Whack-A-Word Dictionaries

Contents

1. About the Dictionary
2. Changing the Dictionary
3. English Spellings

About the Dictionary

Whack-A-Word uses the ENABLE dictionary to check your words for correctness.  ENABLE stands for "Enhanced North American Benchmark LExicon."  It's a carefully researched and meticulously compiled combination of many other dictionaries (such as Merriam Webster 10th Edition and the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary), and has graciously been made available for public use by its lexicographers.  

You can learn more about the folks who created the ENABLE dictionary, and read a thoroughly annotated history of its development, at: http://personal.riverusers.com/~thegrendel/software.html.  This site also contains tools you can use to create your own dictionary.  Look for the links to the dictionary, ENABLE2K.ZIP, and its supplement, SUPP2K.ZIP 

Changing the Dictionary

For Whack-A-Word, the raw ENABLE dictionary data is contained in a file called words.lst.  This file is located in the same folder as the game itself, typically somewhere like:

C:\Program Files\Haversack Software\Whack-A-Word\words.lst

You can also manually edit the dictionary file using any plain text editor (like the Notepad accessory that comes with Windows).  Just be sure that you: 

1. Keep it in alphabetical order 
2. Keep it in its raw text format
3. Use lower case letters only
4. Use only the 26 letters in the English alphabet

You can also replace the entire dictionary with a new one, many of which can be found on the Internet.  To use an alternate dictionary:

1. Download the dictionary you would like to use.
2. Unzip the actual dictionary file (if it is still in ZIP format)
3. Rename your dictionary file "words.lst"
4. Move your new "words.lst" file to the folder where Whack-A-Word is installed on your computer.

That's it.  The next time you run Whack-A-Word, it will use the new dictionary instead of its original one.  Just keep in mind that the dictionary file must be sorted alphabetically, and all of its words must be lower case, in order for Whack-A-Word to work properly.  

English Spellings

The version of the ENABLE dictionary that is included with Whack-A-Word contains both English and American spellings.  However, by following the instructions above, you can download and install an alternate dictionaries that contain just one or the other.