The '''SOWPODS''' lexicon, more commonly now referred to as '''Collins''' or '''Collins Scrabble Words''' ('''CSW'''), is a word list published in 2007 by Collins, and is used in the majority of countries where the game is played in English as the SCRABBLE® lexicon. In January 2010, the NASPA [[Advisory Board]] authorized the creation of a separate [[SOWPODS rating system]] for NASPA-sanctioned games played using the SOWPODS lexicon.
[[Image:CSW countriesCSW_countries.png|400px|center|alt Map of the CSW world]]
This map shows countries according to the lexicon(s) they use. Currently, 45 47 countries use CSW (green), and 4 use predominantly OWL2, with some CSW play (blue: Canada, Israel, Thailand, and the United States).
The name “SOWPODS” was coined as an anagram of OSW+OSPD, the names of the two lexicons (the British Official Scrabble Words and the American Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary) that were originally merged to form SOWPODS. The SOWPODS word list is currently edited by the [[WESPA]] Dictionary Committee; comments concerning the list should be directed to the NASPA [[International Committee]]. The SOWPODS word list contains all words found in [[OTCWL|OWL2]], as well as a large number of other English words from around the world.