The banned Scrabble phrases that can get you cancelled
Scrabble – which is owned by 53 per cent of British households – has had a ‘woke‘ treatment for 2024 with more than 2,000 new words added to to the games official dictionary – including Ge Z slang ‘sitch’, ‘noobie’, ‘tomoz’, ‘imma’ and ‘coulda’.
The controversial move comes after Mattel – who own the rights to the game outside of the US and Canada – banned more than 400 dictionary-defined words from the official list of approved answers.
While the list includes very obviously offensive slurs, there are numerous examples of words that also have a dual meaning that is completely innocent.
Meanwhile, some may be completely unaware that a word is considered offensive – for instance Jesuit and Jewish.
Scrabble bosses included ‘jew’, ‘nancy’, ‘hunkey’ and ‘poof’ on their list of banned terms, which players labelled ‘illogical’ and against the spirit of the game.
From Bubba, meaning ‘uneducated Southern white male’ to Jew, which means to ‘barter successfully’, Scrabble has banned a series of offensive words from the game
Although ‘poof’ can be interpreted as an ‘insulting word for a gay man’, its dictionary definition is a description of something that vanished into thin air or an experssion of surprise.
Meanwhile, ‘jew’ was also included on the list because it used to have an offensive dictionary definition: ‘To barter successfully’.
Proper nouns are not allowed in Scrabble, meaning that to use the word would presumably refer back to the offensive meaning.
However, its derivative, Jewish, is also banned overlooking the fact that it is also used to describe those belonging to the Jewish faith.
What’s more, ‘nancy’ has been barred by Scrabble – despite it being a popular girls name.
Although names are not allowed in Scrabble, they are usually acceptable entries if they also have a dictionary definition.
In the Oxford English dictionary, there are currently two entries for ‘nancy’ – the first being a derogatory term for an effeminate boy.
However, it is also a variant of ‘Anansi’, the name of a mythological male character who took the form of a spider.
On top of this, ‘hunkie’ and ‘hunkey’ have also been banned – as they were deemed an offensive way of describing a person of Hungarian descent.
Officials have upgraded the popular board game to be more in-keeping with the current language used today
That said, ‘hunkey’ – which can also be spelt ‘hunky’ – is also a complimentary way to describe an attractive man.
The Cambridge Dictionary’s definition for the term reads: ‘A hunky man is sexually attractive and usually big and strong.’
‘Bubba’ – which they say is a stereotypical term for a white, Southern male in the US – is another word that has been banned from the game.
However, there are several definitions for ‘bubba’ in the Oxford English Dictionary – including an ‘affectionate form of address for a brother’ in the US South.
In addition, ‘bubba’ is also a variant of ‘bubbe’, which is derived from the Yiddish word ‘bobe’ meaning ‘grandmother’.
Commenting on the banned words, Jonathan Maitland – who is a Spectator columnist and member of the London Scrabble League – told FEMAIL: ‘I think they are doing the wrong thing for the right reason. It’s a noble thing to not cause offence but the whole point about words is that they exist and can’t be uninvented.
‘The the most important thing about causing offence, is the intent behind the so-called slur. And if you’re playing a collection of high scoring letters on a board, you have no intent to offend whatsoever.
‘It’s also terribly subject to the whims and vagaries of fashion. A few years ago “queer” was considered unacceptable to describe homosexuals. Now it’s fine.
‘But “poof“ isn’t. Although I know lots of homosexual friends who happily describe themselves thus . So It’s illogical. And the thin end of the wedge.
‘And also annoying as the word “jew” is usefully high scoring! And I say that as someone who is Jewish. If you burn the word, why not ban Catholic and Christian?’
In 2021, British author Darryl Francis resigned from the World English-Language Scrabble Player’s Association and claimed Mattel had ‘forced’ changes on the game, according to 7 News.
Racial slurs including the ‘n-word’, insults against the elderly and homophobic terms were removed from Scrabble’s official online words list in 2022.
Speaking when the ban was announced in 2021, author Darryl Francis – who was involved in 1980s official Scrabble word lists -said: ‘Words in dictionaries and Scrabble lists are not slurs.
‘They only become slurs if used with a derogatory purpose or intent or used with a particular tone and context.
‘Words in our Scrabble lists should not be removed for PR purposes disguised as promoting some kind of social betterment.’
Traditionally, the meaning of words in Scrabble does not matter, instead the focus is on whether the word is correct according to a Collins English Dictionary.
However the Official Scrabble Words – otherwise known as the Scrabble Dictionary – is the ultimate authority of eligible words. It no longer includes homophobic slurs such as the ‘q-word’ and racist terms such as the ‘w-word’.
Other terms include greybeard, a derogatory term for an old man, baywop, meaning people coming from outport communities and hicksville, a place regarded as provincial and unsophisticated.
