# Why isn't "QUO" an accepted Scrabble word? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** board-card-word-game\ **Created:** [April 24, 2004, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789 "2004-04-24T09:40:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [April 25, 2004, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/21 "2004-04-25T11:23:18Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Even more if you use a blank: buzz, fizz, fuzz, jazz, etc. And pizzaz. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/22 "2004-04-25T13:28:04Z")
To say nothing of “fez.” ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/23 "2004-04-25T16:28:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And **ataraxy22** , if you’re going to consider it a mathematical game with a large list of arbitrary valid strings, then why not also consider a game with a large list of ordered pair of strings, with the second of each element being the definition, to be mathematical? **Ataraxy22** , **Chronos** , bless both of you. A couple of years ago I went to a Scrabble night at the local community center, thinking “I like words, and I especially like crosswords - might be a nice way to meet other lexical types.” I was appalled when the best player that night sniffed that “A _real_ Scrabble player doesn’t care about definitions.” At that point I realized that the fact that the tiles had letters on them was utterly irrelevant - this was an elaborate mathematical game that tested players’ abilities to memorize code permutations. Very disappointing. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/25 "2026-01-20T11:43:28Z")
My Scrabble days are a ways behind me, but I’m happy to see than “zen” has become a playable word some time in the last twenty four years! ETA: Looks like it was added in 2018, so it did take a while. (This was to the OSPD, Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. There is more than one Scrabble word list, so it may have entered other word lists earlier.) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/26 "2026-01-20T13:42:29Z")
Askia’s Scrabble playing days are behind him, too, as he died in 2007. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/27 "2026-01-20T13:49:30Z")
(Obviously I’m a bit late to this thread) > [@OxyMoron](#): > > At that point I realized that the fact that the tiles had letters on them was utterly irrelevant - this was an elaborate mathematical game that tested players’ abilities to memorize code permutations. Very disappointing. I also had a similar feeling when I played at a weekly Scrabble night and I realised that I couldn’t improve my game without memorizing long lists of 7- and 8-letter words (which sounded too much like work for my tastes). ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/28 "2026-01-20T13:59:15Z")
Most of the 7 and 8 letter words, you probably already know. What you really need to learn are the obscure 2-letter words, like qi and aa. It’s worth noting, by the way, that the official rules for Scrabble don’t actually specify what dictionary to use. They just say that everyone should agree on a dictionary before the start of the game. It’s perfectly valid to say “We’re going to use Urban Dictionary”, or “We’re going to accept any word that gets more than 10,000 hits on Google”. The “Official Scrabble Dictionary” is only official insofar as it’s what’s used in (most) tournaments. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/29 "2026-01-20T13:59:56Z")
Oh, and [Moderating]: At the time this thread was started, the Game Room forum didn’t exist. Since it now does, I’m going to move this thread over to there. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/30 "2026-01-20T14:05:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Most of the 7 and 8 letter words, you probably already know. What you really need to learn are the obscure 2-letter words, like qi and aa. I had already memorized the 2 letter words. What I didn’t know (e.g.) is that AEINRST can form 8-letter words by adding A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U and W (and which 8-letter words they form). > **[RETINAS Bingo Stem - Scrabblelists.com - Scrabble Word Lists](https://www.scrabblelists.com/lists/retinas)** ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/31 "2026-01-20T14:06:31Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I’ve always wanted to play with my own rule on challenges–if you challenge the word, then the person who plays it has to give its definition. [replying to a 22-year-old post] This would be bad news for Nigel Richards, widely regarded as the GOAT of Scrabble. Seeking new worlds to conquer, he managed to win the French national championship after a few weeks of studying the French Scrabble dictionary. Because he does not speak the language, he does not know how to pronounce the words he plays, nor their meaning - but he does know just how they are spelled. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/32 "2026-01-20T14:13:05Z")
Yeah, getting 2-letter words memorized shouldn’t take much more than an afternoon or two. Learning hooks for bingos and then learning the bingos is a bit harder. It’s been years since I followed it, but at the tournament level, I believe each player averages around 2.5 bingos (using all tiles) per game. So you have to learn those weird big words, and there’s a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789/33 "2026-01-20T20:51:18Z")
Haven’t read the entire thread, but I assume any Scrabblers have read Fatsis’ **Word Freak** and his subsequent **Unabridged**. More than most would care to know about how words are chosen for inclusion in dictionaries. Together they should disavow anyone of the idea that Scrabble mastery has anything to do with command of the language, or that there is any legitimacy to opining unequivocably that any particular combination of characters is or isn’t a “word.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-quo-an-accepted-scrabble-word/241789.md?page=1)