Bitcoin now a playable word in Scrabble

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In yet another proof that Bitcoin has been steadily making its way towards mainstream audience, the cryptocurrency is now a playable word in Scrabble.

This week, Merriam-Webster released the sixth edition of its Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, with 300 new words added, including Bitcoin. The word has already been added to Merriam-Webster’s regular unabridged version in 2016; however, it’s only this year that the official Scrabble Dictionary has finally been updated.

Bitcoin is described as a noun by the dictionary and means “a digital currency.” Players can get up to nine or 11 points based on the game’s scoring. In a blog post, Merriam-Webster explained, “It’s important to remember that new words are added to the dictionary only when they have already been used by many people—often initially by specialists or subcultures. Then, gradually, a word’s use spreads to the rest of us.”

Aside from Bitcoin, several other words found their way into the updated Scrabble dictionary, including Emoji, Ew, Ok, Facepalm, Macaron, Puggle, and Sriracha, as well as over 100 two-letter words. Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster, noted, “For a living language, the only constant is change. New dictionary entries reflect our language and our culture, including rich sources of new words such as communication technology and food terms from foreign languages.”

The Merriam-Webster dictionary has also listed the words fintech, cryptocurrency, blockchain, and “ICO” (initial coin offering).

Bitcoin is getting widespread recognition not just as a currency, but as a word that we can use in our daily lives. One way a word can gain recognition in a society is via repeated usage, and at the rate Bitcoin is getting referred to recently, it might just be on its way to full-fledged mainstream popularity.

Aside from making its way to the Scrabble dictionary, Bitcoin was also mentioned a few weeks ago in a track in Eminem’s new album ‘Kamikaze’. Now you can rap about Bitcoin and play it to win a game of Scrabble.