Scrabble world list solves great conundrum, provides definitive spelling for abbreviation of ‘casual’
About 6,500 words were added to the Collins Official Scrabble Words, and among the new additions is the word CAZH.
According to Collins, it’s the definitive way to abbreviate the word “casual,’’ which, to use another of the newly added words, is RIDIC.
This new 18-point word is a blatant ploy to add more uses for the letter Z. I didn’t vote on this.
The word list uses a combination of sources to determine the more subjective spellings, according to Helen Newstead, head of language content at Collins. She said they scour newspapers, magazines, and social media to look for the most common spellings. These are the words they ultimately use.
All in all, it’s a relief to have a solution to one of the greatest struggles of the technological age. In an extremely scientific test in which I texted the phrase “It’s cazh’’ to various people, they did all understand me (or were kind enough to not suggest otherwise). So maybe Collins has done us a favor by disregarding all of our erroneous, misguided attempts to spell it CAJ, (pronounced like the Taj Mahal) or CASSHH.
That being the case, I have a personal follow-up question: Is the abbreviation for “usual’’ now UZH?
Collins OBVS got it wrong by adding the word THANX, which approximately no one uses. People write THNX or THX but a only replacing the KS with X? No THX.
Furthermore, in a quest for more words with Zs, BEZZY is now in the word list, which is “bestie,’’ except it’s not even close.
They did nail it, though, with NEWB, BLECH, and YEESH. Other new words include VAPE and HACTIVIST.
The updated word list, which includes more than just modern slang, will appear on Scrabble’s online checker September 1.
As of now, Words With Friends, the popular game app, did not include the changes. That dictionary is based on the Enhanced North American Benchmark Lexicon. Words With Friends has added their own words, such as TEXTING and ZEN, but CAZH seems not to have made the cut (yet).
Clearly, Scrabble = DENCH (11 points) and Words With Friends = NEWB (9 points). Game over.
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