We asked this question in the lottery's social media contest this month, and the split in the answers tells us to keep asking.
So, we want to know: What do you call the lottery tickets where you scratch off the security coating to see if you’ve won a prize?
Nearly 2,700 people shared their answers during our social media contest Jan. 13-15. Here’s the split:
- Scratch tickets: 50 percent (1,336 answers)
- Scratch-offs: 33 percent (885 answers)
- Scratchers: 17 percent (450 answers)
- Scratch cards: 0.8 percent (21 answers)
A few other people posted comments with even more responses, including: scratchies!
There are 48 U.S. lotteries, and there appear to be nearly that many names for this product, depending on where you live.
We asked the question because we’re curious about what Iowa players say. We don’t want to call our games something that causes confusion or doesn’t mean anything to you.
Under state law, the technical name for the product is “instant ticket” because you can find out instantly if you’ve won a prize. But through the years, that name has fallen by the wayside for more every-day references.
I don’t think we’re wrong to call them scratch tickets, but we may work in the other names from time to time!
Do YOU call those tickets something else?
Instant scratch
Posted by: Tina Crees | January 24, 2025 at 06:29 PM