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Alfred Butts

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Inventor

The Resume

    (April 13, 1899-April 4, 1993)
    Born in Poughkeepsie, New York
    Architect
    Created Scrabble (1938)
    Scrabble marketed by Selchow and Righter
    Rights to Scrabble eventually acquired by Hasbro

Why he might be annoying:

    Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley both rejected Scrabble.
    When he created a second word game, he sold it under the less-than-inspired name 'Alfred's Other Game.'
    Although Scrabble is often said to improve one's vocabulary, the odds of you using words like xu, qadi or zek anywhere other than a Scrabble board are pretty slim.
    He was an indifferent speller and admitted his wife was much better than him at Scrabble.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Scrabble is second only to Monopoly among best-selling board games.
    He received a mere two and a half cents for each game sold and no compensation for any other Scrabble-related products.
    He said of Scrabble's success, 'I invented the darn game, and what happened is still crazy to me.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 17 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 13 Votes: 38.46% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 29 Votes: 31.03% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 36 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 92 Votes: 43.48% Annoying