Hashtag, bling, emo and meh are among new Scrabble words

Young players of the classic word game Scrabble, perhaps disenfranchised by its decade-old lexicon, can "chillax" now that this multi-generational favorite is being updated to speak the language of the millennials.

The fifth edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, published by Merriam-Webster, goes on sale Wednesday (Aug 6) and includes 5,000 new words that editors say will help the 66-year-old game stay relevant.

Some older players and Scrabble purists might find the inclusion of words like "bromance" and "selfie" to be a "buzzkill" because some of the additions seem so fresh.

But most of the additions are likely to be long-studied and time-tested, with obvious staying power, said Grant Barrett, a San Diego dictionary editor and co-host of the nationwide public radio show "A Way with Words."

Photo: AFP

"The list is, to me, a great step forward," Barrett said. "I think you've got to add the new words. Otherwise you risk this turning into an archaic game that nobody wants to play because the daily language isn't accepted there. It's got to keep up."

"It's not just the words that get into society," said Chris Cree, co-president of the North American Scrabble Players Association in Dallas, which oversaw the update. "They are also words that have the potential of sticking around." - Reuters​

Here are some of the new words and the points you'd get if you used them:

1. Bromance - 14 points
2. Selfie - 9 points
3. Buzzkill - 32 points
4. Chillax - 19 points
5. Hashtag - 14 points
6. Dubstep - 12 points
7. Texter - 13 points
8. Meh - 8 points
9. Geocache - 16 points
10. Emo - 5 points
11. Bling - 8 points
12. Mixtape - 18 points
13. Beatbox - 18 points