Comments | watervole: Scrabble words

watervole

Scrabble words

Sep 26, 2007 20:19

I'm playing four or five games of Scrabble at present, and several times now, I've thought - well, that sounds like a plausible word, let's check it out in the dictionary ( Read more... )

scrabble

Comments 13

jthijsen September 26 2007, 19:27:46 UTC

It's French for "good" or "alright". Do French words count for that game of scrabble?

watervole September 26 2007, 19:59:52 UTC

That's why I tried the word. I thought it might mean the same in English. Foreign words aren't allowed in their own right.

megamole September 26 2007, 19:39:01 UTC

I think it's the French word, used in phrases that have passed into English such as "bien cuit", "bien pensant" etc.

I've just played a 7-letter French word (RONDEAU) at you :-P

watervole September 26 2007, 20:02:13 UTC

I have this sneaky suspicion that you're going to wipe the floor with me...

I need to learn more French...

lucas_t_bear September 27 2007, 16:09:33 UTC

I'm suddenly grateful I took A-level French ;-)

(but you'll probably wipe the floor with me anyway)

reapermum September 26 2007, 19:48:05 UTC

The OED has it as the French word as used in phrases used in English. Their citations are to Thackeray and George Elliot.

watervole September 26 2007, 20:01:26 UTC

Ah, the full OED isn't available online as far as I know. I guess that paper still rules for some things.

alex_holden September 26 2007, 20:20:42 UTC

I'm told you can get to it via this link if you have a library card (I haven't had one for years so can't try it): http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/lclogin

watervole September 26 2007, 20:32:55 UTC

Says you can't bookmark the page and have to enter via the web site of a subscribing library, so really a bit too much effort to use casually even if you have a card.

Thread 6

ang_grrr September 26 2007, 21:49:09 UTC

From ABSP Sowpods words list.

bien (Scots) well off, comfortable. Also BEIN

As I've said before this is the full list with definitions and if this is the sort of thing you are interested in it's the first place you should look. Saves you a lot of searching and misunderstandings as to why it's an acceptable word.

Where to get Scrabble words anonymous September 29 2007, 23:47:54 UTC

A good place to find a short definition and create automatic ways to study the words in all the common Scrabble dictionaries is with a piece of free study software called zyzzyva. It is available at www.zyzzyva.net.

And while you are at it, you should try playing more Scrabble in person - it is a lot more fun! There are over 200 official Scrabble clubs in the US. There is a list at http://www.scrabbleassociation.com/clubs/roster.html

Have fun!

- Mitch