Words with Friends makes some strange word choices.

[+ purplekow]

I play Words with Friends online. I enjoy the Scrabble like game but the editors of the game seem to have made some odd choices in deciding what is a word and what is not. One of the more popular words played is ZA which is defined by the game's dictionary as a shortened version of pizza, certainly a stretch inclusion. The editor has also chosen shit and shits as acceptable words as well.

 

This age of people asking for Bill Maher's head on a plate for his use of the n word, which I would have written out but it has been damned, and so I refrain, so words, as well as images, have power. This seems to be the crux of the issue when is a word not a word. The n word is not acceptable in Words with Friends nor should it be, but the game does allow putz but not fag not even the British cigarette version.

 

What triggered this posting was the denial of the word squaw. I had an unfortunate assortment of letters which included a q and w as well as two p's an s and an a. My opponent was good enough to put down the u in such a position as to allow the word squaw with a triple letter score for the Q and a triple word score for the entire word. From terrible letters came redemption and 114 points or so I thought. I rarely get words more than 100 and this was going to be an unexpected triumph, but squaw was rejected as not being a word.

I am sure the people living in Squaw Valley believe it is a word. It was a word during those technicolor westerns of the forties and fifties. Is squaw not a word now? When a word becomes offensive, does it stop being a word?

 

I sat at an outdoor door table at a local restaurant with a friend. At the next table were a group of women who were in their late teens to early twentys. When my friend excused himself to the restroom, I was sitting alone and now, uninvolved in my own conversation, the conversation at the next table filled the air. "Fuck him. Do not fucking call him. If he sends you a fucking text, do not answer. Do not tell him where you are fucking going. Let him fucking find you. That is the only fucking way that fuck will give you fucking respect."

Well I enjoy a good fuck as much as the next guy, but this was startling to me. It was startling, disappointing but not particularly offensive. It seems fuck was the only adjective they could use in a sentence. I believe they also used it as an adverb, noun and an interjection.

So is fuck in and squaw out? Is squaw more offensive than fuck. I cannot say I have ever used the word squaw in a sentence, prior to this, but should I exclude from the vocabulary.

 

Thoughts?

[gallahadesquire]

"He put the letters e-x-q-u-i next to the word 'site'. 'It's a triple word score,' he said. 'Scores rather a lot, I'm afraid.'"

- somewhere in the trilogy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.

 

A friend was playing, and was stumped when some used the word shawm, which was a pre-cursor to the oboe. Note that this site's spell checker doesn't allow it.

[gallahadesquire]

I play Words with Friends online. I enjoy the Scrabble like game but the editors of the game seem to have made some odd choices in deciding what is a word and what is not. One of the more popular words played is ZA which is defined by the game's dictionary as a shortened version of pizza, certainly a stretch inclusion. The editor has also chosen shit and shits as acceptable words as well.

 

This age of people asking for Bill Maher's head on a plate for his use of the n word, which I would have written out but it has been damned, and so I refrain, so words, as well as images, have power. This seems to be the crux of the issue when is a word not a word. The n word is not acceptable in Words with Friends nor should it be, but the game does allow putz but not fag not even the British cigarette version.

 

What triggered this posting was the denial of the word squaw. I had an unfortunate assortment of letters which included a q and w as well as two p's an s and an a. My opponent was good enough to put down the u in such a position as to allow the word squaw with a triple letter score for the Q and a triple word score for the entire word. From terrible letters came redemption and 114 points or so I thought. I rarely get words more than 100 and this was going to be an unexpected triumph, but squaw was rejected as not being a word.

I am sure the people living in Squaw Valley believe it is a word. It was a word during those technicolor westerns of the forties and fifties. Is squaw not a word now? When a word becomes offensive, does it stop being a word?

 

I sat at an outdoor door table at a local restaurant with a friend. At the next table were a group of women who were in their late teens to early twentys. When my friend excused himself to the restroom, I was sitting alone and now, uninvolved in my own conversation, the conversation at the next table filled the air. "Fuck him. Do not fucking call him. If he sends you a fucking text, do not answer. Do not tell him where you are fucking going. Let him fucking find you. That is the only fucking way that fuck will give you fucking respect."

Well I enjoy a good fuck as much as the next guy, but this was startling to me. It was startling, disappointing but not particularly offensive. It seems fuck was the only adjective they could use in a sentence. I believe they also used it as an adverb, noun and an interjection.

So is fuck in and squaw out? Is squaw more offensive than fuck. I cannot say I have ever used the word squaw in a sentence, prior to this, but should I exclude from the vocabulary.

 

Thoughts?

 

This from wikipedia:

 

Some[2] indigenous North Americans consider the term to be offensive.[3][4][5]

 

1. Vincent Schilling, "The Word ‘Squaw’: Offensive or Not?", Indian Country Today, 1/31/2014. Accessed Sept. 24, 2016.
   
2. Arlene B. Hirschfelder; Paulette Fairbanks Molin (2012). The Extraordinary Book of Native American Lists. Scarecrow. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-8108-7709-2.
   
3. Schulman, Susan, "Squaw Island to be renamed ‘Deyowenoguhdoh’" for The Buffalo News, January 16, 2015. Accessed Oct. 9, 2015
   
4. King, C. Richard, "[http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ787736 De/Scribing Squ*w: Indigenous Women and Imperial Idioms in the United States" in the American Indian Culture and Research Journal, v27 n2 p1-16 2003. Accessed Oct. 9, 2015
   

Maybe that answers the question?

[+ purplekow]

This from wikipedia:

 

Some[2] indigenous North Americans consider the term to be offensive.[3][4][5]

 

1. Vincent Schilling, "The Word ‘Squaw’: Offensive or Not?", Indian Country Today, 1/31/2014. Accessed Sept. 24, 2016.
   
2. Arlene B. Hirschfelder; Paulette Fairbanks Molin (2012). The Extraordinary Book of Native American Lists. Scarecrow. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-8108-7709-2.
   
3. Schulman, Susan, "Squaw Island to be renamed ‘Deyowenoguhdoh’" for The Buffalo News, January 16, 2015. Accessed Oct. 9, 2015
   
4. King, C. Richard, "[http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ787736 De/Scribing Squ*w: Indigenous Women and Imperial Idioms in the United States" in the American Indian Culture and Research Journal, v27 n2 p1-16 2003. Accessed Oct. 9, 2015
   

Maybe that answers the question?

 

While the word may be offensive to some, did it stop being a word? I believe shit would be offensive to some, and I was surprised that it was acceptable.

[+ pitman]

Trump is now also an extremely offensive word

[Kevin Slater]

Note that this site's spell checker doesn't allow it.

 

I believe it's your browser's spellcheck and not a spellcheck specific to any given site.

 

Kevin Slater

[+ sam.fitzpatrick]

I have also had squaw rejected, much to my frustration. Thanks for starting this thread as I have had a couple of other questionable rejects and will add to the list when Ip encounter the next one.

[+ Charlie]

Apparently, many Native Americans consider "squaw" as offensive as the "n" word, and for a similar reason. There is a movement to rename any place that uses it, just as was done with place names that included the "n" word up until the 1960s. Teachers and librarians always have difficulty with the title of one of Joseph Conrad's great novels, The N***** of the Narcissus, which is probably why it is much less frequently read than it was when I was young.

[Wunder82]

I enjoy Words with Friends, and finding "new" words every few days can be a head scratching experience. Here's one: Zaire. I could not believe that a proper noun is acceptable. Then someone explained that because the country once known as Zaire changed to Democratic Republic of the Congo, they also changed their currency from Zaire notes to makuta, and the river to Congo - the word is archaic. Words with Friends allows archaic words. So, the next time you are figuring out what to do when all you have is a Z and some vowels... look for an R. and may it be located near a TW and /or TL

[+ WmClarke]

Apparently, many Native Americans consider "squaw" as offensive as the "n" word, and for a similar reason. There is a movement to rename any place that uses it, just as was done with place names that included the "n" word up until the 1960s. Teachers and librarians always have difficulty with the title of one of Joseph Conrad's great novels, The N***** of the Narcissus, which is probably why it is much less frequently read than it was when I was young.

I was shocked to discover Agatha Christie's "Ten Little N-----s" in a local library. I had thought "Ten Little Indians" was bad enough to rename it "And Then There Were None" - I had no idea of the original title until I stumbled on it at the library.

[mike carey]

I was shocked to discover Agatha Christie's "Ten Little N-----s" in a local library.

The n word is an absolute taboo in the US, but it is not in the rest of the English speaking world. For the rest of us it's offensive but not a complete taboo. Most users will know its status in the US and not use it where Americans are likely to be in the audience but not everyone is aware of this.

[Chuckball]

I remember the day when "queer" was an absolute insult never to be spoken. Fortunately the LGBT community decided to take back the word.

I understand that in the US it is absolutely taboo to utter the"n" word. I expect that this is because most people who did so were racist. Remember it is possible to use the word in a non-racist way such as when black comedians use the word. I believe it all depends on context.

When Bill Maher used the word Friday night it was in the context of Senator Sass inviting Bill Maher to come to his state to work in the fields. I construed Maher's comment as turning the tables on enator Sass by alluding to the fact that the Senator's statement was harkening back to the days of the southern plantation. In this context, the statement was supportive of anti-racist dialogue.

If the word squaw is used to demean an indigenous woman, by all means it is inappropriate. The word is still a word. It is the context that may be offensive not the spelling.

[instudiocity]

Apparently, many Native Americans consider "squaw" as offensive as the "n" word, and for a similar reason.

As do many East Asians consider "Oriental" an offensive word.

[+ purplekow]

As do many East Asians consider "Oriental" an offensive word.

I believe oriental is fine if it is a rug but not to refer to a person.

[Wunder82]

As do many East Asians consider "Oriental" an offensive word.

I believe oriental is fine if it is a rug but not to refer to a person.

 

I learned from one of my dearest friends from my collegiate years, that the use of "oriental" wasn't acceptable. Not that I had uttered it when we met. Rather, I noticed her and other Asians referred to each other as Asians until they knew what part of Asia their families were from. I picked up on it right away, and she acknowledged how quickly I had learned to use it.

[+ Charlie]

With all of these terms, what makes them offensive is that they were words devised by white English-speakers to describe non-whites, not words that those to whom they were applied would use to describe themselves. "Squaw" may sound like simply "Indian wife" to many Americans today, but it originated as a pejorative term.

[+ purplekow]

With all of these terms, what makes them offensive is that they were words devised by white English-speakers to describe non-whites, not words that those to whom they were applied would use to describe themselves. "Squaw" may sound like simply "Indian wife" to many Americans today, but it originated as a pejorative term.

I have not denied that some are offended by the word squaw. I even asked the question, if a word is offensive does it stop being a word. Apparently fag did stop being a word, at least as far as Words with Friends is concerned. Shit, which has no other meaning but to be offensive, is accepted. Where is the line? Denying the acceptance in a game in certainly within the purview of those making the game. Where would you have drawn the line?

Fag?

Squaw?

Shit?

Fuck?

Crap?

Queer?

Homo?

Za?

 

The decisions of the game makers were No No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes

[BasketBaller]

I agree completely that an offensive word is still a word. I suppose an argument could be made (and a rule added) disallowing pejorative terms, but the examples you give are a mixed bag, and inconsistent.

 

But while it's recent, I've heard "Za" used a lot by younger folks.

[BabyBoomer]

 

But while it's recent, I've heard "Za" used a lot by younger folks.

 

Pizza.

~Boomer ~

[+ purplekow]

I agree completely that an offensive word is still a word. I suppose an argument could be made (and a rule added) disallowing pejorative terms, but the examples you give are a mixed bag, and inconsistent.

 

But while it's recent, I've heard "Za" used a lot by younger fol

Ain't ain't a word though it is spoken quite a bit. I think za fits into that category, except in Words with Friends slang English but not a word.

[BasketBaller]

Pizza.

 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/za

 

A citation that makes an analogy to the word "porn."

 

" When people speak casually of ordering a za, "pizza," they are unwittingly producing an expression that language historians find interesting. Za derives from the full form pizza by a process known as clipping. Two types of clipping are common in English: dropping the unstressed syllables or syllables not receiving the primary word stress, as in fridge from refrigerator; and dropping all syllables after the first syllable, as in ab, dis, porn, and vibe, whether or not the first syllable was originally stressed. In the case of za, the syllable that was dropped was originally stressed and was the first syllable, which is unusual. Rents from parents and nads from gonads are other examples of the same kind of clipping. Interestingly, we don't need to stay in the realm of contemporary slang to see the results of this unusual process. The words phone, bus, and wig (from telephone,omnibus, periwig) belong to Standard English but had their start as slangy or catchy neologisms formed by clipping their most strongly stressed syllable, just like za."

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition

[+ purplekow]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/za

 

A citation that makes an analogy to the word "porn."

 

" When people speak casually of ordering a za, "pizza," they are unwittingly producing an expression that language historians find interesting. Za derives from the full form pizza by a process known as clipping. Two types of clipping are common in English: dropping the unstressed syllables or syllables not receiving the primary word stress, as in fridge from refrigerator; and dropping all syllables after the first syllable, as in ab, dis, porn, and vibe, whether or not the first syllable was originally stressed. In the case of za, the syllable that was dropped was originally stressed and was the first syllable, which is unusual. Rents from parents and nads from gonads are other examples of the same kind of clipping. Interestingly, we don't need to stay in the realm of contemporary slang to see the results of this unusual process. The words phone, bus, and wig (from telephone,omnibus, periwig) belong to Standard English but had their start as slangy or catchy neologisms formed by clipping their most strongly stressed syllable, just like za."

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition

That is interesting but nowhere in there do they call it a word. I doubt nads would be acceptable in WWF though Abs seems to be accepted.

[instudiocity]

With all of these terms, what makes them offensive is that they were words devised by white English-speakers to describe non-whites, not words that those to whom they were applied would use to describe themselves. "Squaw" may sound like simply "Indian wife" to many Americans today, but it originated as a pejorative term.

Oriental and Occidental are derived from Latin to describe those from the East and West, respectively.

[instudiocity]

I have not denied that some are offended by the word squaw. I even asked the question, if a word is offensive does it stop being a word. Apparently fag did stop being a word, at least as far as Words with Friends is concerned. Shit, which has no other meaning but to be offensive, is accepted. Where is the line? Denying the acceptance in a game in certainly within the purview of those making the game. Where would you have drawn the line?

Fag?

Squaw?

Shit?

Fuck?

Crap?

Queer?

Homo?

Za?

 

The decisions of the game makers were No No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes

 

Fag is a British term for cigarette. I have a friend who has spent time in former British colonies of Africa. He frequently says, "I shall a pause now for a fag." I laugh my ass off everytime.

 

The four-letter words remind me of the old joke, "Why do they call it golf? Because all the good four letter words were already taken."

[NuSingle]

I think it's strange that WHORE is acceptable in WWF, but not SLUT