peggy” Bundy. Her birth name is Margaret (Wanker) Bundy. In an episode in which her mother was staying in their house, the mother shouted downstairs: “Margaret, I’m on my last bite of lunch. Where’s my dinner?!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=231) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=233)