Scrabble, the world’s most played word board game, has added the word “bitcoin” to its list of legitimate words. Scrabble’s official dictionary, Merriam-Webster, has added “bitcoin” as a playable word in its most recent update which was released last week.
Scrabble Embraces Bitcoin’s Mainstream Acceptance
Scrabble players will enjoy a more exciting game experience with more than 300 words added to the game’s official dictionary – including “bitcoin” – along with the game’s first update in more than 4 years. The Sixth Edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, published by Merriam-Webster, now includes words like “twerk”, “emoji”, “beatdown”, “sriracha”, “OK”, and “Ew”, in addition to “bitcoin”.
Adding “bitcoin” to Scrabble’s list of legitimate words reflects how cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are increasingly gaining mainstream acceptance. Speaking about the latest word additions, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, Peter Skolowski, noted:
For a living language, the only constant is change. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary evolves to keep up with English as it is used today.
The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary defines “bitcoin” as “a digital currency”, and the word would now award players a minimum of 9 points, as per the game’s scoring system. On the other hand, Merriam-Webster’s unabridged regular version dictionary added the word “bitcoin” back in 2016. According to the dictionary’s official website, it is among the bottom 10% of words, when look-up stats are considered.
Scrabble Isn’t the First Word Game to Add “Bitcoin” as a Playable Word
Even though Scrabble is by far the world’s most popular word game, another slightly less popular word game app beat them to the punch in adding “bitcoin” as a valid game entry. “Words With Friends” is a relatively popular mobile word game app that has included “bitcoin” as a valid playable word for years now. The game by Zynga has been also accepting bitcoin payments for game purchases since 2014.
Do you think that dictionaries should start including other popular cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Litecoin? Can this help popularize crypto? Let us know what you think in the comments’ section below.
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