Are you a Words with Friends fiend? I am! If I’m not working, or sleeping, or training for a 5K, or spending time with my family, then I’m playing Words with Friends. When my head hits the pillow at night, the last things I see on the cinematic backdrop of my eyelids are the seven tiles arranging and rearranging themselves, showing me the words that I could have used, instead of the ones I did.
It seems the rules have changed a bit, though, since my Scrabble-playing days way back when. I have compiled a list of unexpected words that have been integrated into the Words With Friends dictionary today that I never would have thought were acceptable, and yet they are. I only know these words work for two reasons: a) I have accidentally found, through trial and error, that they are accepted; and b) these words have been played on me by someone (or by something – i.e., the MACHINE). More often, it was the latter.
So to help you up your game (just don’t use these on me), see my list below.
Proper Names:
So I get that the words “jack,” “john,” and “jean” have other uses in language besides serving as people’s names. But I didn’t know that these names also counted!
“Moira” netted me 50 points. Score!
Who knew Anna was a coin?
My brother’s nickname got me 37 points. Thanks, bro!
Last Names:
It’s not just people’s first names that seem to work sometimes. It’s also their last names. Check these out:
I played this as a 7-letter word in my opening salvo against the computer… it netted me 55 points. Sweet!
A “Lutz” is apparently a skating leap, named after Alois Lutz. Who knew it was a word? I was pretty mad when the computer played this on me.
Slang. And I mean SERIOUS slang:
I’ve heard this word used by sports announcers on ESPN…but I didn’t know it was a THING. Or that it had been integrated into a dictionary!
Again, the computer laid this one on me on a Triple-Word Score with the J on the Triple Letter spot and it hurt.
Foreign words:
Yeah, see, I had thought that Words With Friends meant English Words With Friends. But apparently not! Check these out:
Italian counts.
Out of sheer desperation, I played a French word (you can see it didn’t help me much). But it counted!
And Welsh works too. Someone please airlift them some vowels!
That’s all I’ve got for today…if anyone has any other good ones they have come across and want to share, please comment. Any friends or even strangers out there up for a Words With Friends game? I’m your huckleberry…