SCRABBLE has banned the use of hundreds of racial and offensive slurs, including a number of anti-Irish words.
Mattel and Hasbro, who co-own the beloved board game, have been accused of indulging political correctness at the expense of the historic game by removing as many as 400 words from use.
On the banned list are words considered to be racial or ethnic slurs, including 'n*****', 'Paki' and 'Fenian'.
Hasbro, who own rights to the game in North America, were first to bulk, removing words they believe have no place in a family game, with Mattel, who own rights to the game in Europe and Australia, following suit soon after.
The decision has sparked furious public debate, with many celebrating the progressivism of the move, and others branding the ban unnecessary pandering to the woke brigade.
Competitive Scrabble players and members of the World English-Language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA) were particularly outraged by the decision. So much so that three prominent members of WESPA reportedly quit the association following the controversial ruling.
They argued that playing a derogatory word was as much a part of the game as playing any other word, and couldn't be constituted as 'offensive'.
"Words listed in dictionaries and Scrabble lists are not slurs," Darryl Francis, who has written books about the game, told The Times.
"They only become slurs when used with a derogatory purpose or intent, or used with a particular context," he argued.
"Words in our familiar Scrabble word lists should not be removed because of a PR purpose disguised as promoting some kind of social betterment."
There is no definitive list of banned words, but it's understood that there are a number of racial slurs regarding the Irish which have been banned, including 'Fenian' and 'Culchie'.
"We looked at some of the social unrest that’s going on globally," Mattel’s global head of games said.
"I've heard the argument that these are just words, but we believe they have meaning."
