Now thang is a good Scrabble word, innit



Perhaps it will tempt youngsters to take up stimulating board games.

Or maybe the latest version of the ‘Scrabble Bible’ will simply prompt more blazing rows between seasoned players.

Street slang terms including thang, grrl and innit are among almost 3,000 additions to the Collins Official Scrabble Words reference guide, which sees its latest edition released today.

Traditionalists may be perplexed by the latest additions to the Scrabble Bible

Drug nicknames such as gak, tik and tina, as well as Indian cookery terms keema, gobi and alu – or aloo – are now permissible in the game, as are internet phrases wiki and myspace.

Robert Groves, editor of Collins English Dictionaries and the word list, last updated in 2007, said: ‘These additions are an eclectic mix of new technological jargon, overseas English, recent colloquialisms, street slang, and a few fairly well-established phrases that had not made it on to the list until now.

‘Over half of British homes own a Scrabble board, more than four million games are sold worldwide each year, and nearly anyone who has played it has been involved in a dispute over which words can and can’t be used.



‘Now all those arguments can be settled, with the latest official wordlist from Collins – the authority on Scrabble.’ The Glasgow-based team compiling the list did so with the help of Collins Corpus, the world’s largest language database of written and spoken English.

Mr Groves added: ‘It is the essential reference for all Scrabble players, from tournament enthusiasts to families battling it out in their front rooms.’

Although traditionalists may cringe at some of the additions, Mark Nyman, a four-time world Scrabble champion, agreed that Collins’ decision was final.

‘When words become commonly used it’s representative and makes sense to include these in this reference book,’ he said. ‘It’s like the Bible for Scrabble players. It’s what we use to avoid any major arguments. It’s fundamental.’