Words with Friends is an addictive two person online game, but it’s based on the grandfather of all word games, Scrabble. Scrabble was invented in 1938, and it’s practically a worldwide institution. In the U.S., at least one third of households are home to a Scrabble game. There’s even a National Scrabble Day, which is April 13.
Read Related: Indoor Family Fun That’s Really Fun!
Still, Scrabble can be a little show to change with the times. Heck, even the Oxford English Dictionary added “selfie” to its venerated pages last year. These words might not be in the dictionary (and thus “legal” in Scrabble or Words With Friends) but they should be:
1. WIKI: As in Wikipedia or Wiki leaks. This online research tool has essentially put the encyclopedia out of business. Surely with extra points for the W and K used together, it should make the grade.
2. Soonish: “When will you be here?” Soonish. “Johnny, when will you take the trash out?” Soonish. How long does it take to get recognition of words we all use? Come to think of it, all ish words should be legal. Latish. Elevenish. Drunkish.
3. Unstaple: Why isn’t this a word? This should be a word. Unstaple used in a sentence: “Unstaple those directions so they can be copied.”
4. Amazeballs: If you’re around a teenage girl you’ve heard this term repeatedly. It refers to something truly, astoundingly, fabulous. “The concert was amazeballs!” “Those jeans are amazeballs!” Say it yourself and it will fall out of fashion as soon as the kids hear you use it in a sentence.
5. Craycray: Similar to amazeballs. A reference to something so good it’s crazy. Adult usage will soon drive it from the teenage vocabulary.
6. Jedi: Come on. This has been in our vocabulary since Star Wars debuted in 1977. After all this time it should be grandfathered in.
7. Emos: Short for emoticons, those annoying little faces we all use in emails and text messages instead of expressing real emotions.
8. Photobomb: When dogs, sea otters and sharks start photobombing, it’s time for the word to be legal in Scrabble.
9. Bromance: Two straight dudes hit it off and become friends in a manly, meet for a beer and talk sports kind of way. Legitimize their relationship by making it a legal Scrabble word.
10. Bling: Shine, sparkle, glitter and gleam. And give me my Scrabble points, damn it! Everyone uses this word now.
11. Lifehacks: Do you know a clever hint, tip or trick for making life easier? Popular on Pinterest and a multitude of internet sites, there’s probably aeven e lifehack on better ways to play Scrabble.
12. Google: No one “looks it up” anymore; they Google it. Or Google him or Google her or Google directions or recipes or the meaning of life. Honestly, bend the rules for this word. Who do we Google about that?
13. Onsie: This isn’t a legal word yet? Try telling that to any mother who has kept her baby snug as a big in one of these. Indispensable.
14. Jeggins: Jeggins are the bastard child of jeans and leggings yet similar to neither. Jeggins should not be a word. Jeggins should be burned in a great pile and never mentioned again.
15. Texting: This is the primary means of communicating among tweens, even when they’re sitting right next to one another. To call is passe, to email not much better. Texting is also another way that teens can avoid talking to their parents.
16. Twerk: Twerking might be dead (we hope) but the word will live on. Thank Miley Cyrus for that one.
17. Hashtag: If you don’t know what Twitter is, then you don’t need to worry about hashtags. For non-tweeters, it’s the number sign on your phone. It’s a British term and sounds classy, so it should be allowable in Scrabble.
18. Bitcoin: A virtual currency that was going to revolutionize and rock world financial markets until it didn’t. The value of bitcoin plummeted when the inventor of bitcoin too it off the market and incidentally, took off with a lot of the money it represented.
19. Meh: An invaluable term used to express boredom or mild disfavor or dislike among those too affected to really care. “How was your week aboard a private yacht at the Cannes Film Festival?” Meh.
20. Staycation: What you do when you’re too broke to take a real vacation. “I took a staycation.” Translation: I stayed home, cleaned out the garage, painted the guestroom and ordered pizza every night.”
21. Selfie: A photo self-portrait, usually taken with a cell phone. We all think we look gorgeous in our selfies. About .008% of us actually do. About 97.8% of us seem to think making duck-lips in a selfie is still a good idea.
22. Unfriend: The act of removing someone from your Facebook contacts. You unfriend ex-boyfriends and former bosses, and that neighbor who posts all the annoying political stuff. When someone unfriends you, you lie awake at night wondering why they did it.
23. Swag: The loot, the goodie bag, the freebies passed out at conventions or fashion shows or that arrive in the mail. Swag bags for Academy Awards participants include facelifts and weekend ski trips and designer watches. And we’re just happy when we get shampoo samples and dog treats.
24. Zen: To take a deep cleansing breath, to free the mind of thoughts and mellow out is to take a Zen moment. Parents of insolent teens take a lot of these.
25. Guestimate: The combination of guess and estimate. “How many people are coming to the party?” A guesstimate will tell you how much beer and snacks to buy.
