Apparently, I am a racist Scrabble player

[amanda_tlg]

Short and sweet:

I am a competitive, avid Scrabble player.

I recently used the word 'Jew' in a game. It is a valid word, and it is in the official Scrabble dictionary. (Yes, I am a nerd. I love my Scrabble dictionary.)

The person I was playing with contested the word, but after they found it in the dictionary said I shouldn't use it because it was a racist, belittling term. They refused to accept it as a word and wanted to stop the game if I didn't change it. Since I was winning anyway ( ) I backed off and removed the word from the board.

Many points of discussion here, I suppose, but I have a specific question
Is the word Jew, in and of itself, racist or offensive?

[GlindaBunny]

oh... THAT kind of scrabble.




I was expecting a much more interesting question. 

[Bathing One]

Whaaa?

"Jew," as a noun, is no more belittling than "Christian" or "Muslim."

"Jew," when used as a verb -- as a rough synonym for "negotiate" -- is appalling.

[mrsbrandt]

LOL...um can someone enlighten me - what does a person of Jewish decent like to be a called specifically?  I could see maybe Jewish, but how is the noun version of that form more racist than the adjective?  I'm so confused.

[rosiecat]

My DH, who is Jewish, says no, the word is not racist or offensive.

I wouldn't think that Jew would be allowed in scrabble - it's a proper noun.

I just checked my "official scrabble" dictionary - third edition - and Jew is not there.

I also couldn't find it in the on-line scrabble dictionary.

We love Scrabble - wanna come over and play?

[Samantha]

oh... THAT kind of scrabble.


I was expecting a much more interesting question. 

At least I'm not the only one that was expecting THAT sort of question.

OP, I really don't know what to tell you. I have a few friends that are Jewish, and they have referred to themselves as being Jews, but I'm not sure if they would find it offensive to be called a Jew by another person. Knowing them, I don't think they would (unless it was with other words that were intended to make it offensive).

[Calypso]

Many points of discussion here, I suppose, but I have a specific question
Is the word Jew, in and of itself, racist or offensive?

Certainly it is offensive. So is "Christian" "Spanish" "Icelandic" "tall" and "young"
didn't you know adjectives are bad, bad words??? 

(Yeesh!)


edited to add: whoops, "Jew" isn't an adjective....ok, need caffeine. Now.

[JocelynCS]

*snort* Of course it's not racist, unless you made a bigoted joke when putting the word on the board (which I doubt).

Any religious or racial descriptor *can* be used in a racist manner, such as "that cheap ***" or "terrorist ******", but on a day-to-day basis, those words are still used primarily by decent people and by members of that group.  It's not racist to use them that way!

(For heaven's sake, the term "Jew" is a major descriptor in the Bible!...no pun intended.)

[Bathing One]

I was the OP in that other "Scrabble" thread, and I opened this thread with a mixture of anticipation and dread.

Rosiecat, I didn't realize that proper nouns can't be used in Scrabble.  DH and I have been playing Scrabble wrong all this time!

[Samantha]

I was the OP in that other "Scrabble" thread, and I opened this thread with a mixture of anticipation and dread.

Rosiecat, I didn't realize that proper nouns can't be used in Scrabble.  DH and I have been playing Scrabble wrong all this time!

Gah! You owe me a new keyboard! Sometimes, proper nouns can't be avoided in "Scrabble."

(edited to add smiley face)

[rosiecat]

I just dug out the rule book.

It doesn't say "proper nouns"; it says you can't use words that are always capitalized.

[Bathing One]

I was the OP in that other "Scrabble" thread, and I opened this thread with a mixture of anticipation and dread.

Rosiecat, I didn't realize that proper nouns can't be used in Scrabble.  DH and I have been playing Scrabble wrong all this time!

Gah! You owe me a new keyboard! Sometimes, proper nouns can't be avoided in "Scrabble."

(edited to add smiley face)

Oh, I was talking about Scrabble, not "Scrabble."     I do agree that proper nouns can -- and should -- be used in "Scrabble."

[Samantha]

Oh, I was talking about Scrabble, not "Scrabble."     I do agree that proper nouns can -- and should -- be used in "Scrabble."

I knew what you meant... but after reading the other thread, well... you know where my mind went! LOL

[artk2002]

You found yourself a certified, bona fide idiot for an opponent.

[amanda_tlg]

Egads, I missed the "other" Scrabble thread....did I just open up a recently sealed can of worms or something?

Other than that, the person I was playing with is not usually known as easily offended or anything. So I don't know why that triggered such a response. She is not Jewish, and neither is her spouse or any other relatives, as fas as I know.  And no, there was no derogative joke made before I put the word on the board.


And that "J" was hitting a triple letter score, darn it!

It doesn't say "proper nouns"; it says you can't use words that are always capitalized.

This is what my books says, and even has Jew listed as one of the examples.