The last Scrabble post featured a list of toponyms (place names and words derived from places) in the first half of the alphabet. Today’s post includes a list of toponyms in the second half. These proper nouns are playable in Scrabble because they’re also common nouns. Studying them offers you additional opportunities to broaden your vocabulary and up your game.
- oxford: a type of shoe, also known as a bal or balmoral
- panama: a type of wide-brimmed hat
- paris: a type of plant found in Europe and Asia that produces a lone, poisonous berry
- roman: a romance written in meter
- scot: an assessed tax
- scotch: to put an end to; or to etch or scratch (as in hopscotch)
- sherpa: a soft fabric used for linings
- siamese: a water pipe providing a connection for two hoses
- swiss: a sheer, cotton fabric
- texas: a tall structure on a steamboat containing the pilothouse
- toledo: a type of sword known for its fine craftsmanship, originally from Toledo
- wale: to injure, to create welts on the skin
- warsaw: a type of grouper fish
- waterloo: a definitive defeat
- zaire: a currency of Zaire
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Dictionary and World Builder pages on the Scrabble website, the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips, including this one.
Coming Soon
On Monday, after your Scrabble debriefing, we will examine my model essay and bibliography, “Scrabble as a Game Changer in the College Classroom,” which you should read and annotate before class. Also, be sure to bring your copy of Writing Analytically to class. You will need your textbook for both the collaborative and individual exercises that you will complete.
Jane Lucas 