Alphabet Rings Of Trigrams, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

An alphabet ring is formed if the 26 letters of the alphabet are written down (in any order) on the circumference of a circle, so that each letter has a predecessor and a successor. This article describes several logological studies based on such rings.

Instructions To Authors

Word Ways

Instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.

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.

Parma Eldalamberon Vol. 1 No. 5, Paula Marmor

Parma Eldalamberon

The Journal of The Mythopoeic Linguistic Fellowship

Parma Eldalamberon/The Book of the Elven Tongues is the journal of the Mythopoeic Linguistic Fellowship, a Special Interest Group of the Mythopoeic Society, interested in imaginary fantasy languages and all matters linguistic and philosophical, especially the diverse tongues of Middle-earth and the Low Worlds.

Front Cover, Publication Information

Word Ways

Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents

Unspeakable Suggestions, Stanley L. Payne

Word Ways

A. A. Milne of Winnie-the-Pooh fame contended that light verse is the hardest and most severely technical work known to authorship. If his appraisal be accepted, then unspeakable rhymes, long known as sight rhymes, go beyond the superlatives of difficulty.

"Pseudofeverishly", Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

In an article in the February 1977 issue of Word Ways, I asserted that all English words and names, without exception, were logologically interesting. In response to that article, I was challenged to find something of logological interest in the word PSEUDOFEVERISHLY.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Word Ways

A list.

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.

Back Cover

Word Ways

Back cover of this issue.

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

Word Ways

A crossword puzzle.

Front Cover, Publication Information

Word Ways

Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents