Finishing up Shabbat with my family down in San Jose. Long into the food coma, a gorgeous meal of early-season matzo ball soup and roasted chicken with lemon and rosemary (the mouth waters again) I'm feeling very sleepy on the couch, while my sisters and Astrid play "Speed Scrabble" at a folding table. Schmend just asked for the official Scrabble Dictionary to justify her play on the word "cig" as in "cigarette," and that shit is in there! The Scrabble Dictionary is totally bogus, dude. Get the OED, I say!
I've been loopy like that all day. It's on account of having stayed up super late last night (nay, this morning) drinking beers for the birthday of the illustrious Dax. It seems that the Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley serves up some gluten-free beers, and Dax was free to get as schnokered as she pleased. 'Twas pretty fun.
Ah, Speed Scrabble is over - back to the Big City with us.
xo
Bree
4 comments:
I agree that OSPD is totally bogus. Some time in the PC-mad '90s, scads of words were removed for their offensive nature. Totes bogus! And ironically Orwellian.
At any rate, the important thing is that some source be agreed upon before the game begins - nowhere does it say that it must be OSPD, thankfully. I actually think the best agreed-upon source is www.m-w.com (Merriam-Webster online), because it is updated daily and is ultra-inclusive and up-to-the-minute. It tends to include lots of borrowed words and contemporary slang. (And yes, "cig" is in there, although it dates back to 1889, so it's not so much contemporary.)
I would personally be afraid that the OED would actually be too limiting of the words I could use, albeit in a different way from OSPD. In our own parlance, it just seems too prunesy.
yes. dickerydictionary, an ongoing dillemna [SIC], nor are write-ins kashered neither... woe-be-unto-us the temp'y frustrations : } (think, though, everyone's incorporated at least "za" into an 'i get it' vernacularity of things...
smoochers,
sdyl
Mag - I heart your geekitude so much! I think you're right - Merriam-Webster is really much more practical and contemporary than the OED (not to mention free!) As I said, I was really just being loopy when I suggested it. I really like the online dictionary ninja words: http://ninjawords.com/ - it's less clutered than m-w, and fast ("like a ninja!") though I don't think they are nearly as comprehensive as m-w.
Schmend - love your use of "kashered!" I just looked up "za" - what the hell?? Did you mean a slang term for pizza?? That is crazy!
Oh my gosh, I have so much egg on my face. I played Scrabble with my friend the other day and he clued me in to the fact that one can access the OED for free online using one's SF Public Library card. It's amazing! Not just that it's free, but the dictionary itself! It's the most thorough and complete thing I have ever encountered! (Well, that might be a little bit of hyperbole.) It puts m-w.com to shame. For some reason when you had originally written OED, I imagined some dusty old multi-volume tome on a stand. I stand so corrected!
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