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Articles 4891 - 4911 of 4911
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
The National Philosophy Test, Temple G. Porter
The National Philosophy Test, Temple G. Porter
Word Ways
We have been treated (if that's the word) to the National Citizenship Test, the National Safe Driving Test, the National Medical Test, the National Income Tax Test, and the National Trivia Test (which, I take it, was a combination of the others). This collective lust for multiple choosing must have its logical upshot: the National Testing Test. But, before we get there, we must first cerebrate our way through a National Philosophy Test.
The Longest Word, Dmitri A. Borgmann
The Longest Word, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
What is the longest English word? That is a question which has always intrigued people interested in words. For a variety of peculiar reasons, it has, until recently, not been possible to give a simple, clear-cut answer. Should we restrict ourselves to "dictionary" words? If so, which dictionaries should we accept as admissible? Should we accept geographic names? If so, must such names be found in English-speaking countries, or is the entire world fair game? Should we accept biographical names? If so, must we restrict ourselves to names found in "standard" reference works, or are names in telephone directories equally …
Jim And The Bible, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Jim And The Bible, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
Some years ago, there came into our possession a dictionary requiring quite a bit of wording adequately to be identified: Nuttall's Standard Dictionary of the English Language, based on the labours of the most eminent, lexicographers, Fifth Edition, new and greatly enlarged, with extended Supplement, edited and revised by W. J. Gordon, published by Frederick Warne & Company, Limited, London and New York, 1932, reprinted 1936.
Naming The Numbers, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Naming The Numbers, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
The field of recreational linguistics is full of unsolved problems. The purpose of this article is to acquaint readers with one such problem, in the hope that someone will be inspired to work out a solution to it.
A Numerical Analogue To The Word Square, Dmitri A. Borgmann
A Numerical Analogue To The Word Square, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
So far-reaching is the power of words that it is even able to effect major changes in that rival domain, the world of numbers. We shall illustrate our thesis by considering the word square, a language form long regarded as Word's answer to Number's magic square.
Palindromic Fancies
Word Ways
A poem reprinted from the July 1925 issue of THE ENIGMA, official publication of The National Puzzlers' League.
Lo, The Poor Solver
Word Ways
Adapted from a sketch which originally appeared in the February 1926 issue of THE ENIGMA, official publication of The National Puzzlers' League.
Some years ago there lived in a small village in a certain large, western state a puzzler long since forgotten. The village in which he was born and spent his life is not now, unfortunately, represented in the directories of puzzles.
Simplicissimi
Word Ways
By and large, the problems offered in other sections of WORD WAYS are intended for seasoned veterans of the word wars. In this section, we are presenting much easier puzzles and quizzes, to encourage beginners on the road to word wisdom.
The "Jotto" Problem, Dmitri A. Borgmann
The "Jotto" Problem, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
The solution of difficult word problems seldom comes directly, or all at once. Usually, there is a gradual evolution toward the desired goal. Let us illustrate the process with what has come to be known as the "Jotto" problem.
Answers And Solutions
Word Ways
Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.
Kriss Kross Kraft, Edward L. Lee
Kriss Kross Kraft, Edward L. Lee
Word Ways
Allied to the ordinary crossword puzzle, and often found in crossword puzzle magazines, is a type of puzzle known as "Kriss Kross." Essentially, it consists of a blank diagram of interlocking letter paths, and a word list representing some particular category, such as trees, birds, or cities. The number of words on the list exactly equals the number of words required to fill the blank diagram, and it is the solver's problem to insert the words into the diagram in such a fashion that they interlock correctly, with the entire word list being used and the diagram being filled completely.
Book Reviews, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Book Reviews, Dmitri A. Borgmann
Word Ways
The purpose of this section is to acquaint readers with books of recent vintage, currently in print, and holding special interest for word lovers. All books will be reviewed from the special standpoint of recreational linguistics.
Turkish Reversals And Palindromes, Robert Devereux
Turkish Reversals And Palindromes, Robert Devereux
Word Ways
After reading Dmitri Borgmann's discourse on "Welsh: Reversed English" in the February 1985 Word Ways and noting his invitation (or challenge) to replicate his studies in other languages, I decided to determine what a similar examinaiton of the Turkish lexicon would reveal.
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.
Zazzification In American Slang, Roger W. Wescott
Zazzification In American Slang, Roger W. Wescott
Word Ways
The coinage zazzification is my expansion of the American slang term zazzy (jazzy, sexy). I use it to designate the strong tendency, in American English, to render words slangier than they already are by substituting a Z-sound (sometimes written ZZ) for other consonants.
Degendrification Of Modern English, Steven Cushing
Degendrification Of Modern English, Steven Cushing
Word Ways
One of the most important developments in the recent history of the English language has been the widespread elimination of the sexist suffix -man and its replacement with the sex-neutral suffix -person. Words such as chairman, mailman, milkman, German, and Doberman have been increasingly replaced in common used by such substitutes, respectively, as chairperson, mailperson, milkperson, Gerperson, and Doberperson, in an attempt to minimize offensive sexual connotation. This phenomenon has spread so generally throughout the language that it is now possible to discern the beginnings of a new stage of development in which the sexist connotations of -person itself have …
Kickshaws, Willard R. Espy
A Survey Of Small Squares, Maxey Brooke
A Survey Of Small Squares, Maxey Brooke
Word Ways
In a desperate attempt to make ever-larger word squares, logologists have succeeded only in producing monsters such as the ten-by-ten tautonymic word squares featured in the August and November 1973 issues of Word Ways. Is it not time to recall the intrinsic beauty and extreme versatility of smaller word squares -- say, those of size six-by-six or less? This article surveys a wide variety of such squares, taken from past issues of Word Ways, from Dmitri Borgmann's Language on Vacation (Scribner's, 1965), and from Martin Gardner's Mathematical Games column in Scientific American.
Senator's Opera Treat - To A Rope, Ted Clarke
Senator's Opera Treat - To A Rope, Ted Clarke
Word Ways
I take my hat off to the 'paper-and-pencil practitioner' Peter Newby for his clever article "Opera's Not Over 'Til Arepo Returns", which I naturally assume was produced without the aid of a computer. At first sight I thought he really had beaten computer buffs to the punch. A few weeks ago I tackled this classic problem, using the Wordsworth database of 14,300 five-letter words; I gave it up as impossible!