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Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

theguardian.com

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Re: Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

#51

Post by caseyohara »

mattkrause wrote: post #39
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singular "they" still sounds wrong to me every time I see it. Which is a shame since it would be very useful. Perhaps more importantly, I don't think singular "they" would be considered proper in formal writing.

If it is good enough for Austin, Byron, and Chesterfield, not to mention Shakespeare, then it is good enough for me. The catch is that it sounds best when there's no specific antecedent: "Every user of the workshop must be responsible for their own safety." It sounds odder when it is deliberately used to avoid (mis)gendering a specific individual: "Pat does not discuss their* gender." I think this is the niche that '…

I've heard of 'ze' as a gender-neutral pronoun, but I've never really seen it used. How would you substitute 'ze' in that sentence: "Pat does not discuss their gender"?

Re: Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

#52

Post by T-hawk »

mj_olnir wrote: post #23
mj_olnir wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm unfamiliar - do common noun acronyms (like scuba) with more common usage than their full-fledged counterparts get in? If so, I could see UV being added.

Edit: just kidding, KO is in, and a quick search says scuba is in as well. Yeah, I'm very surprised that UV is not.

The general rule is, if the letters are pronounced phoenetically together as a word, it counts. That's why Scuba and Laser are in. It's the difference between AWOL (in) and MIA (not).

OK was never accepted before because it's not said as "ock". UV isn't pronounced "uhv" so should also be excluded. I guess now the distinguishing feature between those cases is that UV is an initialism while OK isn't. I can't think of any other example like OK, a word that is not an initialism and is said by naming each letter rather than pronouncing them phonetically.

Ko is in for being a (loan)word in its own right, not as the two-letter abbreviation for "knockout". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_fight

Re: Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

#53

Post by dragonwriter »

caseyohara wrote: post #51
mattkrause wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it is good enough for Austin, Byron, and Chesterfield, not to mention Shakespeare, then it is good enough for me. The catch is that it sounds best when there's no specific antecedent: "Every user of the workshop must be responsible for their own safety." It sounds odder when it is deliberately used to avoid (mis)gendering a specific individual: "Pat does not discuss their* gender." I think this is the niche that '…

I've heard of 'ze' as a gender-neutral pronoun, but I've never really seen it used. How would you substitute 'ze' in that sentence: "Pat does not discuss their gender"?

“Ze” (like “they”) is a subject pronoun, it has been suggested with various object pronouns (like “them”), possessive determiners (like “their”) and possessive pronouns (like “theirs”), including at least these patterns: ze/hir/hir/hirs, ze/mer/zer/zers, ze/zir/zir/zirs; ze/zem/zes/zes.

So, the “their” could change to any of “hir”, “mer”, “zir”, or “zes”, depending on which “ze” pattern was used.

Re: Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

#54

Post by rsynnott »

wiredfool wrote: post #32
chrisweekly wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(tangent to scrabble per se) I like the idea of "ze" (gender-neutral pronoun), but this is the first I've come across it. Hopefully it'll catch on as IMHO it's a big improvement over alternatives like "they". While on the topic of "missing" words, when will our language finally get something reasonable for "you (plural)"?? Extant "y'all" (southern) and "yous" (NJ) are not cutting it!

Y'all is often singular. Y'alls and All y'alls are plural. There's also youse, seen in Irish english. (at least in the Dublin dialect, can't say I've heard it much in the north)

‘Ye’ is also used in some parts of Ireland (and was used in archaic English).

Re: Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

#55

Post by rsynnott »

sdegutis wrote: post #20
gerry_shaw wrote: post #17

The addition of ze (gender-neutral pronoun) is even better than OK.

You'd think Scrabble would want to stay neutral with politically charged words like this so as not to offend any potential customers and instead ultimately gain more purchases and fewer boycotts. Especially a word like ze which would not exist if we parents had been doing our jobs correctly.

I’ve got to imagine that the sort of people who would be sufficiently offended by the inclusion of a novel pronoun to _refuse to play a board game_ are not common enough for, er, whoever’s in charge of scrabble to worry about.

Re: Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

#56

Post by stordoff »

mattkrause wrote: post #39
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singular "they" still sounds wrong to me every time I see it. Which is a shame since it would be very useful. Perhaps more importantly, I don't think singular "they" would be considered proper in formal writing.

If it is good enough for Austin, Byron, and Chesterfield, not to mention Shakespeare, then it is good enough for me. The catch is that it sounds best when there's no specific antecedent: "Every user of the workshop must be responsible for their own safety." It sounds odder when it is deliberately used to avoid (mis)gendering a specific individual: "Pat does not discuss their* gender." I think this is the niche that '…

> It sounds odder when it is deliberately used to avoid (mis)gendering a specific individual: "Pat does not discuss their* gender."

I suspect it depends on dialect. "their" just sounds more informal to me, "his"/"her" sounds slightly more formal.

Re: Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

#57

Post by MagicPropmaker »

hammock wrote: post #24

I've posted this before but in my family we play serious Scrabble but with house rules that improve the game. Rule 1: On your turn, but before playing your word, any letter in your hand may be swapped with any letter on the board, as long as the swap makes a valid word (some people already do this with blanks, we do it with any letter). Swap one letter at a time, as many times as you like. No points are scored for sw…

This eliminates a lot of strategy where you try to "block" an opponent from making a bingo, and moves based on knowing what letters are left.

Re: Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

#58

Post by Rapzid »

BRAlNlAC wrote: post #40
jolmg wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They is having a great time." It does sound wrong for some uses of he/she.

Don’t force the verb form. “I’m worried about my kid at summer camp” “Don’t worry, I’m sure they are having a great time” Sounds very natural to my west coast ears.

I believe it's typically only natural when the name/gender hasn't been established.

Re: Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

#59

Post by MagicPropmaker »

hammock wrote: post #24

I've posted this before but in my family we play serious Scrabble but with house rules that improve the game. Rule 1: On your turn, but before playing your word, any letter in your hand may be swapped with any letter on the board, as long as the swap makes a valid word (some people already do this with blanks, we do it with any letter). Swap one letter at a time, as many times as you like. No points are scored for sw…

> Source: my grandmother, who played these rules with the inventor of Scrabble back in college, before he had sold the game for mass distribution (they changed his rules to simplify them)

The inventor of Scrabble graduated college in 1924. He conceived of and developed the game in the late 30s while he was working full-time as an architect. He didn't start producing the games 'til after WW II, in 1948. He sold the rights in 1952.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Mosher_Butts

I'd love to hear more about how your Grandmother who must have been born no later than 1905 played Scrabble in college with Alfred Butts.

Re: Scrabble rule change allows use of 'OK'

#60

Post by tedunangst »

MagicPropmaker wrote: post #59
hammock wrote: post #24

I've posted this before but in my family we play serious Scrabble but with house rules that improve the game. Rule 1: On your turn, but before playing your word, any letter in your hand may be swapped with any letter on the board, as long as the swap makes a valid word (some people already do this with blanks, we do it with any letter). Swap one letter at a time, as many times as you like. No points are scored for sw…

> Source: my grandmother, who played these rules with the inventor of Scrabble back in college, before he had sold the game for mass distribution (they changed his rules to simplify them) The inventor of Scrabble graduated college in 1924. He conceived of and developed the game in the late 30s while he was working full-time as an architect. He didn't start producing the games 'til after WW II, in 1948. He sold the ri…

Parent didn't claim Butts was in college at the time.

https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/01/nyregion/neighborhood-rep...

> He collected accounts from some original players, like members of the Jackson Heights Woman's College Club.

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