Si, Senhor.  Aargh. Aarrgh.  Aarrghh!

All allowable words, as is “fuck.” Fuckers.

/end anti-SOWPODS rant/

I’m agonna het you in da hed.

I know “het.” It is dialect.  Dialect is not allowed.  Kind of like highly offensive words not being allowed.  It is AGAINST THE RULES.  I can accept that “fuck” and “cunt” do not exist in the Scrabble universe without being a whiney baby about it (they’re in stink-POD’s tho).  Foreign words are against the rules.  Sounds like “baa” and exclamations like “aargh” and its demented cousin “aarrghh” are against the rules.  Period.  No pop-down two-letter word lists.  No looking up words in advance of playing them. 

I would like to vote we set up a game (or all games I’m involved in) where the dictionary is the small, paperback Random House Dictionary I keep by my desk.  If a person plays a weird word and another challenges and wins, the loser forfeits out of the game. It would be okay if someone wants to propose a somewhat bigger hard-bound dictionary, but it has to be at least 15 years old so the weird shit that’s sneaking into the dictionary lately isn’t in there.

I know I’ll lose to Boot 9 games out of 10 under the new (OLD) rules.  But I will like the game much better.  Deal?

I’ve been meaning to reply to this ever since reading ‘mouse’s comment this morning, but just hadn’t gotten to it yet. 

There are, of course, limits to playing Scrabble online, the main one being that we can’t laugh and groan at the progress of the game in the presence of those we are playing against.  We also can’t, at least in games involving more than two players, challenge another players word, as we can when we play in person.  This is just a limitation of the online game.  Maybe other sites are different.  I don’t know.  Keep in mind that my research into online Scrabble games lasted approximately 10 seconds and involved maybe 4 or 5 clicks of the mouse.  (Not “the ‘mouse,” which would only het things up. heh heh...)

As far as a player withdrawing from a game, I don’t even know if this is an option in this online version.

Maybe I’m just too easy going or not competitive enough to fully appreciate ‘mouse’s concerns for how our games are being played.  Who knows.  Personally, I’m glad that words show up on the board that I don’t know the meaning to, which actually isn’t saying a whole lot, given my rather limited vocabulary.  Seriously, a game board filled with only the words that I knew would, I’m afraid, appear rather lame and unexciting.

I guess maybe I just accept that the software of the game makes the rules and allows or disallows as it sees fit.  I don’t look up words I am trying to play unless I am unsure of the word’s spelling, and then I admit I do look it up.  I also use the two-letter pop-down menu, not in order to see what I can play, but rather to save myself time when I’m trying to line up a word I’ve already come up with.  But have I been guilty of thinking something is a word, even if I don’t know it, squeezing the letters onto the board and hitting the submit button?  Absolutely.  In real life, if I was sitting across from you at the table, I would do the same thing then tell you a bold-faced lie about what the word meant if you were curious or thought you might challenge me.  I would sell you a bill of goods and chances are, you would believe me because, sadly enough, I am a fairly good liar.

As far as desk dictionaries are concerned, I still have the same Random House paperback edition sitting on my desk that I picked up at the University of Arkansas student union back in 1979 for $2.50.  And no, it’s not the Arkansas edition, but if it was, I guarantee you it would have the word “het” in it, which I know I heard many of the old timers use on many an occasion.

P.S.  I agree with Keith about how cool it is to learn new words via scrabble.  And about missing the chance to lie about made-up ones.

Carry on.

But, ‘mouse I don’t like Sowpods either and I don’t use the drop-down two word thing (I didn’t even know it existed until just now).

That’s my point, ‘het’ is in my dictionary.  Else I wouldn’t have used it.  I’m really sorry this has upset you.  If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn’t intentionally use either barbie or bbq since they’re both slang.

I agree, Keith, there’s a lot of stuff that is irritating about playing online, but that’s this version of the game and that’s that.  Some of the words I’ve seen played would make me stand up and rant in real life.  I play quite differently to how I would in person, but I still try to stick to what I consider are ‘real’ words. 

I do use a lot of old words (real or online), but I love that.  That’s why Scrabble is fun.  For the words.

speaking of which, whose turn is it?

Yep, we do call ‘em barbies.  As in, chuck another prawn on the barbie.

Actually, if I was playing against Australians and someone used barbie I’d have to allow it.  It’s such a well used word that it’s a bit cruel to not let it get used.

And, Keith, who the hell knows about the Q in BB.  It’s probably some foreign muck.

And, lastly [edited], of course she has you on a pedestal, Keith.  We all do.  You’re Keith.