# What words should be added to the official Scrabble Dictionary? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 25, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395 "2010-02-25T15:31:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/1 "2010-02-25T15:31:22Z")
The [official Scrabble dictionary](http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/en_US/search.cfm)includes words like ZA which apparently stands for pizza and I have rarely heard used. Fine, but isn’t it time that OK is allowed? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/2 "2010-02-25T17:02:02Z")
[Zweeghb](http://crookedtimber.org/2006/09/26/john-m-ford-has-died/) ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/3 "2010-02-25T17:04:48Z")
Zen! I play with a penalty, so when playing with someone who isn’t as hard core as I am who plays “zen,” I pull a total dick move on them and challenge it. They lose their turn even though zen is totally a word, despite not appearing in the Official Scrabble Dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/4 "2010-02-25T17:30:39Z")
Cromulent is a perfectly cromulent word and I see no reason it should not be added. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/5 "2010-02-25T17:58:45Z")
Both \*OK \*and \*Zen \*are not in the Scrabble dictionary because they are capitalized. I agree that\* za\* is a total BS word, but thank Og for it. And for _qi_. For some reason my brain is convinced that \*fo \*is a word even though it is not. I think my brain believes that words in the phrase ‘fee fie fo fum’ are words. \*Zyq \*should be a word. It should mean ‘an excellent word in Scrabble.’ If enough of us use it, we can get it there. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/6 "2010-02-25T18:18:19Z")
Jew is another nice one that seems like it “should” be in the dictionary…though I guess it fails for the same reason as Zen. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/7 "2010-02-25T18:55:55Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Jew is another nice one that seems like it “should” be in the dictionary…though I guess it fails for the same reason as Zen. I think that’s because it’s considered offensive. Lexulous, for example, uses pretty much the same SOWPODS set of sources to build [its word list](http://www.lexuloushelper.com/lexulous-dictionary.aspx), but lets me play vulgarities: I recently scored a bingo on Lexulous with FUCKING, and have done well with words like NIGGERS and KIKE. (Hey, one was a bingo, the other had a K on a triple letter in two directions.) JEW is allowed in Lexulous but is not in the Scrabble dictionary because of its use as a verb, meaning to screw someone over on a bargain or to dicker needlessly over a trivial amount. Interestingly enough GYP is in the [Scrabble dictionary](http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/en_US/), as I think is WELSH, both of which are similarly negative verbs rooted in ethnic stereotypes (to cheat someone by selling a falsely advertised substitute product, or to renege on a deal or bet). Explicit or vulgar words are also removed from the Scrabble dictionary. I once scored a bingo on Lexulous with FELLATIO, and I’m rather surprised to see that that IS in the Scrabble dictionary. But BLOWJOB is in the Lexulous dictionary and not Scrabble’s. What annoys me are the compound words that are or are not in the Scrabble dictionary for no obvious reason (why are some UN- or RE- words there and not others? – REENTRY is allowed but not REENTER?), or words like JO which means “a sweetheart” but doesn’t allow for extension with an S (so, I can have DEARS or DARLINGS but not JOS?). ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/8 "2010-02-25T19:00:39Z")
> [@badlyburnttoast](#): > > Cromulent is a perfectly cromulent word and I see no reason it should not be added. It would be crapulent to not add it. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/9 "2010-02-25T19:02:55Z")
> [@badlyburnttoast](#): > > Cromulent is a perfectly cromulent word and I see no reason it should not be added. > [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > It would be crapulent to not add it. It embiggens the human spirit to embrace cromulent words like crapulent. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/10 "2010-02-25T19:14:49Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Both \*OK \*and \*Zen \*are not in the Scrabble dictionary because they are capitalized. That’s not really the litmus test. “Proper Nouns” are not allowed, which is to say designations for (specific) people (Obama) and places (a place name like San Antonio). However there are words which are also common terms for generic nouns, like SMITH which can be a person’s last name, or designate someone with a hammer and an anvil, or a place name like Independence, a city in Missouri but of course also an abstract concept. And some object words are “borrowed” proper nouns, after a certain point of popular usage they become accepted as nouns. For example, “xerox” meaning “to make a paper photocopy”. There’s a gray area for crossover words that start out as proper nouns or adjectives, but become common nouns due to populare usage. For example DANISH is allowed in the sense of a kind of pastry, while ITALIAN is not because it’s only used as a word specifically to refer to a person from Italy, or something owned, made, etc., by Italy/an Italian. That’s what puzzles me about the Scrabble dictionary. Recently the computer AI dropped JOMON on me, which I thought referred to a pre-historic period of Japanese history. And when I looked it up on the Scrabble dictionary, yep, that’s what they have it meaning also (“pertaining to a Japanese cultural period”). So how is that allowed where, say, JACOBIAN is not? Somewhere in between is something like DELFT (a place in the Netherlands) being allowed because of its use as a generic noun for a kind of china-like earthenware from that city (and there you are again, “china” instead of “China”). But I’ve never heard of “a collection of stuff made in the Jomon period” on display at a museum as “the jomon”. Maybe I just hang with the wrong crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/11 "2010-02-25T19:43:20Z")
Okay is already a valid word. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/12 "2010-02-25T19:55:22Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > That’s not really the litmus test. [Words that are spelled with a capital letter cannot be used](http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:2aAW3VIsNvgJ:www.scrabblepages.com/scrabble/rules/+scrabble+rules&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a). ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/13 "2010-02-25T19:58:21Z")
If “za” is short for pizza, why can’t “zen” be short for dozen? Example: “I’d like to order a zen of za for the office party tonight.” ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/14 "2010-02-25T20:14:48Z")
[zebu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebu) - a type of African and south Asian cattle, is not in the Official Scrabble Dictionary, whereas it is in the OED. That’s one of many reasons I prefer play the OED. I lost a turn over that in 1999, and I’m still bitter. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/15 "2010-02-25T20:17:34Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > [zebu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebu) - a type of African and south Asian cattle, is not in the Official Scrabble Dictionary, whereas it is in the OED. That’s one of many reasons I prefer play the OED. I lost a turn over that in 1999, and I’m still bitter. You can rest easy, it’s in there now. ZEBU [15 pts] an Asian ox ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/16 "2010-02-25T20:18:24Z")
“za” does get used, at least we used it in college. There’s a fancy pizza restaurant near me called [Za](http://www.zarestaurant.com/). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/17 "2010-02-25T21:00:02Z")
It is possible to have more than one JO – the plural is JOES. And I was happy when they added “za” (which we’ve been using, in a faux-hipster sort of way, for 40 years or so) and the quintessential Philly greeting, “yo.” The absence that annoys me most often – aside from “zen,” of course, which is in the process of de-properifying, I hope – is “quo.” “Status” is an English word, so “quo” should be too, right? BTW – let me lay out my usual invitation to anyone who wants to play Lexulous with me, via email or in real-time, my username there is also **twickster**. **Asimovian** and I usually have a game going. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/18 "2010-02-25T21:15:20Z")
I have always thought **OZ** should be a scrabble word. **UTOPIA** is a word and I think of both words similarly. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/19 "2010-02-25T21:25:11Z")
Utopia, (with a capital U) is an actual place and is not allowed. However, utopia (with a lower-case U) has grown in meaning enough to be thought of as a generic perfect place. Oz is just a place. It doesn’t have any derived meaning. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395/20 "2010-02-25T23:50:53Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > If “za” is short for pizza, why can’t “zen” be short for dozen? Except nobody uses “zen” for “dozen.” At least not that I know of. “Za” for pizza is common enough, though I suppose it depends on the company you keep. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-should-be-added-to-the-official-scrabble-dictionary/530395.md?page=2)