New Scrabble rule: proper nouns allowed

So one day Mattel said, let’s piss a lot of people off. I know, we’ll change the Scrabble rules to allow proper nouns. Kids love branding!

A spokeswoman for the company said the use of proper nouns would “add a new dimension” to Scrabble and “introduce an element of popular culture into the game”. She said: “This is one of a number of twists and challenges included that we believe existing fans will enjoy and will also enable younger fans and families to get involved.”

I also like this part:

Mattel said there would be no hard and fast rule over whether a proper noun was correct or not.

So you can just make shit up! Or maybe you don’t have to…look at all these useful and real brand abbreviations: BMW, IEEE, XHTML, VW, SQL, QT, BBC, AAA, NAACP. No vowels, lots of vowels, more Q and X words…no more discards.

Update: Woo, that was fun but really there’s nothing to get bent out of shape about.

Here’s what’s actually happening. Mattel, which owns the rights to Scrabble outside of North America, is introducing a game this summer called Scrabble Trickster. The game will include cards that allow players to spell words backward, use proper nouns, and steal letters from opponents, among other nontraditional moves. The game will not be available in North America, where rival toy company Hasbro owns Scrabble. Hasbro, I’m told, has no plans for a similar variation.

• games
• Scrabble