According to an article in the New York Post, the Mattel game company is apparently releasing a new version of ‘Scrabble’ in Europe. Unfortunately, they weren’t content to just introduce a new set of game rules but opted to say this, “The way we use words is constantly evolving and so is Scrabble, which is why the iconic game has created a second side to the board that is collaborative and faster-paced to make gameplay more accessible.”

It is certainly true that language evolves. It is NOT true that ‘the way we use words is evolving.’

Words were originally created to communicate ideas. That is still their primary function. Despite thousands of years of societal evolution, we haven’t found any other uses for words. We don’t use words to hoist engines, cut grass, locate lost items, feed pets, clean carpets, or make a pot roast.

We also use words to play ‘Scrabble.’ The way words are used in the new version of the game is unchanged. It is the scoring system has that ‘evolved.’ The beloved board game is another example of deconstruction leading to incoherence. I’ll pull some quotes from the article to demonstrate.

“The makers of Scrabble found that younger people, Gen Z people, don’t quite like the competitive nature of Scrabble.”

Young people don’t like to compete. The new version is ‘non-competitive.’

“In the new version, scoring is a thing of the past — now all one has to do is finish a goal and collect the goal card.”

There is no keeping score. You’re just going to COLLECT GOAL CARDS instead. Wait a second…that’s keeping score, isn’t it? That’s…COMPETING!

“The player who completes 20 challenges is the winner, while the player who used all their helper cards without completing a challenge is the loser.”

That’s what I thought! You can’t determine a ‘winner’ unless you’re keeping score.

Understand that deconstruction is not about evolving the meaning of words. Deconstruction is the process of making words meaningless. Only by undefining words can you make statements like this: “For anyone who’s ever thought ‘word games aren’t for me’…Scrabble Together mode is an ideal option.” If you don’t like word games, here’s a word game! Wheeeee! Welcome to madness.

(1 Corinthians 14:9) So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.