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Articles 4141 - 4170 of 4911
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Gamenung Mid Wordum, Paul Remley
Gamenung Mid Wordum, Paul Remley
Word Ways
Of all living languages, English stands out as an ever-fluent fountainhead of verbal curiosities. Under the relentless scrutiny of the modern horde of minutia-minded logomaniacs, English has afforded a trivia-trove of wordy gems. English has graciously submitted to combings, coinings, and mutilations which would have all but exhausted many denser tongues' gaming potential.
Charade Sentences, Hearst Sill Rogers
Charade Sentences, Hearst Sill Rogers
Word Ways
Charades -- the division of words into parts that are also words, such as PLEASURE = PLEA + SURE -- have been known for a very long time. However, charade sentences were apparently first devised by Howard Bergerson of Sweet Home, Oregon in the early 1960s.
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.
A Wordsworth Of Sports History, Richard Lederer
A Wordsworth Of Sports History, Richard Lederer
Word Ways
Are the readers of Word Ways aware of the illustrious line of sports writers that stretches back even into antiquity? I hope that the following list will illuminate the magnificent tradition.
German-English Word Squares, George J. Grieshaber
German-English Word Squares, George J. Grieshaber
Word Ways
In the last paragraph of "Russian-English Word Squares" in the February 1977 Word Ways, I suggested that readers might want to form some other bilingual word squares, possibly German-English or French-English. In these languages the complete alphabets are practically the same -- not just twelve mutual Russian-English letters. On an impulse, I decided to try my hand at German-English squares, since my surname befits that foreign language more than Russian. The results are shown at the end of this article, following a bit of discussion on these two-language squares.
Up Your Wordpower, Ralph G. Beaman
Up Your Wordpower, Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
Nearly everyone, not excluding, pardon the expression, many readers of Word Ways, is scared stiff of big words. A word don't have to be long to be a big word. Any word out of the, as they say, every day casual conversation type of word is big. And what fear such words can strike in the hearts and minds of them who meets them. Wow!
Speech Play, Philip M. Cohen
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Light Stuff, Leonard R. N. Ashley
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
Word Ways
Instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.
Answers And Solutions
Word Ways
Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.
Word Groups, A. Ross Eckler
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
Front Cover, Publication Information
Front Cover, Publication Information
Word Ways
Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents
Presidential Anagrams, A. Ross Eckler
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
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
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
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
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
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
Word Ways
Instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.