Digital Commons Network^™

A Presidential Rectangle, Sam Harlan

Word Ways

In the February 1976 issue of Word Ways, Robert Cass Keller called for readers to construct an interlocking rectangle of the 33 different surnames of U.S. Presidents (keeping Van Buren as two separate words). Although the following 17-by-31 rectangle is a fairly compact one, it may be possible to find another with slightly smaller dimensions.

Cubism, Paul Remley

Word Ways

Nearly a decade has slipped away since the challenge of constructing a three-dimensional word cube of the sixth order first frustrated logophiles at large. I recall my first attempt to conquer this problem, shortly after its publication in Dmitri A. Borgmann's book Beyond Language (Scribner's, 1967). The task (which appeared as Problem 61, Three-Dimensional Thinking) was among the hardest in the book. After taxing sessions of headscratch and eyestrain, I arrived at the following semisolution.

"We Must All Hang Together ...", Robert Cass Keller

Word Ways

At the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, Benjamin Franklin reportedly quipped "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately". In this bicentennial year, it seems appropriate to provide the following visual confirmation of Franklin's words.

Front Cover, Publication Information

Word Ways

Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents

A Day In Linguistic History, Charles Elliott

Word Ways

The day begins like any other day. A few students straggle toward the Union in search of coffee and eggs. Delivery trucks come on the campus. At the entrance, the sign still reads SUSAN DOE UNIVERSITY FOUNDED 1894 NO SOLICITORS. This is it, the University, known affectionately by students and faculty as Sue Doe U.

The Nonpattern Sonnet Pathetique, Howard W. Bergerson

Word Ways

How long can a nonpattern composition -- that is, one with no repeated words -- be? I'm sure we would all like to know, but the answer would not be interesting unless the writer religiously abstained from smuggling in long strings of adjectives or any other form of deliberate prolixity. I have taken the following sonnet which I wrote in 1941, and tried to rewrite it, staying within the sonnet form and repeating no words.

A Presidential Quiz, Thomas L. Bernard

Word Ways

To honor the bicentennial year, we offer the following double-barreled quiz on American presidents. We are all so used to hearing the surnames of our presidents that we seldom give the matter any thought. To those interested in the field of onomastics, however, it is interesting to consider the basic derivations or etymological roots from which these well-known names have originated. How many of the phrases in the first column can you translate into presidential surnames?

A Myfterious Ufage, George R. Berryman

Word Ways

Having recently acquired a facsimile copy of Noah Webster's dictionary, I found myself growing curious about the use of the long, or cursive s, which looks like an f except the crossbar does not extend to the right.

Anagramantics, James I. Rambo

Word Ways

An End to the Beginning

One who gets far often hurries, dares all.

Rash and resolute, the legions offer war.

We, the sane, hold fast anger is foul error.

A fresh war? Not for us, the old line agrees.

Japanese Number Puns, A. Martin Cohen

Word Ways

Japanese is a language well-suited to word play, and a good example of this is telephone number mnemonics. English mnemonics must be based on the fact that both letters and numbers appear on the dial, but Japanese can use the numbers themselves.

Montreal, Darryl Francis

Word Ways

The city of Montreal is the venue for this year's Olympic Games. Montreal, Canada's largest city, is on the north bank of the St. Lawrence River and is the largest seaport in the world that is a considerable distance from the ocean -- 1000 miles from the open sea. All very interesting information -- but not quite what appeals to the logologist. Is there anything of interest to the logologist about Montreal? Indeed, yes. To the word enthusiast, the very name of the city itself is probably the most interesting thing about Montreal.

Long Well-Mixed Transposals, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

A transposal of a word is a rearrangement of its letters into a new word, as CORSET to ESCORT or AGNOSTIC to COASTING. Although the words transposal and anagram are often used interchangeably, this practice is to be deplored. An anagram is a transposal of a word or phrase into another word or phrase which has the same meaning, as ENDEARMENT to TENDER NAME or H.M.S. PINAFORE to NAME FOR SHIP. Anagramming has been practiced for centuries, but transposing has been recognized as a separate art for only the past half-century or so.

Merry Am Webster!, Tom Pulliam

Word Ways

What makes a word interesting? I ask this rhetorically, not inviting specific response. One has only to scan Word Ways articles to realize that some logophiles fancy word length, while others prefer word construction, word sounds, geographical names, and so forth. Chacun a son gout! The charm of any word obviously lies in the eye of the beholder.

Renaming The Extended Numbers, John Candelaria

Word Ways

In the August 1975 Word Ways, I proposed a nomenclature for very large numbers, all of the form in which 1 is followed by a string of 0s. In this article, I modify the nomenclature slightly for two reasons: to adhere more closely to classical Latin prefixes, and to introduce a systematic use of the prefix milli-.

Kickshaws, Ralph G. Beaman

Word Ways

Kickshaws is being assembled by a series of guest editors during Dave Silverman's sabbatical in 1976. During this year, all contributions and comments should be sent to the editor in Morristown, N. J.

Our Diamond Anniversary, Merlin X. Houdini Iv

Word Ways

This year, we observe the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Why call it the diamond anniversary, a name normally applied to a 60th or 75th anniversary?

Rhyme And Rine, Maxey Brooke

Word Ways

Definition: rhyme is the identity in sound, of the accented vowels of words, usually the last one accented, and of all consonantal and vowel sounds following, with a difference in the sound of the consonants immediately preceding the accented vowels.

New Word Palindromes, Dmitri A. Borgmann

Word Ways

The November 1973 issue of Word Ways comments on the relative paucity of new word palindromes in the literature of recreational linguistics. Lest this be interpreted as besmirching the reputation of present-day palindromists as compared with their illustrious predecessors, I have dipped into my secret files, and hasten to present a variety of word palindromes rarely if ever previously seen in print.

Well-Endowed Chairs, Philip M. Cohen

Word Ways

The juxtaposition of occupations with appropriate names has been a parlor game for many years, no doubt first stimulated by genuine examples noted on signboards and the like. However, these are few and far between, and it is quicker and easier to invent one's own instead of search them out. In Games for Insomniacs (Doubleday, 1966), John Fuller cites rug salesman Walter Wallcarpet, ingenue Kitten Kaboodle, churchwoman Gloria N. Exsellsis, and cook Minnie Stroney. Mary Ann Madden featured the game in a New York Magazine competition, with hilarious results: math teacher Louis Carmen Denominator, tennis referee Madge Point, bookie Dahlia …

Oh, Say, Darryl Francis

Word Ways

In the November 1972 Kickshaws, Dave Silverman cited a July 22 1972 poem by George Starbuck in the New Yorker magazine which exhibited 15 words rhyming with OH, each ending with a different letter of the alphabet.

Hard-To-Find Words In Web 3 (G-K), Ralph G. Beaman

Word Ways

A list of hard-to-find words.

L'Egal Franglais, Harry Mathews

Word Ways

The following list of words that look the same in French and English is a modified form of one made for the members of the Ouvroir de Literature Potentielle (OuLiPo), a group of eighteen writers and mathematicians based in Paris whose raison d'etre is the literary use of constructive form. Specifically, it was generated to provide material for the composition of heteronymic, ambivalent Anglo-French texts. The list, which is not meant to be exhaustive, has been drawn up according to three principles.

Answers And Solutions

Word Ways

Answers and solutions to the puzzles contained in this issue.

Instructions To Authors

Word Ways

Instructions to authors wishing to contribute to the publication.

Curtailed Curtailments, Ralph G. Beaman

Word Ways

A neglected subject in Word Ways is that of Curtailments. Since someone should write a definitive article on words which can have their last letters removed and still remain words, I offer some notes on the subject to stimulate, perhaps, a reader to become an author.

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.

La Grammaire Générale Et La Linguistique Générale : Étude Sur Le Rationalisme Et L'Empirisme Dans Les Théories Linguistiques Des Dix-Septième Et Dix-Huitième Siècles, Jacqueline Mcdonald

Master's Theses

Le but de la présente étude est d'examiner la nature du problème de l'origine des langues, tel qu'il se présentait au dix-huitième siècle. Une attention particulière est accordée, d'une part, à la Grammaire générale et raisonnée de Port-Royal, et de l'autre aux théories empiriques, ceci enfin de distinguer les facteurs qui contribuèrent à l'élaboration d'une nouvelle philosophie linguistique.

Aboriginal Australians Speak : An Introduction To Australian Aboriginal Linguistics, Eric G. Vaszolyi

Research outputs pre 2011

It has duly been recognized that Aboriginal society in Australia is far from homogeneous. People and groups referred to as part-Aborigines, urban Aborigines, fringe-dwellers, rural Aborigines, traditionally oriented or tribal Aborigines in the outback and so on display considerable diversity in terms of culture, identity, aspirations and the like. Language is no exception. Some Aboriginal people (mainly in cities or towns and some rural areas) would speak as good an English as any non-Aboriginal Australian and often much better: indeed, their only language, their. 'mother tongue' is English. In contrast, in the outback one can still meet Aborigines who speak …

Margaret M. Bryant Papers - Accession 21, Margaret M. Bryant

Manuscript Collection

The collection consists of Dr. Bryant’s professional and organizational files, biographical data, correspondence, and speeches. Most of the material relates to her publishing efforts, her work as a faculty member at Brooklyn College, and her involvement with professional organizations, especially the New York branch of the American Association of University Women. Most of the material extends form 1950-1975. A list of the more prominent individuals who corresponded with Margaret Bryant has been included as an appendix to the inventory. (For more extensive and comprehensive list of correspondents, see the list included in the collection control file.)

Front Cover, Publication Information

Word Ways

Front Cover, Publication Information, Table of Contents