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Articles 4171 - 4200 of 4911
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Strange Paradoxes, Jezebel Q. Xixx
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Words Into Numbers, Darryl Francis
Words Into Numbers, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
In our article "Cardinal Transposals" in the November 1975 issue of Word Ways, we sought transposals for each of the number-names from ONE to TWENTY (by tens, from TWENTY to ONE HUNDRED). Many of these words were rare or obsolete, last used centuries ago. If one is permitted to add one or more letters before transposing, it is possible to locate much more common words corresponding to the number-names.
Cycle Structure Of Words, Walter Penney
Cycle Structure Of Words, Walter Penney
Word Ways
The letters of a word can be numbered alphabetically, i.e. the letter of the word occurring earliest in the alphabet can be assigned the number 1, the next letter 2, etc.
Pangram Variations, A. Ross Eckler
Pangram Variations, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
Pangrams -- sentences in which each letter of the alphabet is used exactly once -- have been around for many years. Although a definitive article on their history has never, to my knowledge, been written, attempts to create pangrams go go back at least a century.
A Near-Miss 10-By-10 Word Square, A. Ross Eckler
A Near-Miss 10-By-10 Word Square, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
Recent articles by Doug McIlroy in Word Ways have demonstrated the value of the computer in discovering previously-unknown 6-by-6 double word squares and 7-by-7 word squares composed of relatively common words. Can the power of the computer be directed to the considerably more difficult task of finding an English-language 10-by-10 word squares?
Hard-To-Find Words In Web 3 (T-Z), Ralph G. Beaman
Hard-To-Find Words In Web 3 (T-Z), Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
List of hard to find words.
Kickshaws, Charles W. Bostick
Kickshaws, Charles W. Bostick
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.
Nuts, Maxey Brooke
Nuts, Maxey Brooke
Word Ways
It began innocently enough. Phil was sitting at his desk chewing something.
Answers And Solutions
Word Ways
Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.
The Last Word
Word Ways
To use an overworked phrase, I have both good news and bad news to report to the readers of Word Ways.
Cover And Publication Information
Cover And Publication Information
Word Ways
Front cover and publication information for this issue.
Homophone Pairs, Charles W. Bostick
Homophone Pairs, Charles W. Bostick
Word Ways
Variant pronunciations of words are more common than variant spellings. And just as dictionaries try to reflect accepted spellings, so also do they give common pronunciations. They seldom, of course, catch local accents, twangs, intonations or cadences.
Front Cover, Publication Information
Front Cover, Publication Information
Word Ways
Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents
Goodbye, Hob Collingwood, Ralph G. Beaman
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.
What's The Good Word?, Philip M. Cohen
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.
Badding Practise In Cennerfield?, Allan Sly
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.
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.
Eight-Letter Two-Pair Words, A. Ross Eckler
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.
5-By-5 Palindromic Word Squares, M. D. Mcilroy
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)).
A Collacon On "Collacon", George H. Scheetz
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!"
The Heteroliteral Raven, A. Ross Eckler
The Heteroliteral Raven, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
A variation on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven."
The Ultimate Adventure (Part 2), Dmitri A. Borgmann
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 …
Hard-To-Find Words In Web 3 (P-T), Ralph G. Beaman
Hard-To-Find Words In Web 3 (P-T), Ralph G. Beaman
Word Ways
A list of hard-to-find words.