Let’s be honest here, family reunions can get a little boring most of the time.
It’s either you find yourself sitting in the corner or listening to your relatives have their endless discussion of political issues and religious beliefs. But, in contexts like this, you can’t expect a smooth sailing exchange of opinions. It’s true that everyone is entitled to their own opinions; however, this always leads to World War III among family members.
As much as possible, we don’t want to turn a fun reunion into a hostile event. So to avoid getting into heated arguments with your radical uncle or “concerned” aunt, why not just turn your attention to playing board games like the classic Scrabble.
While everyone is enjoying a night on the tiles and the first few rounds seem fun, you suddenly realized that you’re almost out of “valuable” letter tiles! And before your smug cousin emerges victorious and leaves you smarting, Merriam-Webster made it a little easier for you to get that elusive triple-word score.
The publisher announced the addition of more than 300 words to its Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. The said entries include ew, an expression of disgust; bestie, a best friend, and twerk, a dance move involving hip movements — thanks, Miley Cyrus!
Since everyone appears to be on social media now, there are also words inspired by the Internet like: emoji, a small digital icon used to express emotions; bitcoin, a kind of cryptocurrency; and listicle, a type of article popular on some websites.
There’s also a new list of words starting with “q” and “z”. Scrabble sharks can now use qapik, which is a monetary unit used in Azerbaijan and zomboid, which means “resembling zombies.”
Two-letter words like “OK” was also added to the official game, Merriam-Webster editor Peter Sokolowski told the Associated Press: “‘OK’ is something Scrabble players have been waiting for a long time, basically, two- and three-letter words are the lifeblood of the game.”
Emily Brewster, Associate Editor of Merriam-Webster believed that the new list of words is a way to keep Scrabble fun instead of contentious.