Digital Commons Network^™

What's The Good Word?, Philip M. Cohen

Word Ways

"What is an acceptable word?" has been the topic of a number of Word Ways articles. Answers range from "a Pocket Dictionary main entry" (for certain problems) to "anything remotely wordlike" (see "The Ultimate Adventure" elsewhere in this issue). I think, however, that it makes more sense to change the question to "what is acceptability?" noting that (1) words vary in acceptability, (2) the "unacceptability" line will be drawn at different points in the continuum by different people, or for different problems, and (3) a word's acceptability has at least two dimensions, centrality and reliability, which depend strongly on …

The Poet's Corner

Word Ways

From time to time, Word Ways receives a variety of short poems related to recreational linguistics, some original, others previously published. As poetic output cannot be easily predicted, these will be presented on an irregular basis.

Hard-To-Find Words In Web 3 (P-T), Ralph G. Beaman

Word Ways

A list of hard-to-find words.

Instructions To Authors

Word Ways

Instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.

An Anagram Anniversary, Jezebel Q. Xixx

Word Ways

The nation is now observing the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It behooves logologists to commemorate the occasion in their own, inimitable fashion: by exhibiting a collection of the finest anagrams ever devised on subjects surrounding the birth of the United States of America.

Kickshaws, Darryl Francis

Word Ways

Kickshaws is being assembled by a series of guest editors during Dave Silverman's sabbatical in 1976. During the year, all contributions and comments should be sent to the editor in Morristown, N.J.

Answers And Solutions

Word Ways

Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.

Vowel Symmetry, Maxey Brooke

Word Ways

Arrange the letters of the alphabet in columns of two.

Badding Practise In Cennerfield?, Allan Sly

Word Ways

Many years ago I heard a recorded lecture entitled "Good Speech." I have forgotten the advice it contained, but if that speaker were here today I think he would have to start all over again. I think he would suggest a new approach to vowel sounds. A, E, I, O, U are our written vowels, but our sounding vowels are thirteen in number, and are used in this sentence.

Eight-Letter Two-Pair Words, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

Jack Levine's three volume listing of Websterian words grouped according to their letter-patterns (such as EXCESS and BAMBOO) is an almost inexhaustible treasure-trove of linguistic curiosa. In this article, we focus upon one-thirtieth of his total corpus: the 15,054 eight-letter words in which two letters appear twice each and four letters appear once each.

Colloquy

Word Ways

Webster's Dictionary defines colloquy as mutual discourse. Readers are encouraged to submit additions, corrections and comments about earlier articles appearing in Word Ways. Comments received up to a month prior to publication of an issue will appear in that issue.

Goodbye, Hob Collingwood, Ralph G. Beaman

Word Ways

Logol O. Gist shuffled the cards clumsily, hoping to disarm his opponent, Sneaky Pete Redey. This was the winner-take-all showdown hand, with deuces wild.

The Ultimate Adventure (Part 2), Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

In this issue of Word Ways, I present 131 distinct transposals of the letters AEGINRST according to the principles discussed in the August 1976 Word Ways. Foreign language transposals, which are presented first, are followed by a label identifying the language. An asterisk preceding a word, name, or other term identifies it as being in the inferred, but nevertheless authentic, classification. Except where a dictionary source has been specified, all of the words are common enough to be found in almost any dictionary of the language in question. All abbreviations are spelled out in full at the end of this …

A Collacon On "Collacon", George H. Scheetz

Word Ways

Mellen and I were exploring the depths of logology one day, when she suddenly stopped short, and uttered a single word, "collacon."
"'Collacon?' My dear Mellen --- ?"
"That," she replied, "is your challenge!"

5-By-5 Palindromic Word Squares, M. D. Mcilroy

Word Ways

A 5-by-5 palindromic word square is one in which the first word is a reversal of the fifth word, the second is a reversal of the fourth, and the third is a palindrome. The most famous of these squares, the Latin one given at the right, can be translated "Arepo the begetter (or sower) holds the wheels with care". It has been found on ancient walls and on amulets for safe childbirth; there is an extensive literature discussing its religious or mystical significance (see, for example, pp. 207-210 of Dmitri Borgmann's Language on Vacation (Scribner's, 1965)).

The Heteroliteral Raven, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

A variation on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven."

Front Cover, Publication Information

Word Ways

Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents

Turkish Delight, Jay Ames

Word Ways

The following list of English-looking Turkish words has been compiled from two sources: Alderson and Fahir Iz's Oxford Concise English-Turkish Dictionary (1959), and Urdant's Random House English Language Dictionary (1968). A few capitalized words (given names, geographical place names) have been included. None of the words has the same meaning in Turkish and English. Because most people are unfamiliar with Turkish, the Turkish meaning of each word is given in parenthesis.

Colloquy

Word Ways

Webster's Dictionary defines colloquy as mutual discourse. Readers are encouraged to submit additions, corrections and comments about earlier articles appearing in Word Ways. Comments received up to a month prior to publication of an issue will appear in that issue.

Primer Time, Ralph G. Beaman

Word Ways

A host of clues makes up this quiz

(Deep myst'ry here for you to ponder);

Each one defines a word, that's sure,

And all together form a wonder.

A pattern clear, arranged in order,

The key, once found, is simon-pure;

Letters three will be a whiz,

But letters two will cut asunder.

Gird Yourself For Word Girders, Tom Pulliam

Word Ways

Many of the articles in Word Ways were inspired by Dmitri Borgmann's Language on Vacation (Scribner's, 1965); this comprehensive volume of wordplay has stimulated almost every conceivable type of word surgery and dissection by faithful logophiles. One might, in fact, presume that the challenges mothered by this book have been well-nigh exhausted. Not so! On page 159, Dmitri introduced the concept of word girders: two words that are converted to two entirely different words by interchanging every second letter between the words. The following three five-letter examples given in his book should make the transformation perfectly clear.

More Stately Forms, Palmer C. Peterson

Word Ways

Word Ways readers may recall that I presented in the November 1971 issue a collection of forms (solid crossword puzzles having simple geometrical shapes, such as squares, triangles and rhombuses) in which state names were intertwined with state nicknames. The editor suggested that I might wish to try my hand at a related problem -- the construction of forms having the names of states and their capitals.

From Unillillion To Ultimillillion, Rudolf Ondrejka

Word Ways

In the August 1975 and February 1976 issues of Word Ways, John Candelaria proposed a very large extension of my number nomenclature described in the November 1968 Word Ways. Although I am in general agreement with the principles he has used to extend the number names, I am much bothered by one aspect: the introduction of the repeated milli- prefix each time the log period of the number increases by a factor of 1000.

Hard-To-Find Words In Web 3 (N-P), Ralph G. Beaman

Word Ways

A list of hard-to-find words.

President Smith, Where Are You?, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

"Hey, Dad," said my daughter, Louis, "why hasn't there been a President Smith? Isn't Smith the commonest surname in the country?"

Instructions To Authors

Word Ways

Instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.

Kickshaws, Philip M. Cohen

Word Ways

Kickshaws is being assembled by a series of guest editors during Dave Silverman's sabbatical in 1976. During this year, all contributions and comments should be sent to the editor in Morristown, N.J.

Another Interlaced Charade, R. Robinson Rowe

Word Ways

I am often intrigued by words within words. Recently, I came across one of 15 letters which can be divided into 5 very common shorter words as indicated: xxxxxx-xx-x-xxx-xxx. Delving deeper, I found it held many more such words -- some forwards nad some backwards. This suggested dissecting it into all of its many parts, hinting at their identifications, and offering it as a bit of recreation for readers to synthesize the parts back to the whole. For that purpose, the 15 letters are numbered in order.

Front Cover And Publication Information

Word Ways

Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents

Nixon And The Bee, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

Ivan held up the short piece of magnetic tape with scepticisim. "You say that this is the missing ten seconds of the notorious Watergate tape?"