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Speech Play, Philip M. Cohen May 1977

Speech Play, Philip M. Cohen

Word Ways

In the August 1976 Kickshaws, I claimed that linguistics and logology have little in common. Having just read Speech Play, edited by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1976), I take it back. Although the ten papers in this book are linguistic in style rather than logological, a few are sufficiently nontechnical that they should interest Word Ways readers.


A Tart Reply To Napoleon, David L. Stephens May 1977

A Tart Reply To Napoleon, David L. Stephens

Word Ways

In the February 1975 issue of Word Ways, I presented a palindromic letter from Napoleon, suggesting that a local tart named Ada was the cause of his famous ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA saying. Here is Ada's reply.


The Long Hyphen, Darryl Francis May 1977

The Long Hyphen, Darryl Francis

Word Ways

Have Word Ways readers noticed a new type of punctuation character which has been appearing recently in Time magazine -- the long hyphen?


What's In A Name?, Boris Randolph May 1977

What's In A Name?, Boris Randolph

Word Ways

What's in a name? Sometimes another name or an interesting word in the form of a transposition.


To Dissect A Butterfly, Maxey Brooke May 1977

To Dissect A Butterfly, Maxey Brooke

Word Ways

To study the pun in depth is much like dissecting a butterfly. Once the scalpel is applied, the beauty vanishes. Nevertheless, here is a clinical survey.


At The Outer Limits, Dmitri A. Borgmann May 1977

At The Outer Limits, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

Those of use who spend our time skulking along the periphery of language have been indescribably saddened by the recent quasi demise of one of the most interesting words in the outer reaches of the alphabet: ZZXJOANW, a purportedly Maori name for a drum or fife, as well as for a musical conclusion. The word is now believed to be fictitious, as explained in an article in the November 1976 Word Ways.


The Oed Supplement (A-G, H-N), Darryl H. Francis May 1977

The Oed Supplement (A-G, H-N), Darryl H. Francis

Word Ways

The history of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) goes back to 1857 when the then Dean of Westminster, by calling attention to deficiencies of existing English dictionaries, encouraged the Philological Society to make plans for the compilation of a new English dictionary. These culminated after an experimental period of some 20 years in the launching of the great project to produce A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, as the OED was originally called.


Cardinal Numbers In Town Names, Edward R. Wolpow May 1977

Cardinal Numbers In Town Names, Edward R. Wolpow

Word Ways

The article "Words into Numbers" in the February 1977 issue of Word Ways introduced transadditions of the cardinal numbers: how few letters need one add to a cardinal number in order to transpose it into another dictionary word? This article examines the same topic, but restricts the transadditions words to a very special set -- the names of United States cities or towns with 5000 or more population in the 1970 census, as listed in the 1975 World Almanac.


Kickshaws, Philip M. Cohen May 1977

Kickshaws, Philip M. Cohen

Word Ways

Kickshaws is currently being assembled by a series of guest editors. All contributions should be sent to the editor in Morristown, New Jersey.


Traffic: Complaints Ii, Tom Smith May 1977

Traffic: Complaints Ii, Tom Smith

Word Ways

A list.


Light Stuff, Leonard R. N. Ashley May 1977

Light Stuff, Leonard R. N. Ashley

Word Ways

Incredibly, there are sixty or more words in our language that begin with FL and have the connotation of "light" or "downy" (such as fluffy). How many FL words can you identify from the definitions given below?


Instructions To Authors May 1977

Instructions To Authors

Word Ways

Instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.


Answers And Solutions May 1977

Answers And Solutions

Word Ways

Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.


Back Cover May 1977

Back Cover

Word Ways

Back cover of this issue.


Word Groups, A. Ross Eckler May 1977

Word Groups, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

Some words, like DEIFIED, have patterns that immediately attract the eye; others, like SCINTILLESCENT, possess more subtle charms (each letter appears exactly twice). In recent years, logologists have discovered a number of remarkable word groups; even though the individual words are quite ordinary in appearance, taken together they exhibit unsuspected symmetries of various types.


Double Crossed, Ralph G. Beaman Feb 1977

Double Crossed, Ralph G. Beaman

Word Ways

A crossword puzzle.


Front Cover, Publication Information Feb 1977

Front Cover, Publication Information

Word Ways

Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents


Presidential Anagrams, A. Ross Eckler Feb 1977

Presidential Anagrams, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

The year 1976 witnessed a unique melding of American history and presidential politics. In view of this conjunction, it seems appropriate to present the latest results of a long-term activity of recreational linguists -- the anagramming of presidential names. For readers unfamiliar with this activity, an anagram of a presidential name is a rearrangement of the letters into a word or phrase that pithily characterizes the man. Unfortunately, the ideal of appositeness is difficult to realize in practice because of the small number of letters one has to work with -- the longest name has 23, and two have only …


6000 Words, Darryl Francis Feb 1977

6000 Words, Darryl Francis

Word Ways

Webster's Third New International Dictionary (hereafter abbreviated W3) was published in 1961. The contents of this dictionary have been examined from many different angles over the years in Word Ways. Five years after publication, in 1966, the publishers updated the dictionary with an eight-page addenda section (pages 57 to 64a) containing words and meanings that had come into wide use since W3 was first published.


The Keystone Of Logology, Dmitri A. Borgmann Feb 1977

The Keystone Of Logology, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

All English words and names -- all, without a single exception -- are logologically interesting.


Punching Out A Tennis Slogan, Richard Lederer Feb 1977

Punching Out A Tennis Slogan, Richard Lederer

Word Ways

Last year, the New Hampshire Lawn Tennis Association sponsored a slogan contest. Since its inception, the Association's letterhead symbol has been two crossed tennis racquets, and the NHLTA president offered a prize to the member who could serve up the snappiest slogan to go with the logo.


Russian-English Word Squares, George J. Grieshaber Feb 1977

Russian-English Word Squares, George J. Grieshaber

Word Ways

The Russian alphabet, called Cyrillic, is "reported to have been invented" by St. Cyril in the 9th century. He assigned one letter to each different sound that he heard spoken -- no S for both s and sh, no C for both c and k, no OUGH for uff, ow, off, etc. At the turn of the 20th century there were 36 Cyrillic letters. In 1918 the Bolsheviks eilminated four letters entirely , and about 98 per cent of a fifth, leaving only 32 for current use. Of these 32, twelve look like our English …


Nymo Rhymes, Jay Ames Feb 1977

Nymo Rhymes, Jay Ames

Word Ways

In the February 9th entry of his entertaining book, An Almanac of Worlds at Play (Clarkson N. Potter, 1975), Willard Espy described his bafflement when his daughter brought home a slim book of French poetry, Mots d'Heures: Gousses, Rames. At least it looked French, but he could make neither head nor tail of the verses inside. Only when he tried reading them aloud did he realize that there was a familiar ring to them: Mother Goose Rhymes!


Instructions To Authors Feb 1977

Instructions To Authors

Word Ways

Instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.


Strange Paradoxes, Jezebel Q. Xixx Feb 1977

Strange Paradoxes, Jezebel Q. Xixx

Word Ways

The Colloquy in the November 1976 issue of Word Ways mentions the curious fact that buttermilk is milk from which the butter content has been removed. This makes buttermilk the opposite of what it ought to be, judging by its name: milk containing butter.


Colloquy Feb 1977

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.


Word Ways, Darryl Francis Feb 1977

Word Ways, Darryl Francis

Word Ways

It is a reasonably safe assumption that most readers of Word Ways know something of the technical terms relating to the study of words and language. By analogy, a competent brain surgeon must know the various technical terms relevant to his skills. Without this knowledge he is little more than a dilettante, incapable of usefully describing his skills to an onlooker. Is not the same true for the study of words and language?


Base 26, Philip M. Cohen Feb 1977

Base 26, Philip M. Cohen

Word Ways

In "Sea-Changed Words" in the February 1969 issue of Word Ways, Howard Bergerson discussed ways of transforming words using numerical equivalents for their letters. In "Ten Logotopian Lingos (Part 2)" in the February 1971 issue of Word Ways, J. A. Lindon presented a conversation in Numbo-Carrean, a language where all words correspond to squares. However, neither article exploited the possibilities of the most natural lnk between words and numbers: base 26.


Son Of A Giant Sea Tortoise, Philip M. Cohen Feb 1977

Son Of A Giant Sea Tortoise, Philip M. Cohen

Word Ways

If you've read Thank You For the Giant Sea Tortoise (Viking, 1971) edited by Mary Ann Madden, you know what to expect from her more recent Son of a Giant Sea Tortoise (Viking, 1975). If you haven't -- this is an even bigger (376 pages instead of 230) collection of results from 44 New York Magazine competitions.


Tudor Nomenclature, R. Robinson Rowe Feb 1977

Tudor Nomenclature, R. Robinson Rowe

Word Ways

A letter from my granddaughter Betsy, attending her first Girl Scout camp ten years ago, included the brag, "Tomorrow I'll be in charge of the latrine (bathroom)". Explaining the devious terminology with another was apter than she knew, for the word derives from lavatrina, where Romans bathed.