Is Scrabble ‘Woke’ now? Players abandon the game entirely after 400 ‘offensive’ words are banned from the official list
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As days that eventually turn into years pass before our own eyes, we not only witness the environment around us drastically changing but the social and cultural norms as well. What once was a fun game to most, became controversial after a single decision to ‘get with the times’ was made. Which side are YOU on?
A number of Scrabble players are abandoning the game in protest after hundreds of ‘offensive’ words were banned. Over 400 terms including racial slurs (such as the n-word), homophobic terms, and insults against the elderly were eradicated from the game’s official online words list.
The decision followed after anti-racism protests spread like wildfire internationally in the wake of the death of an American man, George Floyd. Mr Floyd died after a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes while arresting him in May 2020.
However, not everyone approved of the change. One competitive Scrabble player, Jonathan Maitland, who claimed to be one of the best in the London Scrabble League, detailed why a number of players have decided to quit the game.
‘Black Lives Matter’ protests. Image Credit: Rediffmail
“It’s hard to find anyone in the Scrabble community in favour of the ban,” he said.
“That doesn’t mean that we approve of any of the banned words, mind you. Among them are some vile racial slurs… But the words can’t be ‘un-invented’. They are part of our sometimes shameful history,”
“And playing them in a private word game is very different from using them in any other context.”
A chunk of the other less-recognised words that were banned left multiple fans ‘seething’. One such term, ‘jesuitic’ – defined by Merriam-Webster as “a member of the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in 1534 and devoted to missionary and educational work” – equates to 200 points when used on the board.
Author Darryl Francis who played a role in the 1980s official Scrabble word list also touched on the issue saying: “Words in dictionaries and Scrabble lists are not slurs,”
“They only become slurs if used with a derogatory purpose or intent or used with a particular tone and context,”
“Words in our Scrabble lists should not be removed for PR purposes disguised as promoting some kind of social betterment.”
The official list of banned words is unreleased. Image Credit: Reddit
Although Scrabble’s owner Mattel has not yet launched the official list of banned terms, the company’s global head of games, Ray Adler, said: “We looked at everything we were doing as a company and opportunities to be more culturally relevant,”
“I’ve heard the argument that these are just words, but we believe they have meaning,”
“We need to modernise it. Can you imagine any other game where you can score points and win by using a racial epithet?” he argued.
"It’s long overdue.”
Even though the official list of banned terms is unreleased, over 400 words can not be used in the game.
Do you think Scrabble made the right decision to ban the terms? Or do you resonate with the enraged players who think that the ban is detrimental to the game? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Learn more about this story by watching the video below:
Video Credit: Sky News
A number of Scrabble players are abandoning the game in protest after hundreds of ‘offensive’ words were banned. Over 400 terms including racial slurs (such as the n-word), homophobic terms, and insults against the elderly were eradicated from the game’s official online words list.
The decision followed after anti-racism protests spread like wildfire internationally in the wake of the death of an American man, George Floyd. Mr Floyd died after a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes while arresting him in May 2020.
However, not everyone approved of the change. One competitive Scrabble player, Jonathan Maitland, who claimed to be one of the best in the London Scrabble League, detailed why a number of players have decided to quit the game.
‘Black Lives Matter’ protests. Image Credit: Rediffmail
“It’s hard to find anyone in the Scrabble community in favour of the ban,” he said.
“That doesn’t mean that we approve of any of the banned words, mind you. Among them are some vile racial slurs… But the words can’t be ‘un-invented’. They are part of our sometimes shameful history,”
“And playing them in a private word game is very different from using them in any other context.”
A chunk of the other less-recognised words that were banned left multiple fans ‘seething’. One such term, ‘jesuitic’ – defined by Merriam-Webster as “a member of the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in 1534 and devoted to missionary and educational work” – equates to 200 points when used on the board.
Author Darryl Francis who played a role in the 1980s official Scrabble word list also touched on the issue saying: “Words in dictionaries and Scrabble lists are not slurs,”
“They only become slurs if used with a derogatory purpose or intent or used with a particular tone and context,”
“Words in our Scrabble lists should not be removed for PR purposes disguised as promoting some kind of social betterment.”
The official list of banned words is unreleased. Image Credit: Reddit
Although Scrabble’s owner Mattel has not yet launched the official list of banned terms, the company’s global head of games, Ray Adler, said: “We looked at everything we were doing as a company and opportunities to be more culturally relevant,”
“I’ve heard the argument that these are just words, but we believe they have meaning,”
“We need to modernise it. Can you imagine any other game where you can score points and win by using a racial epithet?” he argued.
"It’s long overdue.”
Even though the official list of banned terms is unreleased, over 400 words can not be used in the game.
Do you think Scrabble made the right decision to ban the terms? Or do you resonate with the enraged players who think that the ban is detrimental to the game? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Learn more about this story by watching the video below:
Video Credit: Sky News
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