Scrabble will allow proper nouns? Yes. And no
The talk started in England, with stories by the BBC and others that Scrabble was going to start allowing the use of proper nouns. When my co-worker Sarah Kelber (of the Reality Check blog) shrieked, I got worried. Scrabble holds a certain place of reverence in my home -- sparking fierce competition and legendary family battles. The thought of a board slathered with words such as with Jwoww or Kyrgyz gave me the shivers.
Turns out that the purists' fears are overblown. Mattel, which has international rights to the game (Hasbro controls it in the U.S.) plans a new version called Scrabble Trickster, with all sorts of gimmicks. Philip Nelkon, promotions manager of Mattel, told the Washington Post that there will be squares on the board calling on players to draw cards. The cards might instruct you to forfeit a letter to an opponent -- or permit you to spell a proper noun.
But here in the U.S., the game will remain the same, Jwoww-less. Phew.
Comments
the majority of us play scrabble by our own rules any way. funny tweet from Alyssa Milano and some other celebs on it:
"So... Scrabble now allows proper nouns. In other board game news, Parker Bros' SORRY is no longer apologetic." -- @alyssa_milano
http://bit.ly/95onLR
Posted by: Gina | April 7, 2010 4:07 PM
Have you tried Facebook Scrabble? I play long distance with my daughter and add strange new words to my vocabulary almost daily. That's enough for me. Adding proper nouns would be overwhelming.
Posted by: Ruth Schaefer | April 8, 2010 10:05 AM
But how will we purists retain our sense of snobbery? http://bit.ly/divgmM
Posted by: Claire | April 9, 2010 9:46 AM
It's will be very silly to allow proper nouns but happily I can still choose the rules I want to apply.
Posted by: Daniel | April 9, 2010 10:59 AM
Daniel, that's anarchy!!! Actually, one of the most interesting features of our family competitions is the pre-game argument over what rules and which dictionary to use. When the extended family gets involved, it really gets heated.
Posted by: Dave | April 9, 2010 11:17 AM
I don't think that this rule will last long. This rule would be irrational.
Posted by: Tomasz Scrabble Helper | July 24, 2010 1:27 PM