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Articles 3511 - 3540 of 4911
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
The "G" Spot, Dmitri A. Borgmann
The "G" Spot, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
This is the spot in your new issue of Word Ways devoted to a long-overdue discussion of a peculiar quirk in pronouncing the letter "G." Help me expand that spot into a full-blown article, won't you?
Dmitri Borgmann, Father Of Logology
Dmitri Borgmann, Father Of Logology
Word Ways
It has often been said that an institution is merely the lengthened shadow of a man. Logology in general, and Word Ways in particular, owes much to Dmitri Borgmann; this issue, consisting entirely of his handiwork (except for this article and Colloquy), is a salute to his long-lasting devotion to the cause of wordplay.
Three Miraculous Solutions, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Three Miraculous Solutions, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
One of the delights available to a logologist is analyzing a word problem and its solution. When the logologist makes the analytical process the focal point of his inquiry, both the problem as such and its solution as such are relegated to secondary importance. This article highlights such a situation.
Back Cover
Word Ways
Back cover, including instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.
Our Feathered Friends, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Our Feathered Friends, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
This is a test of your ability to perceive wholes within larger wholes - to recognize linguistic structures embedded within greater linguistic structures. The linguistic structures employed are words and two-word terms, typically dictionary entries.
Front Cover And Publication Information -- Volume 18, Number 1
Front Cover And Publication Information -- Volume 18, Number 1
Word Ways
Front cover and publication information for this issue, including a table of contents.
Horse Proverbs, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Horse Proverbs, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
In "Horsing Around" in the November 1984 Word Ways, Leonard Ashley challenged readers to come up with 24 proverbs about horses, citing three alleged examples. Two of his three examples are phrase, not genuine proverbs, and the third one uses the plural HORSES instead of the singular HORSE. Below are 25 authentic proverbs, all of them using the singular form HORSE. I have selected them from 172 horse proverbs in the following reference work.
Some Odd Title Malarkey, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Some Odd Title Malarkey, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
You've written a brilliant article for Word Ways - one destined to change the future of logology. All that's left for you to do before you mail it in to the editor is to give it a suitable title. That's where you get stuck. Days, weeks, months pass: you sweat and you struggle, but nothing that you can possibly call your work of genius comes to your mind. In despaire, you throw the article into your fireplace, incinerating it. Both you and logology have suffered an irreparable loss.
Quelque Chose, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Quelque Chose, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
The word kickshaw is derived from the French quelque chose, meaning "something"; in English, the word means "a bauble, trifle, or knickknack" or "a fancy tidbit." Kickshaws transposes to sick hawks, meaning "unhealthy attempts to clear the throat of phlegm" - not, I trust, an accurate description of the following.
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 at least one month prior to publication of an issue will appear in that issue.
Speaking Of Fingers, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Speaking Of Fingers, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
Have you thought about your fingers lately? Have you taken a long, hard look at them, assessing their relative strengths and weaknesses?
The Majestic Palindrome, Dmitri A. Borgmann
The Majestic Palindrome, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
Towering above all other features of the logological landscape are palindromes. Enveloped in a majestic, icy, unapproachable grandeur all their own, their perfect symmetry or balance has symbolized the eternal in a changing world - for more than 2000 years. Palindromes therefore constitute the logological equivalent of an archetypal Platonic form - a form which all else reflects imperfectly, and to which it aspires, but which nothing else can ever attain.
Occult Occupations, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Occult Occupations, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
Most people watch movies. I watch the credits listed at the end of movies. For a logologist, those credits are often more interesting than motion-picture plots. The time has come for me to share some of my discoveries with you.
Front Cover And Publication Information -- Volume 17, Number 4
Front Cover And Publication Information -- Volume 17, Number 4
Word Ways
Front cover and publication information for this issue, including a table of contents.
Infinite-Tile Scrabble, Alan Frank
Infinite-Tile Scrabble, Alan Frank
Word Ways
Some time ago, I began to wonder how high a Scrabble game score I could get from an infinite pool of tiles. My first inclination was to play as many bingos (seven-tile plays having a bonus value) as possible, but Steve Root suggested the pattern of ZAXes in the game below, which improved the score considerably. In fact, Player 1 scores 1759 points and Player 2, 5337, for a grand total of 7096. Webster's Second is the dictionary of record.
In Search Of Perfection, Rod P. Selden
In Search Of Perfection, Rod P. Selden
Word Ways
From time to time, a puzzle contest comes along which is logologically interesting or significant. Such a contest was the recent Word Marathon sponsored by Games magazine. The deadline for receipt of all contest entries by the sponsor was September 4, 1984. The contest results will probably be announced in the December 1984 or the January 1985 issue of the magazine.
Dromes, Phones And Graphs, Harry B. Partridge
Dromes, Phones And Graphs, Harry B. Partridge
Word Ways
Early in September in this year of quadrennial madness, I had written to Dr. H.K. Wombat at his retreat in the Alpujarras in Spain for his prediction of the outcome of the Reagan-Mondale contest. Weeks elapsed without an answer, and I supposed that the worthy marsupial had either gone walkabout or was again engaged in the matters of international intrigue which had taken him to Spain in the first place.
Shortenings, Blends And Acronyms, Robert Devereux
Shortenings, Blends And Acronyms, Robert Devereux
Word Ways
The English lexicon has attained its present size, at least in part, by the creation of new words based on existing ones. In large measure this has involved the addition of prefixes and suffixes to existing words to create new ones having new meanings or nuances, but subtractive ways of using existing words to create new ones have also been used. Three closely-related types of such words - shortenings, blends and acronyms - are discussed below; in all three, a new word is created by taking letters in order from the original word or words.
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 at least one month prior to publication of an issue will appear in that issue.
Q Palindromes, Jeff Grant
Q Palindromes, Jeff Grant
Word Ways
The letter Q has always intrigued people. Words like 'bouquet', 'acquiesce' and 'quinquennial' seem to have an almost mystical quality. Formists struggle to include Q in pyramids and squares while pangrammatists always find it the most difficult letter to incorporate into their compositions. Of course the main problem is that the letter Q is almost invariably followed by a U (for exceptions, see the editor's article in the May 1976 Word Ways). This constraint has severely limited the scope of Q in most fields of wordplay, although there are some ingenious examples of its use, such as the amazing …
Life-Cycle Recycle, Robert Cass Keller
Life-Cycle Recycle, Robert Cass Keller
Word Ways
John Henrick's "Limits of the Human Life Cycle" in the August issue of Word Ways inspired several readers to send in additions, most notably Dmitri Borgmann who supplied over 225 examples. A collection of the best is presented below, arranged according to the type of wordplay used.
Flora Americana, Edward R. Wolpow
Flora Americana, Edward R. Wolpow
Word Ways
The usual compilation of official state flowers is based upon people's likes and dislikes regarding the plants themselves. We should attempt instead logologist's list - in particular, try to provide an example for the species name of the Latin binomial, for each state. Most names in the list below are taken from H.W. Rickett's Wild Flowers of the United States.
The Ultimate Homonym Group, Dmitri A. Borgmann
The Ultimate Homonym Group, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
Two or more words spelled differently but pronounced the same are called homonyms by logologists. Today's linguistics appears to have no name for such words - homonyms, homophones, and homographs may or even must all be spelled and sounded alike.
The Apple-Sauce Chronicles, Louis Phillips
The Apple-Sauce Chronicles, Louis Phillips
Word Ways
In his excellent book on formula jokes, Jokes, Paul Dickson comments that What's the Difference? jokes, a blend of conundrum and pun, can be found in very old joke books. Some of the examples below are homonymic in nature; others reverse the first and last parts of the name; yet others are spoonergrams.
A New Type Of Reference Work, A. Ross Eckler
A New Type Of Reference Work, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
Henry Burger's The Wordtree, a 28-year labor of love privately published in August 1984 at 7306 Brittany, Merriam KS 66203 and available from him for $149, is a reference book based on a novel idea: that one can express any transitive verb as the sum of exactly two other transitive verbs, as RAP = HIT + INTERRUPT, or VIBRATE = HANG + WAG. The core of his book consists of a 130-page Hierarchy, in which 24,600 transitives are listed and related to each other according to equations of this nature.
All Letter-Orders In A Word, A. Ross Eckler
All Letter-Orders In A Word, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
In the word reiterate, the letters R, E and T appear in all possible orders: REiTerate, ReiTErate, rEiTeRate, rEiteRaTe, reiTERate, and reiTeRatE. This property is not particularly unusual, being shared by thousands of Websterian words. The shortest letter sequences possessing this property are seven letters long.
Arrow Of Revelation, Walter Shedlofsky
Arrow Of Revelation, Walter Shedlofsky
Word Ways
Interview, Wednesday 11 July, 1000 hours, office of Police Lieutenant Arthur Jamison.
Kickshaws, Charles W. Bostick
Horsing Around, Leonard R.N. Ashley
Horsing Around, Leonard R.N. Ashley
Word Ways
Horses were eaten in the Old Stone Age, broken and ridden or used for farm animals in later periods, mounted by knights and hitched to coaches and buggies. Indeed, we still measure power in horsepower. See if you can provide the words defined below, words which give some hint of the immense and long-lasting influence of our equine friends on human vocabulary. If you get all these right, try to make a list of 24 proverbs involving horses, starting with "A horse of a different color," "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride," "A man on a white horse," and …
Answers And Solutions
Word Ways
Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.