Password: Contractions illegal?

[MSTieScott]

I was watching "Password Plus" with some friends, and the word "rosy" came up. I commented that if it was present day, my clue would be "O'Donnell." At which point one of my friends pointed out that contractions aren't allowed as clues.

That feels wrong to me (after all, the two words have been contracted into one word), but I can't think of any instance where a player tried to use a contraction, either legally or illegally.

I know that possessives are okay, but is it true that you're not allowed to use contractions?

[Adam Nedeff]

I just checked the Milton-Bradley rules. No mention of contractions among the examples of illegal clues.

[Denials]

It looks like this has come up before with people on both sides of the issue:  http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,19226.0/nowap.html

I would argue that it is not a contraction.

Then I would go with "riveter" as my clue to avoid the issue entirely.   

[JasonA1]

Notice within that thread there's a salient point from the Million Dollar Password bible:

"5.  Passwords and clues may both contain apostrophes (examples: “won't”, “O'Connor”)."

Add the Password Plus bible as another that only said clues had to be one word, non-hyphenated (just as the board games' rules do) - they didn't comment further on apostrophes. I assume contractions have always been okay, and I also can't recall an instance where one was given as a clue on the classic versions anyway (though I'm sure it's happened).

-Jason

[JonSea31]

If a clue has at least one space, or one hyphen, or a slash, or an ampersand, or if a clue has at least one period in the middle of a clue, or if a clue involves separate individual letters (i.e. NBC, JFK, etc.), that would be illegal.

Apostrophes do not affect clues in any such manner, therefore those clues are perfectly acceptable.

Not sure about acronyms such as Exxon or NAFTA, though.

[parliboy]

Not sure about acronyms such as Exxon or NAFTA, though.

Exxon is an acronym in the same sense that scuba and laser are.  More anacronym than anything else.

[tomobrien]

Not sure about acronyms such as Exxon or NAFTA, though.

But Exxon isn't an acronym because its individual letters don't represent anything.  From wordorigins.org:

"The name Exxon was the result of one of the largest branding efforts in history, an effort that included one of the earliest uses of computers in market research. Over 10,000 suggestions were winnowed down until only Exxon was left. The name was chosen because it was distinctive and yet meaningless."