A word to the wise

In the world of official Scrabble, "da" is a word.

As the rest of society was rioting around the TV (Superbowl Sunday), a few intellectual die-hards were playing Scrabble at the kitchen table. It's tradition here. (At least it feels like a tradition because we did it last year...)

Although other brains were at the board, Friend #37 and myself were the main contenders. We were doing well, the board was open like a summer sky, full of possiblity, AND THEN: he lays down two wooden tiles.

"DA".

"DA?" I counter. "That's not a word." He smiles, shrugs while lacing his guitar- calloused hands behind his head, and quips, "So challenge me."

I searched my mental language bank. There's "TA-DA".

No, just an expression, and half of one at best.

There's the bank-heist lingo of "Hand ovah da dough."

Nahh.couldn't be.

And that was all I came up with. So we cracked the official Scrabble dictionary--and there it was. "Da." prep (Italian) of.

Well, YEAH. As in Leonardo Da Vinci, sure. But it's a foreign language! Foul play? I can't argue with the tournament handbook. So #37 gets his 2 points and I lose a turn.

By the way, he won by a few points,even after I used up all my tiles first and got a generous bonus. (thank you, E. and J.) It was a great game, though. Because I am not the competitive type, the fact that this event still replays in my mind puzzles me.

I am sure, though, that it has something to do with "DA" being fair game.

Who knew?