Bananagrams follows a similar set of rules to playing the word game Scrabble. In Bananagrams, the length of a word is three letters, unlike standard Scrabble that allows two-letter words.
A player cannot call out “Bananas” unless they have used all their tiles to create valid words. Therefore, if any word is unacceptable, the “Bananas” is considered “Rotten,” and the player is out of the hand.
What are acceptable words in Bananagrams? A word in Bananagrams is acceptable if it has at least three letters or more, and must be part of any standard dictionary.
The good thing with Bananagrams is that there is no specific dictionary required. Meaning someone can use any dictionary available to determine acceptable words.
A word can only be accepted if it’s played horizontally (in the left-right direction) or vertically (downwards direction), but a word played diagonally is not accepted. Words must intersect with already existing words.
For a word to be accepted in Bananagrams, it should always appear as lowercase in sentences. This prohibits the use of proper nouns like names, places, months, brands, etc., unless they have another meaning in the English language.
Furthermore, roman numerals, abbreviations and hyphenated words are not accepted in the game.
Players can always create their own house rules that limit acceptable words to specific areas such as types of animals or food to make the game more interesting and challenging.
This post covered everything you need to now about the Bananagrams word list. Answered below are frequently asked questions about the acceptable words for playing Bananagrams.
What words are not allowed in Bananagrams?
According to official rules, these are the types of words that are not playable in Bananagrams:
- Words that are two-lettered. For instance, oz, za.
- Pronouns include places, people, months, weekdays, companies, countries, and cities. However, if a pronoun has another meaning in the English language, and it can appear lowercase in a sentence, then it’s acceptable. For example, turkey, which is the country’s name, but also means a type of bird and frank is a persons name that is commonly interchanged for the word hotdog.
- Slang words that are not found in the dictionary.
- Foreign words that are not part of the dictionary.
- Words that are abusive or derogatory.
- Words that are misspelled. Words can only be spelled horizontally left-right direction or vertically in a downwards direction. Any word spelled diagonally is not accepted.
- Abbreviations, for example TV and IQ.
- A word that is not part of any dictionary word list.
- Words that can cause ethical, tribal, or racial dispute
Note that players can set their own rules besides the official rules. In that case, players may be limited to play words from a particular category as long as all the members are comfortable with the rules.
What words can you use in Bananagrams?
The following are words that a player can play in Bananagrams according to official rules:
- A word that has three or more letters.
- The foreign word that can be found on a wordlist in any dictionary.
- Slang words found in the dictionary.
- Any word found in the English dictionary except for proper nouns that must be capitalized when written in a sentence.
- Proper nouns that have another meaning in the English language, such that they can appear lowercase in a sentence. For example, march is the name of a month but also means a systematic way of walking done by soldiers or scouts.
- Abusive words that have other meanings in the English language.
Are informal words allowed in Bananagrams?
Yes, as long as it’s found in the dictionary. Official Bananagrams rules state that it’s acceptable, whether formal or informal, as long as a word is found in the dictionary and passes the other acceptable qualifications.
Some informal words have been in use in the common language for a long time, such that these words have been adopted in most English dictionary versions. For instance., GUCCI, which means cool or good to go, DOPE, also means cool, or LIT, meaning something amazing.
Can you use Scrabble words for Bananagrams?
No, all Scrabble words cannot be used for Bananagrams. In Scrabble, a player can play two-letter words, but in Bananagrams, only three letters and above.
Otherwise, most other words allowed in Scrabble are also valid in Bananagrams. Both game versions outline that all words regarded as part of speech are valid to be played, as long as they are lowercase when spelled and not proper nouns.
Words prohibited in Scrabble are the same category of words prohibited in Bananagrams. Such words include abbreviations, proper nouns, abusive words, foreign words not in the dictionary, slang words out of the dictionary, misspelled words, and words that can cause ethnic or racist conflict.
Words Accepted in Bananagrams: Conclusion
Bananagrams is very similar to Scrabble, the major difference is that it doesn’t rely on scoring. Instead, Bananagrams relies on the speed of forming words.
Unlike Scrabble, which uses an official Scrabble dictionary, in Bananagrams, any dictionary available can be used as a guideline to validate words. Playing valid words in Bananagrams is important.
A player cannot play two lettered words in Bananagrams, and it doesn’t matter whether a word is formal or not, as long as the word is found in the dictionary used, it’s acceptable. Other players can check words played by a player who calls out “Bananas!”
For anyone to win the game, they must play acceptable words. If a player calls “Bananas,” while having played invalid words, the “Bananas” are declared “Rotten,” and the player is expelled from the round.