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Disputed words
Several of Countdown's rules regarding which ODE words are permitted and which are not are applied inconsistently. This page lists words which should be "approached with caution".
Contents
Mass noun plurals
The Countdown rules state blah blah.
Adjective inflections
Countdown rules state that all one-syllable adjectives have one-word comparative and superlative forms (i.e. they take -ER and -EST).
Allowed on apterous, may not be allowed on Countdown
- BRUTER, BRUTEST (Assumed inflections of BRUT).
- CHIEFER, CHIEFEST
- FEINTER, FEINTEST
- MAINER, MAINEST
American spellings
Countdown rules that American words are permitted, while American spellings are not. This occasionally causes issues because the ODE itself makes no such distinction, simply marking words as "US" in either case. Generally the distinction is obvious but sometimes it's debatable.
Allowed on apterous, may not be allowed on Countdown
- ASSHOLE (Considered US spelling of ARSEHOLE but has a recognisably different pronunciation in UK and US dialect).
- BRINKSMANSHIP (Considered US spelling of BRINKMANSHIP which is obviously just nonsense.)