Monday 3 December 2012

Scrabble Proverbs

A recent post on Tommyjournal linked to a wonderful collection of Go proverbs. Here are my top 10 from that list:
There are possible things, impossible things, and things that happen. Sometimes things happen that were impossible.
The axe’s handle rots while the mind lives to the rhythm of the stones.
5 lines for extension in front of shimari.
It is difficult to know exactly what you are doing.
Proverbs do not apply to White.
Strange things happen at the one-two points.
Never try to cut bamboo joints.
In the corner, five stones in a row on the third line are alive.
If you have one stone on the third line, add another, then abandon both of them.
You can hide nothing on the goban.

I have never played Go, but of late I have been playing a lot of Scrabble, and between moves I came up with some Scrabble proverbs.
There are words, and there are spaces between words.
Seven tiles sit side by side, meditating on possibilities.
Be wary at family games, but remember that your reputation is not worth more than 50 points.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. Then flip the board over (as if by mistake).
There is only one g in crzjgrdwldiwdc. (Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)
Aspire for the seven-letter word, but make friends with the TWL98 two-letter word list. Played rightly, UT (syllable used in the fixed system of solmization for the note C) can be worth more than QUIXOTIC.
Ecstasy is a seven-letter word.
Here the word, there the meaning. (Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations)
In the bag, all letters are worth nothing and everything.
Let no one see your rack.

If you can come up with any others, please leave a comment. Just to get you thinking, here is the board from last night’s Scrabble game.


And before anyone objects to SEXT (L-13), I hasten to clarify that it means the fourth of the seven canonical hours of the divine office, or the prayers prescribed for it.

2 comments:

Tommy said...

Don't be unwilling to exchange tiles.

Play the long game.

Play dog or dog-related words. (this appeases the tile gods)

Sroyon said...

Thanks :)