3 ms·

KO is already a valid word in international (English language) tournament play. Personally, I am sad about this. Serious scrabble play is largely about rack ma

KO is already a valid word in international (English language) tournament play. Personally, I am sad about this. Serious scrabble play is largely about rack management - i.e. trying to get a set of tiles that you can play all at once for a 50 point bonus (bingo). That means dumping tiles that make it harder to score a bingo (duplicates, difficult letters) while taking into consideration the likelihood of drawing better tiles given what's been played and what letters your opponent is dumping (signalling what's in their rack). Most turns are about maximizing the points from non-bingos while putting together a good rack, and that frequently means playing words parallel to what's already on the board to double-up on a premium tile. The 2006 OSPD addition of "ZA" and "QI" really changed the game, and not in a good way. Q-sticks (sticking your opponent with an unplayable Q) were a staple of end-game play, especially but are now basically obsolete. OK rankles especially as an initialism. There will be (very nerdy) riots if a 2 letter 'V' word is ever added.

mj_olnir 7y ago
I'm unfamiliar - do common noun acronyms (like scuba) with more common usage than their full-fledged counterparts get in? If so, I could see UV being added.
- mj_olnir 7y ago
  Edit: just kidding, KO is in, and a quick search says scuba is in as well. Yeah, I'm very surprised that UV is not.
  - T-hawk 7y ago
    The general rule is, if the letters are pronounced phoenetically together as a word, it counts. That's why Scuba and Laser are in. It's the difference between AWOL (in) and MIA (not). OK was never accepted before because it's not said as "ock". UV isn't pronounced "uhv" so should also be excluded. I guess now the distinguishing feature between those cases is that UV is an initialism while OK isn't. I can't think of any other example like OK, a word that is not an initialism and is said by naming each letter rather than pronouncing them phonetically. Ko is in for being a (loan)word in its own right, not as the two-letter abbreviation for "knockout". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_fight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_fight
glitchc 7y ago
To my knowledge, KO is only accepted in the CSW list and is not part of OWL/TWL. Link: https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Scrabble/Two_Letter_Words https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Scrabble/Two_Letter_Words
alasdair_ 7y ago
>There will be (very nerdy) riots if a 2 letter 'V' word is ever added. Found the Emacs user. :)

mj_olnir 7y ago

I'm unfamiliar - do common noun acronyms (like scuba) with more common usage than their full-fledged counterparts get in? If so, I could see UV being added.

mj_olnir 7y ago
Edit: just kidding, KO is in, and a quick search says scuba is in as well. Yeah, I'm very surprised that UV is not.
- T-hawk 7y ago
  The general rule is, if the letters are pronounced phoenetically together as a word, it counts. That's why Scuba and Laser are in. It's the difference between AWOL (in) and MIA (not). OK was never accepted before because it's not said as "ock". UV isn't pronounced "uhv" so should also be excluded. I guess now the distinguishing feature between those cases is that UV is an initialism while OK isn't. I can't think of any other example like OK, a word that is not an initialism and is said by naming each letter rather than pronouncing them phonetically. Ko is in for being a (loan)word in its own right, not as the two-letter abbreviation for "knockout". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_fight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_fight

glitchc 7y ago

To my knowledge, KO is only accepted in the CSW list and is not part of OWL/TWL. Link: https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Scrabble/Two_Letter_Words https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Scrabble/Two_Letter_Words

alasdair_ 7y ago

>There will be (very nerdy) riots if a 2 letter 'V' word is ever added. Found the Emacs user. :)