Vigilante time
It's not often you find a person with a hate for the letter vee. The hatred seems to stem from concentrating too much on end-game strategies in scrabble.
I had to respond in defense of my initial.
I'm appalled by your "V"ilification
rising purely from some vague vexation
with very short words
in a vain game for nerds.
I view it as vile provocation.
[edit: I stand corrected. The hatred of vee arises from its reluctance to form stable, monogamous relationships with other individual letters.]
Comments
Whenever I see a V on its own, I think about the emetophobia mailing list, where they always say "v" instead of "vomit". This makes me giggle, because I always imagine them running about waving their arms and going "Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" In fact, last year I caught food poisoning and almost vomited, and one REASON I came so close to puking was that I started laughing at the worst peaks of nausea. I didn't WANT to laugh, but I kept thinking "Oh, no. I might really...veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!", which of COURSE struck my funnybone, which, in turn, almost made my worst fear a reality.
Nonetheless, I have nothing against the letter V, in and of itself.
I've got nothing 'gainst letters that buzz
On the tongue, like the double-you does
But if vee stands for vomit
Then triple shame on it
You don't need a vee to say "scuzz".
*chuckles*
*appreciates the limerick*
You know, when writing this entry about veeophobia I'd completely forgotten about your mental association linking "v" with "vomit". I hope your link between "v" and levity is stronger than its link to revulsion.
I must continue to build the reputation of this slightly tarnished letter.
Reclaiming the Vee Words
Vitriol, Vomit and Vivisection
Lost Mr. Vee the election.
But Vino and Vim
Came steaming on in
And usurped Mr. Eff from PerVection!
You know, it's really not a concentration on end-game strategies. The two-letter word is valuable in the beginning of the game for a couple of reasons.
The best place to put one word is right on top of another, if you can. Every letter you can put like that acts double. Knowing all the two letter words makes a *huge* difference in scrabble score. A V can't be hooked on anywhere. So while you could make "example" by hooking it on top of the last four letters of "calamity", there is no place you can hook a V. That's a severe disadvantage because:
(1) There are fewer places to play words with Vs.
(2) Any time you can "hook" like that you effectively double the value of the letters.
(3) Hooking words like this is also an excellent defensive move--it makes it very hard for other people to play off your words. In general, if both people are "dense" Scrabble players (dense in terms of letter density, not in terms of
oops, cut off--
In general, if both people are dense Scrabble players (dense in terms of letter density, not in terms of mental power) the person who gets the V will be at a severe disadvantage.
Thanks Heidi. I guess that just showed up my lack of scrabble playing. The only scrabble I've played in the last 10 years has been: (a) playing "take two" - a scrabble variant played with no board and an emphasis on raw speed, and (b) playing against my kids - where concentration on score maximization would earn me a reputation as a bully.