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Back Cover

Word Ways

Back cover of this issue including information for authors and subscribers.

Colloquy

Word Ways

A collection of responses to previously published articles.

The Daughter Of The Farrier, Kay Haugaard

Word Ways

"Name, please."

"Harold Walter Ichthyologist."

"I beg your pardon - what was that again?"

Who wouldn't beg your pardon after hearing a name like that? And imagine having it and spelling it to every bank teller, school admissions clerk, secretary, credit manager, and prospective employer.

Rhyming Terms, Darryl Francis

Word Ways

Some while ago, we began to consider the whole class of words (and other dictionary items) where the first part rhymes with the second part. Many of the simplest examples are what are called second-order reduplication. In a second-order reduplication, the spelling of the first and second parts differ by only a single letter (for example, HOOTCHIE-KOOTCHIE). Not all second-order reduplications necessarily have the two halves rhyming (for example, MISHMASH and SENSED).

Front Cover And Publication Information, Volume 19 Number 1

Word Ways

Front cover and publication information for this issue, including a table of contents.

Dmitri Borgmann, 1927-1985

Word Ways

In honor of Dmitri Borgmann's contributions to the field of logology, Word Ways published in February 1985 an issue entirely devoted to his work. The present issue, originally planned as a sequel, becomes a memorial instead, for he died of a heart attack at the age of 58, on December 7, 1985. Logology mourns his death.

Antifrequency Words, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

Almost all English letter-frequency counts agree that the four least-often used letters of the alphabet in English text are J, Q, X, and Z. What the relative frequencies of these four letters are is in dispute.

You And Your Relations, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

Have you ever wondered who you really are? If you are like most people, you have probably thought of yourself as the I, or the SELF, or the EGO. (If you're into psychoanalysis, you may, of course, have preferred to identify with the ID or with the SUPEREGO - but that's another story.)

The 1988 Presidential Campaign, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

It is high time, in my opinion, to begin considering the potential Democratic and Repuplican candidates in the 1988 Presidential campaign - from a logological standpoint, or course. Their qualifications, proposed policies, and popularity with American voters are entirely irrelevant.

Mathematical Equivalence, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

One way of testing words and names to determine whether or not they are really the same despite superficial, outward differences - differences in length, meaning, spelling, and pronunciation, for example - is to score them arithmetically. By assigning numerical values to the letters of the alphabet (A = 1, B = 2, etc.) and adding the values of the letters constituting a word, name, or phrase, we arrive at a single mathematical value for the term of interest to us. That value makes possible a simple, straightforward comparison between different terms. Those with the same numerical total are mathematically …

Subterranean English, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

Unbeknownst to most of its users, the English language has always existed on two levels: (1) the surface level, with words and names possessing those meanings graciously conferred upon them by dictionaries, and (2) a subterranean level where words and names are used with their real meanings. This article presents a short glossary of English on the subterranean level: 56 undergrounders, as the terms are familiarly called. Readers are invited to add to this collection of real word meanings.

A Further Divination Guide, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

In the May 1982 issue of Word Ways, Paul Hellweg presented a list of 124 English words designating various forms of divination. All of the terms lested ended in the combining form -MANCY, whic specifically means "divination."

Colloquy

Word Ways

A collection of responses to previously published articles.

Ripley Unmasked, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

In the November 1978 Word Ways, Darryl Francis reviewed a limited-circulation book by Alfred Lubran entitled Unitotolinearsyllabification.

A Sociologological Note, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

The increase in the number of individuals of Hispanic ancestry living in the United States in recent years has been paralleled by a corresponding increase in the number of English nouns and noun phrases designating such individuals. So far, no dictionary and no combination of dictionaries has kept pace with this growing segment of the English language.

Answers And Solutions

Word Ways

Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue

Taming The Tautonym, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

A Tautonym or reduplication is a word or name consisting of two identical parts, one following the other - a term such as OO, KAKA, ELEELE, RAHURAHU, XIQUE-XIQUE, TANGANTANGAN, OR KANDIRI-KANDIRI. The latter, by the way, is a musical bow of the Balese of the Congo, with the tuning loop but no resonator (Sibyl Marcuse, Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary, Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964). The term REDUPLICATION is just as redundant as tautonyms give the impression of being, for its meaning adds exactly nothing to that of the simpler word DUPLICATION.

From Rags To Riches...And Beyond, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

In the August, 1984 issue of Word Ways, John Henrick took the pedestrian phrase FROM BIRTH TO DEATH, and presented twenty more colorful equivalents for it, including such phrases as FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE, FROM BASKET TO CASKET, and FROM SQUALL HEARERS TO PALL BEARERS. Each of the equivalents was logologically interesting, using such devices as alliteration, rhyme, transposition of consonant sounds, metaphor, and/or metonymy.

Know Thyself, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

The September 1973 issue of the Reader's Digest challenged its readers to name ten parts of the body spelled with three letters each. The magazine predicted that few readers would be able to think of more than seven three-letter parts. The ten names it had in mind, as I recall, were ARM, EAR, EYE, GUM, HIP, JAW, LEG, LIP, RIB, AND TOE.

Quelque Chose, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

Depicted at the left is a set of seven English words and/or names. All have been taken from the Second and Third Editions of the unabridged Merriam-Webster. All are complete with the exception of the first letter, which has been left open. Can you supply the seven missing letters needed to complete the diagram? Of course you can!

Back Cover

Word Ways

The back cover of the issue, including instructions to authors and subscribers.

The Terre Hall Mystery, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

Reproduced below is one version of a nine-by-nine word square the Darryl H. Francis presented in the May 1981 issue of Word Wyas. It was a revised form of one orignially constructed by Palmer Peterson, one of the great formists of the National Puzzlers' League, and perhaps an improvement on the original.

Webster's Fourth: Another Review, Dmiti A. Borgmann

Word Ways

The year 1985 will long be remembered for the logological event of the century: the publication in Springfield, Massachusetts of the 4th Edition of Webster's Unabridged. Priced attractively at only $1395 (plus sales tax, where applicable), Webster's Fourth New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged comes in the form of 20 large volumes,

What Do You Call A Naked Grizzly?, Richard Lederer

Word Ways

Homophones are words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Examples of sound-alike words are flair and flare, colonel and kernel, and poor, pore and pour. Here is a puzzle designed to test your ear for homophones.

Ars Magna: The Ten-Square, Jeff Grant

Word Ways

Word squares have always fascinated me. From an early age I took delight in devising regular 3-by-3 and 4-by-4 squares, perhaps to the detriment of a few well-meaning teachers, who mistook my linguistic activities for doodling. Undeterred by these knockbacks, I continued to practise the forbidden art, being more careful not to get caught.

Dictionaries And Podism, Don Laycock

Word Ways

Podism? Foot-fetishism, perhaps, or a branch of chiropody? Neither: podism is a state of mental bias, like sexism and racism. Podism is the attitude that all civilization, science, and culture origniated in the Northern Hemisphere, and continues to be confined to that hemisphere. The derivation of my neologism will become clear when I say that I am an antipodist.

The Case Of The Perfect Pangram, Robert N. Test

Word Ways

Inspector Ashley Halsey slammed down his copy of the newspaper as he heard a loud knock at the door of his tiny office. "Confound it," he muttered angrily. "Can't a man take a few minutes to finish solving a crossword puzzle!" Reluctantly, he swiveled his huge body in his chair to reach the doorknob.

Colloquy

Word Ways

A collection of responses to previously published articles.

On The Birth (And Death?) Of A Word, Michael Smith

Word Ways

In this article I offer a brief anecdote, one which shows that the English language (like any living language) is always changing, that it grows at the local and even at the personal level, and that many of the new "growths" bloom quickly, like some exotic flower, and can fade just as quickly.

Webster's Fourth: A Review, Edward R. Wolpow

Word Ways

1909, 1934, 1961 ... from this series, one might predict that the fourth edition of the Merriam-Webster Unabridged will appear in 1990. Alas, this is no Halley's comet. According to the August 1985 issue of Games magazine, The Merriam-Webster editorial director flatly state "there are no plans for such a work", and a noted lexicographer and editor doubts that there ever will be: "uneconomical...an unabridged simply doesn't sell enough copies". This article and the following one present two wistful (or, perhaps, wishful?) views of this unlikely work.