Hey, wait a minute... "Ent" isn't in the dictionary!

[IronParrot]

I used "Ent" in Scrabble once... I'm glad I convinced my opponent, who had never read Tolkien (shame, shame), that it was legitimate. I looked in the dictionary I use for Scrabble today, and... "elf" was there (although the adjective was "elf-like", not "elvish"), "dwarf" was there, "orc" was kinda there in a very limited definition... but no "ent".

I'm complaining to Webster's NOW.

[Eruve]

I've seen "ent" and "orc" in crossword puzzles. The usual clue for "ent" is "Tolkien forest giant".
I knew orc was in the dictionary, because I've used it un Scrabble! ;)

[IronParrot]

I checked in my Webster's again. "Orc" is in there all right... but it's defined as a whale... now I'll have to check back and make sure my eyes didn't accidentally float to the next line, "orca". I've used both in Scrabble... and thankfully went unchallenged both occasions.

[anduin]

I think that Ent is Old English for "giant".

[IronParrot]

Hmm... I think I'll go to the library and see what their Complete Oxford English Dictionary says... Webster's is all Americanized and everything.

[Eruve]

I checked my Official Scrabble Dictionary and "ent" isn't there. So even if you find it in the OED, you can't use it in Scrabble anymore... Watch out or the Scrabble police will get you!

[IronParrot]

No "ent" in the Scrabble dictionary? Hmm... that's not good.

I think "ent" is as legitimate a word as any. Did anyone complain when Shakespeare invented the word "eyeball"?

[Darth Tater]

This is a crime against humanity!!!

[Elanor the Hobbit]

Well, technically I believe it would be called "jargon", which is not allowed (I think--at least it's not in boggle). So I couldn't use any of my nifty fungus words, construction workers and pilots can't use any of their special words, and we can't use any of our supremely wonderful Tolkien words. It's only fair. *shrug* But, ah, I must admit that wouldn't keep me from using it if I could get away with it.

[Eruve]

I'd rather use "eyeball" over "ent" any day! Barring bonuses, ent is only worth 3 points. Eyeball would be worth 63!

[IronParrot]

Eyeball?
1+4+1+3+1+1+1 = 12... oh wait, you mean WITH bonuses.

How about "palantir"?
3+1+1+1+1+1+1 = 9... nope, not higher than eyeball.

"Shadowfax"? Nah, it's a proper noun...

[Eruve]

I was giving myself credit for using all 7 tiles!
I realized after I went off line this morning, that if I played a word like that by building on existing tiles, then I wouldn't be using them all...
Edited to add:
I've also realized that I don't know how to add! :b
Make that 62 points!

[IronParrot]

Wait a minute - let me think about this here.

Let's say I used "palantir" with the P and the R sitting on triple word scores, building on one existing letter somewhere in the middle. Now, two of the other letters in the middle would hit double-letters as well...

P (3) + ALANTI (6+2) + R (1) = 12
Triple that, triple it again: 108
Add 50pts for using all the tiles: 158

158 points for "palantir"! THAT'S as much of a reason as any to include it in the dictionary!

[bmilder]

LOL

Anyway, there's a copy of the OED in my house, so I looked it up.. here's what I found (not that I understand any of it :p)

Def 1: Ent - Obselete - A scion or graft

Def 2: Ent metaph. rare. See quot.
188 - H. Jackson in Encyclo. Brit. XVII
315 Starting from the fromula of "the Ent (or existent) is, the Nonent is not," Parmenides attempted, etc., Ibid., The Ent, i.e. the existent unity which reason discovers beneath the variety and mutability of things.

Interesting, huh? :p;)
Hobbit is in there too.

[Eruve]

Ent and hobbit would almost have to be there! Who do you think wrote the OED???
OK, part of it, and I know it wasn't those particular parts, but still. I'm sure subsequent authors of the OED wanted to pay tribute.

[bmilder]

Oh yeah :p

Still, the Ent in there wasn't the Ent from Tolkien, but the hobbit definition mentioned him.

[anduin]

Ent=(OE)giant. Where did I get that? Hmmm.....can't remember right now, but I remember it from somewhere. Seems appropriate....... :p

[dmaul97]

Well, all I can say is that I play scrabble very unoften. Hmm. Maybe cuz I have a life.

[IronParrot]

All I can say is that there's no such word as "unoften". Hmm. Maybe cuz you don't play Scrabble. :P

Come on... Scrabble is THE social game... well, of course, so are chess, diplomacy and poker, but still...

[anduin]

:lol: Too much!!

[IronParrot]

:lol:

[Aragorn_iz_cool]

WHAT!!! Well myebe after the TTT they'll put it in.

[elf_princess]

What a shame! Webster definitely needs to be notified... what was he thinking???

[galadriel88]

Yeah...

I LOVE Scrabble! Once I beat my grandma, which was totally amazing because she is like, the queen of Scrabble! I only got 2nd place cause we were playing with my mom and she got 1st, but hey, who cares? I still beat my Grandma!!! Anyway, now I know all these Tolkien words and I bet I could use them in Scrabble sometime...

[Ñólendil]

"Ent" is indeed illegal in Scrabble. You can use English words but nothing outside of English. Old English is not English.

[Khamûl]

People probably wouldn't know that it's illegal, though. I've read LotR and I didn't even know that Ent was Old English.

[Elf Girl]

Our Word spellchecker didn't know the word "Tolkien". I screamed when it claimeda that his name was not a word.

[galadriel88]

Yeah well, the Word dictionary doesn't know alot of things. To me it doesn't really count as a true dictionary.

[Helix]

My word checker reckognizes "Frodo" but not Bilbo or even Baggins. Oh, well, can't have everything.:(

[Helix]

Ent ent a word cuz' it ent in the dictionary.

[Elf Girl]

lol.

[eowyn144]

my dictionary has "ent" in it!!!! oh...hang on...it's a tolkien dictionary.........now THAT would explain a lot of things.....

[galadriel88]

LOL :p

[Arwen4ever]

my dictionary has -ent but I dont tthink that counts. It means: a suffix equivalent to -ant in adjectives and nouns as in ardent, dependent, different, expedient :D

[Khadrane]

Originally posted by elf_princess
What a shame! Webster definitely needs to be notified... what was he thinking???
Notifying him might be a problem as he's dead...:)

[Earniel]

Well no 'ent' in my dictionary.... Although we have the dutch verb 'enten' which does have something to making twigs from one plant grow on another.