Man brings up his wife's recent miscarriage to win at Scrabble

A self-proclaimed “competitive” man is being slated for reminding his wife of her recent miscarriage in his bid to win a board game.

The Reddit user has sparked a fierce backlash on the social forum after claiming his wife is “overreacting”.

In a thread entitled, “AITA [Am I The Asshole] for using the word "miscarry" to beat my wife in scrabble?”, he explains he “ha[s] always been extremely competitive” with his wife, but their latest game has caused a rift.

“Tonight as we were playing Scrabble, I had the option to play the word "miscarry" to win the game,” he wrote.

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From what I could tell, there were no other words I could've played that would have resulted in me winning.”

For context, he adds: “Sadly, a few months she had a miscarriage. It is still a sensitive topic. I chose to play the word, and she was super upset and hurt”.

Almost one in eight pregnancies end in miscarriage among women who know they’re pregnant, according to the NHS. It is commonly understood as a physically and mentally traumatic experience.

Although the man believes his wife is “overreacting”, because of the “context of [their] relationship”, it would seem most other Reddit users disagree.

“Sometimes it’s not worth it to win. Especially when it comes to board games,” one wrote.

Another added: “No, you just shouldn't play a word in scrabble if you know it's going to upset someone. Nobody is going to get mad that you didn't invoke a traumatic incident in order to get a few extra points at scrabble.” [sic]

A third user wrote: “YTA [You’re The Asshole] for choosing to win a game of scrabble at the consequence of triggering negative memories in your wife. This is insensitive and you owe your wife an apology.

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While users defending the man were few and far between, although one suggested the dispute might have been avoided with better communication.

“I think eventually you'll both laugh over this in the long run but perhaps you could have said "Ooh babes I have this word that can win me the game but it's a sensitive subject...can I play it?,” the user suggested.

“That would have prepared her and let her know it was played from a competitive place and I think this all could have been avoided.”

Anyone looking to improve their Scrabble game – without offending their loved ones – would do well to look to Scrabble’s latest list of new words, which includes “on fleek”, meaning stylish, for 12 points, and “hench”, meaning fit and muscular, for 13 points.