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Articles 4741 - 4770 of 4911
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Missing Words, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Missing Words, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
If we wish to refer to the quantity midway between the numbers one and two, we say ONE AND A HALF. Elementary as the concept is, it has taken us four words to express it. By comparison, there are a good many other languages in which just one word will suffice.
More Geographic Mnemonics, Charles E. Karrick
More Geographic Mnemonics, Charles E. Karrick
Word Ways
In his book Beyond Language (Scribner's, 1967), Dmitri A. Borgmann presented a curious problem entitled "Geographic Mnemonics." The problem concerned a "device for making it easy and enjoyable to commit lists of states and state capitals to memory. The trick is to devise sentences in which the names are buried, properly matched."
A Second Look At Word Cycles, Faith W. Eckler
A Second Look At Word Cycles, Faith W. Eckler
Word Ways
In the May 1969 issue of Word Ways, David Silverman discusses Word Cycles. He says that "cycles of three ... are harder to come by, and cycles of two, e.g., BOAT HOUSE, are downright scarce". This is the kind of statement that immediately raises my hackles and sends me to the dictionary in search of a refutation, particularly when the problem seems so trivial.
Magic Words, Mohan Lal Sharma
Magic Words, Mohan Lal Sharma
Word Ways
Liberation from the here and now is recognized as the true mark of the escapist as well as the ascetic and is, by no means, a common experience. That there might be a different sort of mystery about the collocation of there and now is seldom realized.
Answers And Solutions
Word Ways
Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.
Kickshaws, David L. Silverman
Kickshaws, David L. Silverman
Word Ways
Readers are encouraged to send their own favorite linguistic kickshaws to the Kickshaws Editor. All answers known to the editor appear in the Answers and Solutions at the end of this issue.
Instructions To Authors
Word Ways
Instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.
A Reconstructable Crossword Puzzle, Darryl Francis
A Reconstructable Crossword Puzzle, Darryl Francis
Word Ways
Shown below is a crossword consisting mostly of obscure words. On average, the words are short. The average number of letters per word is only 3.86. A majority of the words are probably unknown to the reader.
The Sobriquets Of Ultrachess, Alice Gorki
The Sobriquets Of Ultrachess, Alice Gorki
Word Ways
A violently inhospitable wind slashed sheets of rain over the taxi and across the spacious yard, drenching the long walk that led to the streaming, puddling portals of Xavier's tonight doubly affluent front doorstep. The driver leaped out of his vehicle, anxious to escort me - for I am a very young-looking widow - and I helped him negotiate the interval betwixt us and Mr. Balilinkinoff's gale-vexed veranda.
Front Cover, Publication Information
Front Cover, Publication Information
Word Ways
Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents
For A Lewis Carroll Society, A. Vorpal Penn
For A Lewis Carroll Society, A. Vorpal Penn
Word Ways
The publication of Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice (1) and Annotated Snark (2) has given new life to the Lewis Carroll, or whimsicalogical, school of recreational linguistics. Is there a place in the world for a formal organization to give support and encouragement to this wordy school? I think that there is, and that the place is here.
Unsociable Housemaid Discourages Facetious Behavior, A. Ross Eckler
Unsociable Housemaid Discourages Facetious Behavior, A. Ross Eckler
Word Ways
Before reading further in this article, the reader is invited to ponder the title. What is unusual about it - what property do the words have that is shared by relatively few other words?
The Puzzle Shop Of Uncle Rebus, John Mcclellan
The Puzzle Shop Of Uncle Rebus, John Mcclellan
Word Ways
A puzzle incorporating an illustration.
The Digrams Of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, E. N. Gilbert
The Digrams Of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, E. N. Gilbert
Word Ways
For many years word buffs at these laboratories have made a game out of finding words which contain strange digrams (pairs of letters side-by-side). The problem, as originally posed by M.D. McIlroy, was to complete a table with 26 rows and 26 columns, labeled by the letters A, B, ... , Z. The space where row L crossed column L' was to be filled by a word containing the digram LL'.
Playing About With Word Squares, J. A. Lindon
Playing About With Word Squares, J. A. Lindon
Word Ways
Applying ideas to small squares is more fun than trying to construct large ones. In this article I have collected and commented on a number of such ideas, limiting myself to squares of the fifth order. I hope readers may find my results both interesting and stimulating. All ideas used can of course be applied equally well to squares of other orders.
A Dictionary Of Common English Trigrams (Contd.), A. Ross Eckler, Faith W. Eckler
A Dictionary Of Common English Trigrams (Contd.), A. Ross Eckler, Faith W. Eckler
Word Ways
A continuation of the dictionary of common English trigrams.
On Searching For Three-L Lamas, Faith W. Eckler
On Searching For Three-L Lamas, Faith W. Eckler
Word Ways
It is a generally accepted premise in logology that English words do not contain triplets of the same letter. As Ogden Nash points out, one does not expect to encounter English words containing LLL - or, for that matter, EEE or SSS. Recently, I had occasion to pursue a listing of tetragrams derived from the Second Edition of Webster's International Unabridged Dictionary and found that these triplets apparently do occur in English words.
Foster Compounds, R. Robinson Rowe
Foster Compounds, R. Robinson Rowe
Word Ways
Seethe thinking rear range hand some pal ace her barium. Nonsense? Not if you have an eye for foster compound words. But if you do have an eye for them, the search becomes a hobby and the hobby can be fun, especially when you spy a dignified sign reading DR. EADS, THERAPIST.
A Logological Symbol For The Cause Of Peace, Howard W. Bergerson
A Logological Symbol For The Cause Of Peace, Howard W. Bergerson
Word Ways
Now that the human race has the power to blacken this planet to a cinder, it has at last become obvious that every sane person has a vital interest in the cause of peace. By what process peace can be achieved is the problem confronting the whole world; but - however it may or may not be done - it is at least possible that a widely acceptable symbol could play a crucial role in the process.
Recent Findings In French Recreational Linguistics, Pierre Berloquin
Recent Findings In French Recreational Linguistics, Pierre Berloquin
Word Ways
I discovered the riches of logology with the first issue of Word Ways. Since I had been used to fruitful exchanges of ideas with my readers through a monthly column on mathematical games in Science et Vie, I immediately put the matter into their hands.
A State Capital Letter Square, Temple G. Porter
A State Capital Letter Square, Temple G. Porter
Word Ways
Can you find the capitals of all fifty states? They are spelled up and down, sideways, diagonally, and backwards.
An Element Letter Square, Temple G. Porter
An Element Letter Square, Temple G. Porter
Word Ways
The letter square is 30 x 30, and it contains the names of all 103 chemical elements. They are spelled sideways, up and down, diagonally, and backwards. How many can you find?
Front Cover, Publication Information
Front Cover, Publication Information
Word Ways
Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents
Concentrated Consonants, Temple G. Porter
Concentrated Consonants, Temple G. Porter
Word Ways
The twenty-two words needed to complete this puzzle are composed mostly of consonants. Indeed, only eight of the words contain any vowels. In order to make the task easier for you, we have supplied all the vowels.
Edna Waterfall, Howard W. Bergerson
Vowel Language, Temple G. Porter
Vowel Language, Temple G. Porter
Word Ways
The twenty words needed to complete this puzzle are mostly vowels. Even though thirteen of the words contain consonants, they are still more vowel than consonant. To prove the point and provide a hint at the same time, we have inserted all the consonants - all you must do is provide the vowels to complete thirteen words, and vowels to construct seven words from stem to stern.
Homophones, J. A. Lindon
Homophones, J. A. Lindon
Word Ways
Possibly some other term may be in use for this particular verbal ploy, but for the purpose of this article I define a homophone as a word, phrase, sentence or passage in general whose sound is such that it may be written down and interpreted as regards meaning two distinct ways. There is an obvious overlapping here with homonyms and charades, but the former term is really suitable for single words only, while the latter is certainly applied (see, for example, Dmitri Borgmann's Language on Vacation, p. 112) to passages having the same sequence of letters differently grouped, irrespective …
A Biblical Detection Problem, John Mcclellan
A Biblical Detection Problem, John Mcclellan
Word Ways
Only one 5-letter word is found in Verse -------,
Chapter ------, Book of ----------, in the Bible.
What is it?
A Word Game Of Triples, R. Robinson Rowe
A Word Game Of Triples, R. Robinson Rowe
Word Ways
Many words are conspicuous for their repetitions of a single letter, like the S in SASSAFRASS, the O in LOCOMOTOR, the D in DIDDLED and the A in ABRACADABRA. A guessing game can be contrived by deleting the dominant letter in each word, leaving AAFRA, LCMTR, ILE and BRCDBR, then posing the problem of restoration of the dominants - perhaps clued by a key word, which would be SODA for the first example.