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I had one of those moms. Whenever I asked, “What does ‘X’ mean?” I got the same answer: Look it up.

Naturally, we were a Scrabble family.

So are one-third of American, and half of British, families. Nearly a century after its invention in 1938 by American architect Alfred Mosher Butts, this simple yet challenging board game is still sold in 121 countries and 29 languages. For the uncommonly uninitiated, players form words crossword-style, earning points for each letter.

Every Scrabble player knows dictionaries are the final arbiters of Scrabble disputes. In our family, that was a giant edition of Merriam-Webster. But these days that classic hardback isn’t enough; English expands too rapidly.

Each year Merriam-Webster adds new words to its official Scrabble Dictionary, enticing players to “impress your friends and annoy your relatives” with its newest entries. So if you want to keep up, here are 2018’s.

Frowny (showing a frown). It may surprise you to know that’s not a new one. First appearing in the 1864 edition, it was removed from the dictionary in 1961 for lack of use. If words are like fashion trends, I hope galoot and fisticuffs are next.

Bestie (close friend). Apparently now acceptable, but not BFF (best friends forever).

Bizjet (small airplane for business). With Z (10 points) and J (8), don’t forget this one.

Qapik (variant of gopik, a.k.a. money in Azerbaijan). I didn’t know either.

Ew (yeah, seriously!). Ah, um, and yo are also disgustingly acceptable.

Twerk (a dance move). First-timers may feel shocked by this shaking of extended buttocks while squatting, but it has a legitimate history in some very old African cultures.

Arancini (fried rice balls). This Italian dish is a dream when you’re stuck with too many vowels.

Beatdown (violent beating). As bad as it sounds, its popularity may have increased thanks to sports — an overwhelming defeat.

Zomboid (zombie-like). I blame all those gruesome new TV series, but before I turn you zomboid with more, I’ll say sayonara (yup, that one’s legal too).

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Sholeh Patrick is a Scrabble-loving columnist for the Hagadone News Network whose 1973 Webster’s still graces her bookshelf. Share your triple-word-score achievers at: Sholeh@cdapress.com