The Shallow End

Word Play

I recently purchased the scintillating, action-packed video game of...wait for it...

Scrabble! Woot!!

(Merriam Webster's word of the Year, wOOt!, is not in the Scrabble dictionary by the way)

Who invented the Scrabble dictionary anyway? The Scrabble people? How is that really fair play? I insist on playing with a real dictionary. Which is why, now, I play alone.

After exhausting my trial 60 minutes worth, I had difficulty purchasing the game which was unavailable for a spell. Finally (after accidentally installing it on Dad's computer while trying to show him how it wasn't available), I managed to download it on my own.

Which leads me to this...

Since when is "Qat" a word? It means "kat," according to the Scrabble people...which means what, exactly? "Cat" perhaps? Sheesh. Where's the "U"? Isn't there some rule about that? What has happened to everything I learned in kindergarten?

And "Biz" (plural = "bizzes," I kid you not!) This means "business" for the undereducated.

And "Qi"? Qi, if you are wondering, is the "vital force that in Chinese thought is inherent in all things" Ah yes, the ubiquitous qi. I guess "qi" is fair if "Tao" is a word (it is). But "Te" is not. What would Piglet say?

"Hyp," meaning hypochondria? Who decides which abbreviations get into this dictionary? "Hyp" is in, but "ADHD" is out. "Ed" (education) is in, but "org" (organization) is out.

Which brings me to the real source of angst this evening. "Jews" is not a word, according to the Gentile Scrabble people. And that's important because if it was, I would have won 66 points for playing it on a double letter/triple word box! Sheesh.

See what I mean? I can't even play alone, without getting into a fight.

Labels: Insanity

posted by Gwynne @ 11:32 PM