Sunday is a proper noun, and proper nouns are not valid in Scrabble. In my game yesterday, I had a seven-letter word - Jupiter - but not valid! since it's a proper noun
That's what I thought. That shows how much Moose and I play scrabble! Interesting note: I have no visual acuity when it comes to words despite having what I would consider an extensive vocabulary and decent word-smithing skills. I'm a terrible at Scrabble and especially Wheel of Fortune. They'll have 90% of the letters in a phrase I'll derp-stare at it for minutes without getting it. There's something about how I process language that doesn't extend into the word puzzles. Very weird.
I find my wife, born and raised in China, a very formidable opponent because she learned English like she learned Chinese, by recognizing specific words, not by spelling things out. So her now-extensive English vocabulary is filed word-by-word, so to speak, and I think in that sense easier to apply. Plus, anytime I, with a fairly extensive English vocabulary of my own, introduce a word that's new to her, she never forgets it. Those are my excuses, anyway, for losing to her more than I win.
This is "olds" rather than news, but Graham, you'll be pleased to know that proper nouns do count in Scrabble: Proper nouns come into play in Scrabble rule change (BBC, 6 April 2010) Capitalised words are still not allowed, though. (But I'd have thought that "sundry" is a six-letter word, so would it still win you the game? Sorry, I don't play Scrabble at all). As for something that annoys me but shouldn't ... yesterday I came down with a bad sore throat that won't go away, even with innumerable cups of tea etc. Rationally, I know this shouldn't annoy me because I can't control if/when I get sick. But I hope this isn't the start of something worse. I only get two weeks off over the Christmas/New Year break, so it would suck to be sick over one of them. However, I've had this sort of thing happen before, and it usually went away after 2-3 days. So I hope it will do the same this time.
A seven-letter word gets a bonus of 50 points, that's why it matters so much. And, Leanne has already observed, unless you know something we don't, all proper nouns are capitalized.
OK ... a grammar lesson for me. As one for whom English is a second language, I didn't start speaking English until I was 13 and moved to Australia (and knew no English at all until I started studying it at age 12). So, I guess I missed some grammar. Better late than never. Thanks. I've now looked up what the differences are between proper nouns and common, every-day nouns. Turns out I knew the differences already, but had no idea that words like "Margaret", "Chicago" etc. were termed "proper nouns" (I thought they were simply names). But no problem, I looked up Wikipedia and found the answers. But now I have a question: what about proper nouns that used to be capitalized but aren't any more? I've seen this happen before -- for instance, "french fry", "brussels sprouts", "scotch whisky" -- surely these should be "French fry", "Brussels sprouts", "Scotch whisky" etc.? Sigh. English is hard!
For purposes of this Scrabble discussion, we use the 7th edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (Merriam-Webster 2023) (for recreational and school use). Sunday was not in there. End of discussion.
It was me that mentioned sunday... i must have a newer set because the rules in mine say proper nouns may be allowed by agreement of all players at the start of the game. If your set predates 2010 they'll be disallowed tournament scrabble still disallows them There are some versions of scrabble rules that also disallow plural forms (which would mean you can only have sundae not sundaes)- its a real hodgepodge and pretty much depends on what players want to agree to do
My original post mentioned the word "sundays" and my realization after posting it that it is not an acceptable word for the game dictionary we use, on the theory that unlike the day of the week, the ice-cream treat is spelled "sundae" and the day of the week is not listed as an acceptable word for the game because it is capitalized.
If this digression has proved anything, it is that it's possible to have an argument about anything. I could, for instance, write a 5-7-5 haiku to extol the virtues of the dot (aka full stop) ... and be derided as dotty ... unless, of course, I pre-empt that by writing a 5-7-5 haiku like this ... I used a dot once. And then I used it again. It is too dotty. (Sorry, Moose. Not trying to start an argument, just having fun). So coming back to the point of the thread, what is annoying me but shouldn't? My own hastiness, I guess. Earlier this evening, I couldn't wait for the grill to cool down completely before cleaning it, and accidentally burnt my finger. But I put some aloe vera on it, which helped. Just hoping for a (relatively) painless recovery.
I know, but that's what I was talking about. And I see we've got the Moose's attention here. I'm not trying to argue. I just tried to share a moment in my pathetic life. More affiant sayeth not.
Whistlers. Not sure why I loathe the sound so much. I feel like I shouldn't, as usually they appear to be cheerful in nature, smiling and trying to spread that cheer outwards. But I won't have any of it.
People who, instead of blowing their nose, decide to snort the snot back in loudly. Then they do it over and over and over...
Hmm. *shrug* I've been performing music for 20 years, so I sometimes hum (very softly, and to myself) a piece I know while focusing on a task. It's the same as listening to a radio station at work, except this way, I get music that *I* like. (But if it annoys someone, of course I stop). I've had more than one job where the management (and some coworkers, but not others) insisted on having the radio on 24/7. It drove me and some of my coworkers mental, especially at Christmas time ... and it just. Didn't. Stop. =( Thank $deity$ that I work in a reasonable place now. I also don't whistle out loud in public, since other people might not know the tune, and it might annoy them. Eeeuuuggghhh! (This deserves more than a simple "yuck"). If I'm on public transport in winter-time, I carry a tiny packet of tissues for blowing my nose. Maybe offering such people a tissue would help? Even worse: people (especially in public) who pick their nose. And examine the result. And then flick it ... or shove it back in. *shudder* Use a tissue, for $deity's$ sake. They're, what, a dollar or two at a pharmacy? No one wants to see your bodily fluids.
The Scrabble@ gods got me again. I was going first, and the word "plebian" jumped out at me. 72 points off the bat. Except that the ol' dictionary pointed out that the word requires a second "e" after the "b." Surprised me, I'd always thought it was spelled the way I'd expected to use it. So I went with "plane" and got 14 points, and later lost the game. This morning, at 3 a.m., literally out of the black, my mind screamed, "Dummy! you had the letters for the word 'biplane.'" I got up and went over the words. And I had obviously had them. My spouse and Scrabble-opponent was not all that impressed when I awoke her to tell her about it. She also refused to retroactively concede the game. I don't understand why. I promise this will be the last Scrabble post I initiate. Probably.
