Scrabble, which will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2023, is a game that continues to be the top seller every year! It is even available from 1991 in the form of official championships, which still take place today: indeed, there are indeed professional scrabble players. The rules of this game are often debated during a game, for the simple reason that certain words or types of words are not always accepted.
This is why, in 1989, the first “Official Scrabble Game” was presented, a book listing all the words considered valid. An editorial committee of the Official Scrabble Game determines every 4 years the words to add or remove from the list, based in particular on the developments observed in the modifications made to several major dictionaries.
The company Mattel, owner of the game, recently communicated to the editorial board of the Official Scrabble game a list of sensitive words to no longer be listed as valid, as reported by BFMTV. The initiative is not very recent, it would have its origin in the United States a few years ago, and in a desire on the part of the parent company to be more inclusive. Indeed, since 2021, we can read in the rulebook that “all words constituting an incitement to hatred and discrimination are excluded”.
The editorial board of L’Officiel revolted against what it considers to be censorship, and managed to reduce the list of banned words from 109 to 62 items. Among the players, the debate seems to lean towards the accusation of “wokism”, as evidenced by L’Express. That being said, the importance of language and the choice of words no longer needs to be proven, and such an initiative on the part of the owners of the game demonstrates their awareness of the duty they have to evolve with the times.
So find below 13 words with which you can technically no longer earn points in Scrabble!
