Rummi-"CUB" vs. Rummi-"CUBE"

The "Rummikub" Pronunciation Debate

Affirmative Constructive: "Cub"

For years, I have been a firm advocate and defender of the pronunciation, Rummi-"CUB".  The game box I grew up with spelled it, Rummicub on the box. However, other productions of the game have variant spellings: Rummykub, Rummy Kube, Rummy Tiles, etc.  Based solely on box spelling, the game's true pronunciation is open to interpretation. Therefore, Rummi"cub" is equally acceptable to any other given pronunciation.

Negative Constructive: "Cube"

My opponents argue that since the game originated over seas, we ought to respect and maintain its original pronunciation.

Affirmative Rebuttal: Americanization of the Term

When the game was brought to America and given Americanized rules, its name was also Americanized. Pronunciation loyalists then counter my rebuttal with, "there are lots of adopted foreign words that have retained their original pronunciations like, hola or merci."  Then I counter-counter with something like, "those are all still foreign words; we, Americans, always mess them up when we adopt them and claim them as American. For example, take Los Angeles or Pirates of the Caribbean. . .

Negative Rebuttal: You're being too nit-picky!

My opponents regressed to an ad hominem attack (logical fallacy attacking the person not the position). #Disqualified #LOL In the end, we usually agree to look up Rummikub, but never do.

Debate Conclusion

Well, last night, this epic debate finally came to a close for me once and for all. Thanks to my pal Randy [pronounced: Wandy], my faithful home teacher at Carriage Cove. I now know with 95% confidence that the internationally-accepted pronunciation is…Rummy-CUBE.

We looked on the back of his box and it clearly states, "Rummikub is pronounced 'Rummy-Cube'."  At the bottom it said that the game originated in Israel.  Feigning expertise in Israeli pronunciations, I put the argument to rest by saying, "yeah, that sounds about right."

I admitted defeat to Wandy and finally was able to share with him my newly-acquired rationale for the Rummi-Cube pronunciation, which I had somehow been blinded to while fanatically attacking it over the years—If you break the word down in English, you have Rummy and Cube.

• Rummy — a game usually played by 2 to 4 players, and either a fixed number of deals are played, or the game is played to a target score. The game is played with a standard 52 deck of cards.
• Cube — six four-sided squares connected opposite to one another.

In other words, Rummikub is a based on the tradition card game of Rummy and is played is played with four players, their 3D tile racks forming the parameter of a square. I might be going too far with the analogy to say that the game ought to be played six times (to form a perfect cube).

Actual History of Rummikub

Based on my thorough 30-minute internet search, I discovered that Rummikub originated almost 70 years ago in Romania.  Ephraim Hertzano had the brilliant idea of substituting traditional cards used in popular card games, with colorful cubes.  Ephraim had the faith and passion that eventually caused this wonderful game to enter the homes of millions of people around the world.  He wanted it to be the number one game in the United States as well as in his home country of Romania.

It was the 1940’s when Ephraim and his wife Hanna conceived of the idea for this game up.  Ephraim was a merchant by trade, and earned his living from manufacturing toothbrushes.  He also sold cosmetics and manufactured plastic accessories.  At that time, decks of playing cards were not allowed in Romania, which made family game times very tedious because there were few games they were actually allowed to play.

That is when Ephraim started to rack his brain for an original game that he could play with his family.  His visualization included tiles with colorful numbers along with slotted wooden boards to hold the tiles.  He knew the rules would need to be similar to card games that they had all heard about, and he also knew that it would need to be fairly easy to play to get people to actually play it.

Since financial circumstances were difficult for Ephraim, he wondered if his dream could ever become a reality.  Plastic was expensive, and even wood was out of his budget.  Then he traveled to a manufacturing shop in Romania that recycled Perspex airplane cockpit canopies into toothbrushes, and he quickly realized that it was the material that he needed for his game.

The very next day the first rummy tile was born, and he immediately began inviting his friends over for an exciting evening of playing a completely legal card game, without cards.  Word of the game spread quickly, and the demand increased.  His friends asked for games for themselves, and store owners were looking to sell it.  Quickly, Ephraim needed to refine his new game, coloring the tiles and clarifying the rules, and then naming it Rummikub.

In the 1950’s Ephraim moved his family to Israel, and continued the dream of getting this game to millions of people around the world.  Ephraim spent many hours crafting and assembling each game by hand, by sawing small plastic pieces, painting each tile by hand, and assembling the wooden game boxes.  He started distribution to small retailers in his area.

After the initial burst, only a few dozen games sold over the next year.  But Ephraim persisted with his dream.  He invited shop owners and their wives over to play as well as retailers, neighbors, and anyone that would enjoy a nice way to pass a Saturday evening.  It became a tradition in his home, and when the evening was over, he saw quite a few people take home their own games to start their own traditions.  Demand for the game grew steadily until Ephraim had to expand his small workshop to make room for more games to be sold.  Eventually his tiny workshop became what it is today—one of the most advanced game production facilities in the world.

In 1977, Ephraim’s dream was realized when Rummikub became America's best-selling game of the year.  Today, the game is one of the top 5 selling games in the world, and even though the game has been tweaked over the years, it still has all the nostalgia of the original game.  Over 30 million Rummikub games have been sold to date in 48 countries, across 4 continents, and printed in 24 languages.  The dream that Ephraim imagined for so many years has now become reality.
[citation]

In Ephraim Hertzano's Official Rummikub Book, published in 1978, he describes three different versions of the games: American, Sabra, and International. Modern Rummikub sets include only versions of the Sabra rules, with no mention of the other games, and even then, there are variations in the rules between publishers.
[citation]

Links

• Play Rummikub online for free! [rummikub.com]
• [The Three variations on the rules:] International, American, and Sabra
• Rummikub Strategy [onlinerummikub.com]
• A comprehensive tribute to Rummikub [rummikub.org]