I was browsing the BBC news wire this morning and saw an article about Mattel getting ready to release a new version of Scrabble in July with a significant rule change. So significant that it actually has the serious Scrabble community up in arms over it.
In July, the official rules will now state that Proper nouns ARE, in fact, allowed. Names, Brands, Places, States, etc. Mattel feels this will introduce a whole new generation to the game and get more people playing it.
Unfortunately, I agree. But I think that is a bad thing.
People that have a hard time spelling will be able to place something like “Hesapeo” and say “Oh, that’s the name of someone I go to school with.” There will be no limits to the words that people will be able to play and “get away with” claiming it’s an alternate spelling to someone’s name or a place, or a food item they love.
In other words, they are making it easier for people to “be stupid.”
Education is taking a backseat to laziness with the current generation, and it’s really frustrating, and scary. Rather than enforcing grammar rules, we allow a new “dialect” to be created called “ebonics” which is an insult to the intelligence of all of us that have to hear it on a daily basis.
Today’s society really caters to the lazy and it’s justified as being convenient or “more entertaining.” Don’t get me wrong, I love my modern day conveniences like my universal remote, my cell phone, my mp3 player, my PS3, etc., but I also know when it’s time to do important things like go to work, mow the lawn, do things with the family. I try not to let the modern things get in the way of the important things.
But changing the rules to make a classic board game more accessible to those that don’t know enough words in the English language to play is just plain redonculous (yes I know that word is not a real word and thus is not found in the official Collier Scrabble Dictionary).
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