'Language of learning'
The English of Pakistani officialdom remains steeped in anachronistic words.
The prime minister describes militant attacks as "dastardly", state media dubs protesters "miscreants" and the military denounces its "nefarious" adversaries.
Becoming fluent in the loquacious lingo of Pakistani English remains aspirational because of its association to the upper echelons of society.
In Pakistan more than a third of children between the ages of five and 16 are out of school—a total of nearly 26 million, according to the 2023 census.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared an "education emergency" last year to address the stark figures.
"People are interested in Scrabble because they can get opportunities for scholarships in universities or for jobs because it provides the vocab," said Asher's sister Manaal.
But the 14-year-old reigning female number one in Pakistan warned: "You've got to be resilient otherwise Scrabble isn't right for you."
In the Karachi hotel, Scrabble—invented in the 1930s during America's Great Depression by an unemployed architect—is an informal training programme for success in later life.
"The main language of learning is English," said Pervez.
"This game has a great pull," he added. "The demand is so big. So many kids want to play, we don't have enough resources to accommodate all of them."
At the youngest level the vocabulary of the players is more rudimentary: toy, tiger, jar, oink.
But professional Scrabble coach Waseem Khatri earns 250,000 rupees ($880) a month—nearly seven times the minimum wage—coaching some 6,000 students across Karachi's school system to up their game.
In Pakistani English parlance "they try to express things in a more beautiful way—in a long way to express their feelings," said 36-year-old Khatri.
"We try to utilize those words also in Scrabble."
But when Asher wins he is overwhelmed with joy, and those long words don't come so easily.
"I cannot describe the feeling," he said.
(Sources: Joe Stenson, AFP)
