Two-Letter Words

     Sometimes in Scrabble, and other word games, it can be helpful to know two-letter words.  While I would prefer to make impressive seven-letter words, I often resort to playing just a tiny little two-letter one.  A two-letter word can help you in Scrabble if. . .

1. you don’t have the tiles to make a longer word,
2. there are few open spaces left on the board,
3. you are down to your last tile (or last few),
4. a bonus space is open–but only to a two-letter word, or
5. two words can be made at once, which doubles the point value of the letter.

     Besides the obvious two-letter words, such as AM, BE,  GO, HE, IS, ME, TO or IN, there are plenty of others that are not as familiar.  Some of them can actually earn a lot of points in Scrabble–under some of the conditions listed above.

     Some two-letter words that you might not think of are the names of the Greek letters MU, NU, XI, and PI.  

     Some other two-letter words that might not pop out at you are interjections, which include AH, AI, AW, AY, EH, ER, HA, HI, HO, HM, LO, MM, NA, NO, OH, OM, OY, UH, UM, SH, TA, YA, and YO.  It might be hard to believe that some of these are considered words, but they are on the official Scrabble word list.

     The terms for the musical notes are also helpful as two-letter words.  They include DO, RE, MI, FA, LA, SI, TI, and the defunct UT. 

     Some of the names of the letters of the English alphabet count as two-letter words.  They are AR, EF, EL, EM, EN, and ES.

     Don’t forget shortened forms of longer words, such as AB, AD, BI, EX, MA, MO, OP, and PA.

     See if you can match up these other two-letter words with their correct definitions:

1. AA          a.  sweetheart (in the Scots dialect) 
2. AE          b.  a Chinese unit of distance
3. AL          c.  the supposed life force in ancient Egypt
4. KA          d.  a Vietnamese unit of currency
5. JO          e.  dried lava that is fragmented
6. LI           f.  the letter also known as ash, usually written as a ligature
7. OD          g.  a bone in medical jargon
8. OS          h.  a variant of God in some dialects
9. XU          i.  Indian mulberry

ANSWERS:

1. AA     e.  dried lava that is fragmented 
2. AE     f.  the letter also known as ash, usually written as a ligature
3. AL     i.  Indian mulberry
4. KA     c.  the supposed life force in ancient Egypt
5. JO     a.  sweetheart (in the Scots dialect)
6. LI      b.  a Chinese unit of distance
7. OD     h.  a variant of God in some dialects
8. OS     g.  a bone in medical jargon
9. XU     d.  a Vietnamese unit of currency