I seem to be temporarily Google-stupid (maybe it's the rum?) but I can't find a comprehensive list of what qualifies as a legal word in Scrabble. The last time I played, I believed I used Norse gods, math terms and African countries and I don't know if I was duping my competitors with my "those are totally legal, take my word for it" claims or not.
Anyone willing to help me out? Last time I was here there was a Google master named Kayla (?) but she doesn't seem to be around...
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
Proper nouns aren't allowed. So yes, you were cheating.
Posted by EmpSquared (Member # 10890) on :
Thanks. I will keep that in mind next time. I just couldn't make the Z work without the word "Zaire."
I had something like three proper nouns the last time I played. I'm a bad person.
Posted by Raventhief (Member # 9002) on :
Hasbro's Web site is based on the Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary (OSPD4, to be precise). Tournament play allows a slightly larger number of words, which can be found in the Official World List (OWL--OWL1 corresponds to OSPD3, and OWL2 corresponds to OSPD4).
The main differences are 1) that OSPD is explicitly "family-friendly" and thus has curse words, racial slurs, and other derogatory terms removed (though its notion of what is offensive is sometimes a little random) and 2) that the OWL contains words up to 9 letters long (plus extensions) while the OSPD for the most part only contains words up to 8 letters long (plus extensions). Oh, and also that the OSPD has definitions, while the OWL is exactly what it claims to be: a list of words, no additional information provided.
There also exists a Long Word List (LWL) that contains words 10-15 letters long (plus extensions).
I've never used the LWL, but my Scrabble group makes fairly frequent recourse to the OWL (twice last game, I recall). I've found copies of OWL1 easily by Googling, and there are probably copies of OWL2 out there if you look a little harder. Since I'm fairly certain they're all copyright violations, I'm refraining from linking.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by EmpSquared: Thanks. I will keep that in mind next time. I just couldn't make the Z work without the word "Zaire."
I had something like three proper nouns the last time I played. I'm a bad person.
Raze.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
"Zaire" is an acceptable word because it's the name of a currency, like "dollar".
Posted by EmpSquared (Member # 10890) on :
IIRC, "Z" had to be the first letter.
On a side note, I've taken to playing scrabble online against a computer. I've learned a lot about two letter words.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I learned a lot of two letter words from doing crossword puzzles.
AA = pillow lava AI = two-toed sloth
(or maybe it's the other way around)
At one point I memorized all the two letter words in the scrabble dictionary but then my family said that was cheating. I didn't get that. How is it cheating to remember stuff?
What are your favorite two letter words?
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
qi xi xu ox ax ka ki jo za
Very nice for getting rid of difficult-to-play letters.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Definitely! Do you know what they mean? I guess I can look them up on dictionary.com.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
zee was always my favorite "begins with z" word.
Posted by ambyr (Member # 7616) on :
qi = universal energy force ("chi") xi = Greek letter xu = Vietnamese currency ox = uh, large mammal that pulls plows ax = thing you chop things with ka = the soul, in Eygptian theology ki = universal energy force ("chi") jo = sweetheart, from the Scottish za = pizza
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Ah, ambyr, I didn't realize you could use non-English words. I get ox and ax, though. Of course in crossword puzzles any- and everything is legal, and they'll cheat like crazy making up the clues. But in scrabble I was thinking the rules were a lot tighter about what constitutes an English word. Those are very handy to know.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Those words were all taken from English dictionaries when the official Scrabble dictionary was made. Of course, it's worth pointing out that some of those dictionaries were of questionable authority and have gone out of print since then.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :