A
ll I really need to know about languages, I learned from
Scrabble. For example, a w is worth ten points in French Scrab-
ble; guess there aren’t very many French words with a W in them.
Then there’s the Polish version, in which a z is worth a single
point. In German Scrabble, the rules once required players to pick
up eight tiles instead of the usual seven. Can we guess which lan-
guage has the longest words on average?
On to English Scrabble. There are many ways to improve one’s
score, from learning two-letter words such as aa to memorizing
how many tiles there are in the game for each letter of the alpha-
bet. Another little trick you may want to try some time is to play
words that appear to be misspellings of popular words, a few of
which are provided for you here.
Here’s a quiz: what number, when spelled out, has a Scrabble
score equal to that number? The answer appears at the end of the
book.
40
CHAPTER 10
Words That Appear
to Be Misspellings
of Everyday Words II
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eagre (EE-guhr)
noun A high tidal wave rushing upstream into an estuary. Also
known as a tidal bore.
Of obscure origin.
● “A few Jet-Skiers attempted to jump over the high waves while
paddlers in longboats tried to outrace the onrushing eagres.”
—New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
imprest (IM-prest)

thing. The common link here is the Latin root, ducere (to lead). And
what do a noble duke and a lowly duct have in common? The
same—they lead.
● “It’s impossible to believe the style wasn’t meant to serve as a
serene respite from a messy world, to endue the owner with the
same calmness and clearness of mind that its surfaces reflect.”
—Greater Lansing (Mich.) Business Monthly
biennial (bi-EN-ee-uhl)
adjective 1. Happening every two years. 2. Lasting two years. 3.
Taking two years to complete its life cycle.
noun 1. An event occurring once in two years. 2. A plant that
takes two years to complete its life cycle, such as beets and carrots.
From biennium (a two-year period), from Latin bi- (two) + annus
(year).
42
ANOTHER WORD A DAY
Oh, we have a home. We just need a house to put it in.
—
A
N ANONYMOUS CHILD
Cash Dash
Old memories of my government financial career. I oversaw
a $6,000 imprest fund to purchase small items for a research
laboratory environment. Along with the imprest fund came
mock robberies and 12 a.m. phone calls from military police.
The calls required me to drive twenty miles to the military
base, often on icy winter nights, in response to the security
alarm in the locked imprest fund room. These days the credit
card has replaced the imprest fund.
—Colleen A. Fuller, Lowell, Massachusetts

with a lingering appreciation the comparatively few books that
have been written by men who lived, thought, and felt with style.
—
A
LDOUS
H
UXLEY
, author (1894–1963)
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W
hat do a magazine and an albatross have in common with
algebra and a lute? They all come to us from Arabic. As in other
Semitic languages,Arabic words are based on three-consonant roots.
This three-letter structure provides the general concept, and vowels
impart specific meaning. For example, the triplet k-t-b refers to
writing. With the addition of vowels it can morph into kitab (book),
katib (writer, clerk), kutub (books), kataba (he wrote), and so on.
Along the same lines, there is the consonant cluster s-l-m, which
shows up in words indicating ideas of submission, peace, and the
like. Some of the words employing this triplet are Islam (surrender
to God’s will), Muslim (one who submits), and salaam (peace).
Whatever God we follow, may we all know that no God would
condone hurting others. It’s time to look at words from Arabic.
alembic (uh-LEM-bik)
noun 1. An apparatus formerly used in distilling substances. 2.
Something that refines, purifies, or transforms.
From Middle English alambic,from Old French, from Medieval
Latin alembicus,from Arabic al-anbiq,from al (the) + anbiq (still),
from Greek ambix (cup).
44