As they say in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. And I think I have been lucky enough to be the recipient of a pretty choice piece of property.

Out on a stroll the other day (I’ll try and imagine it was to go and have a coffee whilst gazing at the Eiffel Tower, although it was probably something less romantic, like trying to find a vélib’ rental bicycle or begrudgingly walking to a metro station not affected by strike action), I discovered I am living a mere stone throw away from the Fédération Française de Scrabble. I stopped, double-took, and stood in front of the sign for a little while, pondering for good measure.

It got me wondering about this trivia-laden game.

Did you know that point allocation changes for each letter according to international context? It makes total sense when you think about it.

For instance, Z is worth only one point in the Polish-language version, but is missing altogether in the Welsh-language version (along with Q and X). However, Y and W, both common Welsh letters are only worth one point, as are “LL” and “DD”. On the other end of the co-habiting spectrum, “NG” or “RH” appearing together on the same tile score a bumper ten points!

Apparently the point of contention in French Scrabble rules is whether or not you are allowed to use conjugated forms or just infinitive verbs. In English [to have: I have, you have, he/she has, we have, they have] is not an issue. But for the French [avoir: j’ai, tu as, il/elle a, nous avons, vous avez, ils/elles ont] it’s a totally different kettle of fish!

There are also many quirky variations on the rules. For instance, when I’m au pairing, rules are bent to play bilingual English/French with the children, even though I’m the only one not capable of playing both competently. I read that one of the favourite tour bus activities of American rapper Ludacris is “Hip-Hop Scrabble”, where only words such as “bling” and “hizzo” are permitted in the game.

I think a version of “common misspellings” or “words that should have made it into the English language” would be right up my alley… But speaking of my alley, maybe I’ll just go and have a word with my neighbours at the Federation.