I used to play scrabble lots, both in English and in French, in my younger days. Since then there's been sciences in university (both languages) and lots of foreign travel (many languages).

I now find Scrabble much more frustrating because of it. I'm looking for some sympathy here! Other multilingual scrabble players who get frustrated at how dictionaries decide which word crosses over between languages!

I'll be playing in English and the anglophone will come up with a perfectly good French word, and I'll think hell no, that's a French word, but noooooo, apparently it's in the dictionary! Same goes for playing in French, someone will use an English word, I go to a new dictionary and there it is: "anglicisme" or "mot anglais" both of which I feel we should not use...

Then there are all the biological/scientific words that I know are perfectly valid but aren't in the darned smaller dictionaries. But it seems impossible to assess in my mind which of my terminology will be in a lay dictionary or not.

And games with constant dictionary challenges are simply less fun!

Anyone with similar experiences?

yeahbut, the only answer is to buy an official dictionary (OSPD in the U.S.) or use one of the online word lists (link), grin, and bear it.

edit: also consider the frustrations of those who are easily offended, or not (see OSPD link)

Or convince your friends to make some other dictionary the official one.

I have been playing many thousand games of scrabble with my partner, who is from Northern Germany - and I learned a lot of dialect words from her, which, surprisingly, had their place in the "Duden". I agree that scientific or medical terms are but randomly represented. (e.g. anus is there, but femur is not)

wsieber, I know it's just an e.g., but the OSPD has both anus and femur (in the pre-p.c. edition).