Everything about Official Scrabble Players Dictionary totally explained
The
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary or
OSPD is a dictionary developed for use in the game
Scrabble, by speakers of
United States English.
History
Creation
The
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary was first published in 1978 through the efforts of the
National Scrabble Association (NSA) Dictionary Committee and
Merriam-Webster. The OSPD was developed as the word authority for NSA-sanctioned clubs and tournaments. Selchow and Righter, the owners of Scrabble at the time, proposed that words contained in at least one of the following five dictionaries should be in the OSPD:
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eighth Edition (1973),
Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary of the English Language (1973),
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1969),
Webster's New World Dictionary, Second College Edition (1970), and
The Random House College Dictionary (1968).
The compilation was produced by hand and many
errata and omissions were later discovered. For example, the word
granola was present in all five nominated dictionaries but not in the OSPD. A second edition, OSPD 2, was released in 1991. The current edition is OSPD 4.
Although OSPD bears the name
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary no countries list their "official" dictionary as the OSPD, whereas the
Official Club and Tournament Word List is the official word source of tournament Scrabble in the
United States,
Canada,
Thailand and
Israel. The NSA markets the OSPD as ideal for school and family use.
Offensive words
While reading OSPD 2, Judith Grad found several words she considered to be offensive, including "jew", listed as a verb with the definition "To bargain with - an offensive term". Her initial letters to
Merriam-Webster and
Milton Bradley requesting removal of the words resulted in politely negative responses. Grad wrote to the
National Council of Jewish Women, who began a letter-writing campaign in support of her cause. Publicity in Jewish media led to the
Anti-Defamation League writing to
Hasbro chairman Alan Hassenfeld, who announced that a third edition would be published with the "offensive" words removed. The news was generally not well received by members of the National Scrabble Association, which wasn't consulted in the decision. After receiving mostly negative feedback from players, including threats to boycott events,
NSA president John D. Williams announced a compromise, the result of which was the publication of the unexpurgated
Official Tournament and Club Word List.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Official Scrabble Players Dictionary'.
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