I don’t think the competitive Scrabble scene (of which there is a very intense one) really needs to be in charge of the game for everybody. But I get why that contingent is incredibly upset. The set of allowed words is locked in stone, such that people practice and optimize particular memorizations around the particular set of words, and they are barely words at that point, just random collections of letters that form the stepping-stones in their grand strategic endeavor. There are Scrabble experts who do not speak the language, just have memorized the words and are good at the strategy. I get why they’re upset.
They’re not releasing the exact list, which is automatically a red flag of some fuckery to me.
Nonetheless it has been confirmed that “Paki,” “fenian,” and “shiksha” are all on the banned list. Bro what?
“Bitch,” “faggot,” and “slut” are all still in the game. 👍
Deciding the list of officially banned words was always going to be a hopeless task, but even within that it looks like they’ve been doing a bad job.
I think it’s especially hilarious that “fenian” is a slur. For any Irish person for whom it would become relevant at all, I feel like if you called them a “fenian” they would swell with pride.
a pakistani woman I knew explained to me that Paki was deeply offensive and that I should never use it, but she knew I probably didnt know that. she did suggest I never use it again unless I was trying to upset someone
Yes, but presumably if avoiding that situation was the goal they would have removed “faggot.” I can’t even really understand what is the reasoning which might have led them to be extremely aggressive about finding weird slurs that very few people use to root out and remove, while leaving the ones that are actual issues alone. In some way, I think the impotence of the final decision set is somehow connected with the performative nature of it all. Maybe? I have no idea.
Ultimately it seems like they’re just trying to fit in with the times as their clueless executives understand them. I think they’re a few years behind the times, though, actually. Maybe if they were a little more hip they would be trying to release a “free speech” Scrabble with a bunch of new words added and with “liberal” and “woke” removed, now that the 2010s’ brand of stupid performativeness is being replaced with a new type of performativeness that’s different and much darker.
No. It absolutely is not. Historically it did sure, but I challenge you to go to any corner of the English-speaking world and use it in any sentence at all and have any single person hear you and assume that you mean a bundle of sticks.
Like I said, using the UK is cheating (I guess I should have specified that). I can take a walk down Butthole Lane, look up the bus schedule from Shitterton to Twatt, and then I can go pick up 6 faggots for £1.60. It’s all just part of the nature of the place.
Deciding the list of officially banned words was always going to be a hopeless task, but even within that it looks like they’ve been doing a bad job.
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/uproar-over-scrabble-words-that-can-no-longer-be-used/news-story/bb72350938e787cf5566c01109c98dd0
Edit: Uncapitalized
Those 3 would already have been banned for being proper nouns, wouldn’t they?
“Paki” maybe. The other two I don’t think are.
I think it’s especially hilarious that “fenian” is a slur. For any Irish person for whom it would become relevant at all, I feel like if you called them a “fenian” they would swell with pride.
a pakistani woman I knew explained to me that Paki was deeply offensive and that I should never use it, but she knew I probably didnt know that. she did suggest I never use it again unless I was trying to upset someone
Yes, but presumably if avoiding that situation was the goal they would have removed “faggot.” I can’t even really understand what is the reasoning which might have led them to be extremely aggressive about finding weird slurs that very few people use to root out and remove, while leaving the ones that are actual issues alone. In some way, I think the impotence of the final decision set is somehow connected with the performative nature of it all. Maybe? I have no idea.
Ultimately it seems like they’re just trying to fit in with the times as their clueless executives understand them. I think they’re a few years behind the times, though, actually. Maybe if they were a little more hip they would be trying to release a “free speech” Scrabble with a bunch of new words added and with “liberal” and “woke” removed, now that the 2010s’ brand of stupid performativeness is being replaced with a new type of performativeness that’s different and much darker.
Faggot is a real word with actual, non offensive, meanings, ‘paki’ is not.
No. It absolutely is not. Historically it did sure, but I challenge you to go to any corner of the English-speaking world and use it in any sentence at all and have any single person hear you and assume that you mean a bundle of sticks.
Faggots can also be meatballs, you can walk in to a supermarket and buy some faggots, or make them yourself.
The use to mean “a bundle of sticks” is definitely more rare now-a-days though, you’re correct.
Like I said, using the UK is cheating (I guess I should have specified that). I can take a walk down Butthole Lane, look up the bus schedule from Shitterton to Twatt, and then I can go pick up 6 faggots for £1.60. It’s all just part of the nature of the place.
Only thing I can think of with faggot is that on the UK at least that’s a organ based dish
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot_(food)
The UK doesn’t count man. If that’s the metric for obscenity then everything is allowed.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Butthole+Ln,+Shepshed,+Loughborough,+UK/@52.776606,-1.2752399,17z
I’m not able to see the removed word and my mind is running wild with imagination. Can you give me the first letter?
B*lg*um