The “Dice” Debate Has Got to Die

One of the great things about language is how it evolves over time.

A hundred years ago, we didn’t have Klingon or Sindarin dictionaries yet. 

Afrikaans was still finding its roots, and turning into dialects like some that are only heard in the Cape, or the characteristic Pretoria-drawl that’s nearly reminiscient of the American South.

The word “trick” has meaning in card games like bridge, but can also be used to mean prostitute – or illusion.

The Die-ing Debate

Dice is one of the most commonly debated words in gaming circles, both casual and serious. There’s always one person who points out that “die” means two, but “dice” means one… And that person might even be you, the reader.

Modern use has changed the term.

You’re more likely to see “dice” used for singular and plural occurences. Zombie Dice isn’t called Zombie Die: there are linguistic reasons for this.

If terms like LOL can be included in the Oxford Dictionary, language is evolving, and “dice” is only a small part of it.

A History First

Dice is an ancient concept, which can be taken back all the way to ancient civilizations. 

The ancient Aztecs and Egyptians used dice for their games of chance, though theirs ironically looked closer to modern RPG ones than the six-sided, cubed standard.

Source JSTOR (“The Ancient Origins Of Dice”) notes that older examples were “curved on one side and flatter on the other”.

Gaming rulebooks, trademarks, and general conversation in most of the 1900s used “dice” for singular usage, and “die” for collective references.  Usage in the 2000s changed, though UK, Australian, and South African markets clung to the die/dice-debate for somewhat longer.

Hint: that’s because it’s an irregular noun, and generally changes in structure when it refers to several versus one.

What are we all arguing about here? It could have been “dices” or “dies”, but it isn’t.

Going to the Dictionary

The Definition of Die

Resource EtymOnline defines the word “die” as:

“small cube marked on each face with spots numbering from one to six, used in gaming,”

According to the same source, which others have confirmed, it might have come from the Old French term “de”, that has unknown origins.

“Die” goes back far enough, that we aren’t completely sure of the deepest roots. At least that gives us a clear indication of how long mankind might have been obsessed with odds and gaming.

The Definition of Dice

Cambridge Dictionary points out in its definition of “dice” that the United States (and some older references) will use the term “die” for plural references.

Acceptable, modern use for both singular and plural is given as “dice” with this footnote.

It’s not just Cambridge Dictionary that sticks to this definition, but most updated gaming resources. Today, you are much more likely to see people use the word “dice” everywhere.

It doesn’t make use of the word “die” to mean several of them incorrect; it just makes this word less likely for modern use.

What’s the Big Change?

Older resources: dice for one, die for several. Newer resources: dice for one, and dice for several.

There’s a common sentence used in language learning, which teaches people that “dice” rhymes with “mice” – and that’s why you can use it to refer to several of them at once.

If you are learning English as a next language (or just trying to play Dungeons-and-goddamned-Dragons properly), the “mice” technique is going to make it harder instead of easier.

Because people and culture evolves, language has to keep up.

We have “lol” now, because people won’t type ”laugh out loud” at anything. We have “dice” for both now, because people still control language in a world where ChatGPT eats copywriters for lunch.

That’s just how modern language works.

If language didn’t evolve, we would have missed out on terms like “horrorshow” from A Clockwork Orange. 

If you said the phrase, “Let’s Google BDSM!” a hundred years ago, two-thirds of that sentence would have been absolutely meaningless witchcraft to the listener.

Modern Language Evolution + The Search Engine

Search engines have their part to play in the evolution of language, too. 

The acceptable, modern term has become “dice” now – and search engines like Google and Bing compensate for its use.

“Die games on Amazon” returns another result: Dice Game Best Sellers on Amazon.

 The modern use is “die”, even according to search engines.

Modern Language Evolution

Britannica mentions that “pronouciation, word forms, syntax, and word meanings” all form part of linguistic change. 

For example, the word “nice” came from the Latin word “nescius” that used to be an insult, used to mean that someone is ignorant. That’s not very, uhm, nice.

Language evolution is happening everywhere, even in the world of tabletop gaming. Dice isn’t the only large change.

Wizards of the Coast announced the change to remove the term “race” from future editions of Dungeons & Dragons in late-2022 ensuring the game is consistent with modern language and culture. 

Language evolution is mostly a good thing, or “trick or treat” could have been a much creepier activity.

Author Bio:

Alex J. Coyne is a journalist, writer, and regular seat-filler at various tabletop games. He has written for CollegeHumor, Great Bridge Links, Funds for Writers, Bridge Base Online, and more. His website is the best place to find him for samples, writing projects, and more.