Poll: Jail or Gaol - Scrabble Referee.

[Nimzar]

A while back, I was playing Scrabble (actually a Scrabble variant) with some friends. A situation came up where I could spell either "J-A-I-L" or "G-A-O-L" which I thought was pretty neat (same meaning and pronunciation). I chose to go with the less common spelling--and it was contested.

We didn't have a dictionary on hand so it was put to a vote (there were 6 or 7 people there) and my use G-A-O-L was denied (just barely). Because I had enough support, I was allowed to play the more standard spelling with no penalty--but I was still disappointed.

So which spelling would you have supported in this situation? Would you have allowed GAOL or insisted upon JAIL?

EDIT: I guess I should point out that I'm an American, and was playing Scrabble in America with other Americans.

 

[sogortheogre]

I would have allowed Gaol... remember reading the word in a book, with gaoler as well.

 

[Biosophilogical]

I see gaol as a perfectly acceptable spelling. So yeah, either is fine, I, personally use Jail, but I have o issue with the alternative.

 

[RaphaelsRedemption]

Both are valid.

The moral of the story is: Never play Scrabble without a dictionary!

 

[NoNameMcgee]

To be honest I only ever saw Gaol written once, in a book, I have never seen anyone else spell it that way or read it spelled that way since. When I first read it I wondered why the hell it was spelled that way. It's definitely not common, and as I can see right now when I right it, Gaol even comes up as an incorrect word according to the Firefox spell-checker! Which is weird admittedly, since it is a legit spelling; but it shows its redundancy.

Anyway, I would stick to spelling it Jail and let 'Gaol' die. It's a crappy spelling anyways and looks silly.

 

[Drexlor]

I would have accepted both. They are both valid.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Both would have worked for me..but next time you should have a dictionary handy.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Yeah I had a bad argument turn into a breakup with a gf ostensibly over a contested boggle word that wasn't in the normal dictionary but the unabridged. Moral of the story- I don't date women with small vocabularies anymore.

Wow. That can't have been the whole reason why right?

OT:

I would accept gaol.

Of course, when me and my friends play scrabble we accept "lulzy" as a legitimate word.

 

[Vallds]

Gaol is perfectly acceptable, the gents who make the dictionaries in Oxford would say so too.

 

[ace_of_something]

Obviously the people you were playing with didn't play D&D that often.

Gaol is a word? Is it some word that nobody has used for centuries, except the occasional Scrabbler looking to draw attention with an unusual word?

Not at all. Some of the legal forms for a Corrections Officer (like the contract we had to sign) sometimes have the term 'Gaoler' on them.

 

[Nimzar]

Gaol is a word? Is it some word that nobody has used for centuries, except the occasional Scrabbler looking to draw attention with an unusual word?

It is a disused spelling of word that I would say is fairly common.

I first came across the spelling in Jr. High in something I had to read for English class (I don't remember what).

And isn't some of the fun in Scrabble found in using obscure and disused language that normally never sees the light of day?

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Yeah I had a bad argument turn into a breakup with a gf ostensibly over a contested boggle word that wasn't in the normal dictionary but the unabridged. Moral of the story- I don't date women with small vocabularies anymore.

Wow. That can't have been the whole reason why right?

OT:

I would accept gaol.


Of course, when me and my friends play scrabble we accept "lulzy" as a legitimate word.

There was more to it but it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

That's... too bad.