Aussie Scrabble may leave purists feeling a bit devo

AUSTRALIA: A new version of the family favourite word game Scrabble has been launched in Australia, with a glossary that allows colloquialisms such as ‘‘cozzie’’, ‘‘flanno’’ and ‘‘schnitty’’ to be played legally.

The game even awards bonus points for the placing of an Australianism.

If you are a Scrabble purist, and feel a conniption coming on, might we suggest not wasting your ‘‘arvo’’ being a ‘‘wowser’’ over the change - because it only applies to limited-edition Scrabble sets sold in Australia.

To avoid any chance of a ‘‘biffo’’, the Australian Scrabble Players’ Association was consulted over the new version.

Scrabble’s rulemakers update its word bank every three years or so, based on changes to the Collins dictionary. In 2015, new additions included ‘‘lolz’’, ‘‘bezzy’’ (best friend) and ‘‘shootie’’ (a shoe that covers the ankle).

The Australian version - which is believed to be the first countryspecific Scrabble in the game’s 69-year history - comes after David Eldar, 27, from Melbourne, who works as a real estate agent in London, beat Sri Lankan-born Harshan Lamabadusuriya to win the World Scrabble Championships.

Jacinta Whitehead, Scrabble producer Mattel’s Australian marketing manager, said her favourite local slang addition was ‘‘biffo’’, which would earn a player 23 points, including the bonus.

‘‘Only Aussies can make a fight sound friendly,’’ Whitehead said.

The top-scoring Australian slang word is ‘‘prezzy’’, which would have most players licking their lips, especially as a single conventional Scrabble set contains only one ‘‘z’’ tile. The word is worth a princely 39 points - although that would be magnified if it were placed on a double or triple word score.

The 250 new words were chosen after a social media campaign that encouraged 20,000 Australian followers and fans of the game to suggest their favourite Aussie slang. The most popular made it into the new version of the game, which was launched in Australia in conjunction with Jetstar. The low-cost airline will make the game available to its passengers.

‘‘A lot of filtering was required, as there are a lot of alcohol and gaming references in Australian slang,’’ Whitehead said.

The Australian version also includes ‘‘strewth cards’’, which allow players to pick up extra tiles for an extended play.

If you get tricked into a game of Aussie Scrabble while on holiday, chances are you would stand a fair chance.

Many of the new words featured are used across the Englishspeaking world, such as ‘‘moolah’’, ‘‘sickie’’, ‘‘lippy’’, ‘‘wuss’’ and ‘‘stonkered’’. Furthermore, classic Australian words like: ‘‘Gday’’, ‘‘strewth’’, ‘‘footy’’, ‘‘ocker’’ and ‘‘barbie’’ won’t trouble most players.

While most new entries can be easily deciphered - such as ‘‘prezzy’’, ‘‘footy’’, ‘‘Straya’’ - some of the lingo might confuse. For instance, ‘‘Ekka’’ refers to the annual Brisbane show, ‘‘devo’’ is a shortened version of devastated, and a ‘‘flanno’’ is a woven shirt.

An ‘‘ambo’’ is an ambulance driver, a ‘‘uey’’ is an about-turn, and ‘‘Salvos’’ is local slang for the Protestant Christian church and global charity the Salvation Army. Similarly, ‘‘Vinnies’’ refers to St Vincent de Paul, the Catholic voluntary organisation.

Aussie slang words that score big on the Scrabble board include pash (kiss, 19 points), biffo (fight, 23), relo (family member, 14), Straya (Australia, 18) and nuddy (naked, 20).

Scrabble was originally conceived by an out-of-work New York architect, Alfred Mosher Butts, in 1948. - Telegraph Group