A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Sep 2 00:01:05 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--armigerous X-Bonus: Judge not the horse by his saddle. -Chinese Proverb armigerous (ahr-MIJ-ehr-us) adjective Bearing or entitled to bear heraldic arms. [From Latin armi-, arms + -ger bearing + ous.] "It all points to Shakespeare's concept of Hotspur as a feudal type, whose identity comprises a few qualities that are in no way negotiable. For Hotspur, the function of the armigerous classes is to bear arms in battle." Getting a hook on Hotspur, The New Straits Times, Apr 14, 1999. "I'd like to buy a vowel." Most of us in the `civilized' world are familiar with this oft-heard sentence in a popular TV game show. For those who are not, it is a Hangman-like game where contestants identify words in several categories by guessing their letters. Correctly guessing a consonant helps in winning a prize, while one has to pay to guess a vowel. Imagine playing this game and getting words having all five vowels? That wouldn't be very exciting where you have to squander all your cash in buying the vowels. To make it more tolerable, we've selected this week words that have all the vowels once, but only once. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Sep 3 00:01:06 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epuration X-Bonus: A misery is not to be measured from the nature of the evil, but from the temper of the sufferer. -Joseph Addison, essayist and poet (1672-1719) epuration (ep-yuh-RAY-shun) noun Purification, especially removal of officials or politicians believed to be disloyal; purge. [From French epuration, epurer, to purify + ation.] "Tito's epuration in 1945-46 of the Yugoslavs he considered a threat to him took the lives, Mr. Malcolm reminds us, of 250,000 people." J.B. Kelly, Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West (book review), National Review (New York), May 29, 1995. "On the shelf, however, it remained, a brand-new ten-and-sixpenny example of what in those days Faber, mistaking pomposity for highmindedness, referred to as `paper-covered editions,' only rescued from periodic library epuration by my superstitious dread of what happens if you give away what others give to you." Jonathan Keates, The call of the wild, The Spectator (London), Jan 2, 1999. This week's theme: words that contain the vowels aeiou once and only once. -------- Date: Wed Sep 4 00:01:06 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--inquorate X-Bonus: It often happens that those of whom we speak least on earth are best known in heaven. -Nicolas Caussin, preacher and moralist (1583-1651) inquorate (in-KWA-rayt) adjective (of a meeeting) Attended by too few people to form a quorum (the minimum number of members required to be present for valid transaction of business). [From Latin quorum, literally `of whom,' from the wording of the commission issued to designate members of a body.] "Membership has slumped from 500 to just 350 since the election and many local meetings are inquorate." Michael White, et al., Labour in Turmoil Over Candidate Selection, The Guardian (UK), May 30, 2000. This week's theme: words that contain the vowels aeiou once and only once. -------- Date: Thu Sep 5 00:01:05 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ossuary X-Bonus: Poetry is a subject as precise as geometry. -Gustave Flaubert, novelist (1821-80) ossuary (OSH-oo-eh-ree) noun, plural ossuaries A place or container for depositing the bones of the dead. Also, ossuarium. [Late Latin ossuarium, from neuter of Latin, ossuarius, of bones, from Old Latin ossua, plural of oss-, os, bone.] "The bones of nearly 800 more were found in three ossuaries at a nearby village site called Moyaone." Frank D Roylance, Old Bones a Source of Insights, Mystery, The Baltimore Sun, May 2, 1999. This week's theme: words that contain the vowels aeiou once and only once. -------- Date: Fri Sep 6 00:01:06 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--uvarovite X-Bonus: Nothing contributes so much to tranquilizing the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. -Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author (1797-1851) uvarovite (oo-VAR-uh-vyt, yoo-) noun An emerald-green mineral, a variety of garnet. [After Count Sergei Semenovich Uvarov (1785-1855), president of the St. Petersburg Academy.] What used to be only mineral specimens ... are now being fashioned into drop earrings and pendants. Gemmy chrysocolla (greenish blue), uvarovite (dark green) ... were the most popular among the natural-color gems." Gary Roskin, Chinese Pearls a Hit in Tucson, Jewelers Circular Keystone, Apr 1999. This week's theme: words that contain the vowels aeiou once and only once. -------- Date: Mon Sep 9 02:01:07 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--astrobleme X-Bonus: The cost of a thing is the amount of what I call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862) astrobleme (AS-tro-bleem) noun A scar on the earth's surface caused by the impact of a meteorite. [Literally star-wound, from astro-, from Greek astron (star) + -bleme, from Greek blema (missile, wound).] "The biggest astrobleme is the 275-mile wide formation on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, Canada, near the Nastapoka Islands." Ask the Globe, The Boston Globe, Jun 16, 1999. "Down on Earth, the central geological feature of the House of Commons yesterday during question period was what Mr. Hadfield's astronomer colleagues would call an astrobleme: the massive circular crater left by the bone-crushing impact of a heavenly body. When Stockwell Day crashed to Earth the blast radius took out most of the Alliance front bench and much of the surrounding territory." Paul Wells, Space oddities of the political kind, The National Post (Canada), Apr 25, 2001. Order is good. Mostly. It makes sure that the earth will go around the sun in the same way as it has in the past and bring the summer to ripen the mangoes. Patterns are good too - most of the time. They help us find our shoes easily among an array of other pairs. But stick too much to the same order and pattern and we lose. We lose the opportunity to discover new lands, new paths, new flowers, new ways (and new words!). Sometimes the break in order is by choice and at times it's forced, as when you lose a job. But often it's a blessing in disguise. It's an opportunity to explore and discover what remains hidden from the old path. This week's words are selected with no order, pattern or theme. These words just are. But they're all interesting. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Sep 10 02:01:05 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pudency X-Bonus: God could not be everywhere, and therefore he created mothers. -Jewish proverb pudency (PYOOD-n-see) noun Modesty, bashfulness. [From Late Latin pudentia, from pudent-, pudens, from pudere (to make or be ashamed).] If today's word bears a resemblance to the word for female private parts, it's because there is a link. Both sprout from Latin pudere (to be ashamed). Impudent is another word originating from the same source. -Anu "`The most important thing is the ship, and the ship needed someone at the helm who knew better about the operational aspects of getting a business to grow than me,' says Fields with typical pudency." Melanie Warner, The New Black Power, Fortune (New York), Aug 4, 1997. "The art of life has a pudency, and will not be exposed. Every man is an impossibility, until he is born; every thing impossible, until we see a success." Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Experience. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Wed Sep 11 00:01:08 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aporia X-Bonus: Every dewdrop and raindrop had a whole heaven within it. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet (1807-1882) aporia (uh-POR-ee-uh) noun 1. An expression of doubt. 2. Contradiction, paradox, or confusion posed by the presence of conflicting propositions. [From Late Latin, from Greek aporos (without passage), from poros (passage).] Today's word is derived from the same ancestor per- (to pass) that is the source of such words as emporium, export, fare, ford, osteoporosis, port, and porch. -Anu "If cults were typically founded in response to disaster or plague, why are cults proliferating today? What calamity is driving people into them? The answer seems to be a general aporia: a loss of meaning or of nerve, a thirst for simple answers in the face of overwhelming complexity." Daniel Dennett, Appraising Grace, Sciences (New York), Jan/Feb 1997. "Here lies the aporia, the inflexible point of contradiction in the Document and in the vision of NEPAD as conceived." Remi Raji, NEPAD: Questing the Forgotten Component, This Day (Lagos, Nigeria) Aug 1, 2002. (NEPAD = The New Partnership for Africa´s Development) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Thu Sep 12 00:01:07 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--remontant X-Bonus: The great high of winning Wimbledon lasts for about a week. You go down in the record book, but you don't have anything tangible to hold on to. But having a baby -- there isn't any comparison. -Chris Evert, tennis player (1954- ) remontant (ri-MON-tant) adjective Blooming more often than once in a season. [From French remontant, present participle of remonter (to remount).] "Like the flowers she has admired for so long in the pages of catalogs, Ella is remontant, `poised for a second season of bloom.' And she is surrounded by people who are cheering her on ...." Susan Larson, Flowerpower (book review: Ella in Bloom), The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), Jan 28, 2001. "Trent's Nursery in Christchurch has introduced a new series of bearded irises bred from the remontant Iris germanica." Bearded Irises are Top for Showiness, The Dominion (Wellington, New Zealand), Aug 18, 2001. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Fri Sep 13 00:01:05 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--loricate X-Bonus: A painting is never finished - it simply stops in interesting places. -Paul Gardner, painter loricate (LOR-i-kayt) adjective Covered with an armor, such as scales or bony plates on reptiles. [From Latin loricatus, from lorica (protective covering, corselet), from lorum (strap).] "The period movie stuffed with loricate soldiers, gladiators and emperors didn't need to defend itself against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Sunday, as `Gladiator' walked off with the Oscar for Best Picture at the 73rd Academy Awards." Kevin V. Johnson, Spizzerinctum Website, Mar 26, 2001. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Mon Sep 16 01:46:05 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--demagogue X-Bonus: My faith is that the only soul a man must save is his own. -William Orville Douglas, US Supreme Court Justice (1898-1980) demagogue (DEM-uh-gog) noun, also demagog A person who appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the people to gain power. verb tr. and intr. To manipulate an issue, to speak, or to act in the manner of a demagogue. [From Greek demagogos (leader of the people), from demos (people) + agogos (leader). In ancient Greece, a demagogos was a popular leader and the word didn't have any negative connotations. With the passage of time, the word shifted meaning and today no leader would like to be called a demagogue, no matter how often he uses words such as "patriotism", "honor", "courage", and "sacrifice" in trying to sway people.] "One such worry is that the demagogues may mislead the voters most of whom are ill-informed and ill-educated." A. M. Alimuzzaman, In Quest of Free And Fair Election: The Obstacles, The Independent (Bangladesh), Aug 31, 2001. "But the production's real virtue is in not underestimating this flamboyant, egomaniacal figure, for making it clear that like most effective demagogues (as opposed to plain old cranks) he exploited some very real gripes to serve his overweening ambitions." Calev Ben-David, The Making of a Demagogue, Jerusalem Post, Jan 8, 1999. A short while back my daughter turned five. On the morning of her birth anniversary, we were playing in the sandbox. She had been counting down to this day for a long time and it had finally arrived. It was obvious she was excited as she threw sand-balls at me. I wondered aloud, "How about if we had a birthday every month instead?" She countered, "How about a birthday every day!" Then in a moment of grown-up reflection, she said, "Oh, I'm just being silly." Of course, she wasn't being silly. Children have more flashes of insight in an hour than most adults will have in decades. Aren't we born, and die, every day, every minute, every moment? Millions of cells in our bodies languish and new ones are born every day. With new experiences, feelings, thoughts, new neurons are formed, while many old ones go away. We change our opinions, our values, and our judgments each instant, though in an imperceptibly gradual manner. Like the proverbial river one can't step in twice, we can't be in the same body again, nor do we have the same mind. Every moment we die, and every moment our rebirth takes place. (Ah, and I was fretting about something that happened months ago.) Well, the same goes for words. New words are formed, old ones wither. And existing words change. A few hundred years ago if you called someone "silly" you'd be calling them blessed, a "gale" was a gentle breeze, and saying "nice" to a person was not a compliment, it meant foolish or stupid. This week we'll look at a few other words that have changed their meaning with time. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Sep 17 02:50:05 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--decimate X-Bonus: In a perfect union the man and woman are like a strung bow. Who is to say whether the string bends the bow, or the bow tightens the string? -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (1903-1974) decimate (DES-i-mayt) verb tr. 1. To destroy a large number of (a group). 2. To kill every tenth person. [From Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare, from decimus (tenth), from decem (ten). Decimation -- killing one out of every ten soldiers -- was the favorite method of punishing mutinous legions in the ancient Roman army. Today the word has evolved to mean large-scale damage where a major proportion is annihilated.] "Workers are collecting the few scraps of uniforms -- in one case, a nearly complete military hat -- to be analyzed for parasites. DNA analysis may help resolve whether a strain of typhus borne by lice helped decimate the troops." Michael Wines, Baltic Soil Yields Evidence of a Bitter End to Napoleon's Army, The New York Times, Sep 14, 2002. "Winter grain crops across the state have been decimated by the conditions, with little relief expected and hopes now pinned on summer crops." Mark Scala, Never Rains But it Sprinkles - Light Showers Can't Break Drought's Grip, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia), Sep 7, 2002. This week's theme: words that have changed meaning with time. -------- Date: Wed Sep 18 02:31:06 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--feisty X-Bonus: I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -Jorge Luis Borges, writer (1899-1986) feisty (FY-stee) adjective 1. Spirited; full of courage, spunk, or energy. 2. Touchy, irritable, or ill-tempered. [From feist, variant of obsolete fist, short for fisting cur, a contemptuous term for a dog, from fist, from Middle English fisten (to break wind). The word fizzle is ultimately derived from the same source.] "The disputed territory - remote but fertile and said to contain gold - is not the real issue. More important is the fact that Ethiopia, big, ancient and proud, has its main access to the outside world controlled by small, new, feisty Eritrea." Africa: The New Princes Fall Out, The Economist (London), May 23, 1998. "Roxelane, it turns out, was a feisty character in a comic play that Haydn wrote some music for." Greg Sandow, Hi, I'm Wolfgang and I'll be Your Composer, The Wall Street Journal (New York), Aug 27, 2002. This week's theme: words that have changed meaning with time. -------- Date: Thu Sep 19 01:11:05 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--egregious X-Bonus: We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders. -Maya Angelou, poet (1928- ) egregious (i-GREE-juhs, -jee-uhs) adjective Remarkable in a bad way; flagrant. [From Latin egregius (outstanding), from e-, ex- (out of) + greg-, stem of grex (flock). Earlier something egregious was one that stood out because it was remarkably good. Over the centuries the word took 180 degree turn and today it refers to something grossly offensive.] "The most egregious example of this sort of scapegoating came last week, when Italy's Giovanni Trapattoni blamed Ecuadorean ref Byron Moreno for the Azzuri's inglorious defeat by South Korea." Aparisim Ghosh, Lay Off the Refs: The Men in Black Shouldn't Take Heat From a Bunch of Sore Losers, Time International, Jul 1, 2002. "Parolles: My lord, you give me most egregious indignity. Lafeu: Ay, with all my heart; and thou art worthy of it." William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well: Scene III. This week's theme: words that have changed meaning with time. -------- Date: Fri Sep 20 00:01:06 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--officious X-Bonus: We grow tyrannical fighting tyranny. The most alarming spectacle today is not the spectacle of the atomic bomb in an unfederated world, it is the spectacle of the Americans beginning to accept the device of loyalty oaths and witchhunts, beginning to call anybody they don't like a Communist. -E.B. White, writer (1899-1985) officious (o-FISH-uhs) adjective 1. Excessively eager in offering unwanted or unneeded advice or help. 2. Unofficial. [From Latin officiosus (dutiful), from officium (service).] "It (the petition) demands that the traffic officials of Grahamstown `return to being polite public servants, working for the good and safety of the community, rather than the rude and officious revenue officers they have become...'" Cecile Greyling, Teacher Launches Petition Against Traffic Department Repression, East Cape News (Grahamstown, South Africa), June 13, 2002. "The bough of cherries some officious fool Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule." Robert Browning, My Last Duchess, 1842. This week's theme: words that have changed meaning with time. -------- Date: Mon Sep 23 01:28:05 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--logology X-Bonus: A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return. -Salman Rushdie, writer (1947- ) logology (lo-GOL-uh-jee) noun The science or study of words. [From Greek logos (word) + -logy, from Middle English -logie, from Latin -logia, from Greek logos (word).] In 1965, Dmitri Borgmann resurrected an old word, logology, and gave it a new meaning of recreational letter play. How appropriate that the word denoting the study of words viewed as letter patterns should itself be of such recreational interest. Logology encompasses two five-letter anchored palindromes -- logol and golog -- and repeats the cluster log. Logology is a beautifully balanced word: * It alternates between consonant and vowel throughout. * In its lower case form, its odd letters alternate between poking their heads above the writing line (the two l's) and dragging their tails below that line (the two g's). * If you assign a value of 1 to the letter a, 2 to b, and continue up to 26 for z, logology averages 13.5, the perfect midpoint of the alphabet. This week's theme will be logological terms, words that describe how we make the alphabet dance: From alpha to omega, You can bet the alphabet, Like a painting done by Degas, Will leap and pirouette. See dancing words, entrancing words, Sterling words unfurling. Watch prancing words, enhancing words, Whirling, twirling, swirling. -Richard Lederer (richard.ledererATpobox.com) (This week's guest wordsmith, Richard Lederer, punster extraordinaire, is author of countless books and articles about language and humor.) -------- Date: Tue Sep 24 00:01:11 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--acrostic X-Bonus: If the secret sorrows of everyone could be read on their forehead, how many who now cause envy would suddenly become the objects of pity. -Italian proverb acrostic (a-KRAW-stik, a-KRAWS-tik) noun A composition, usually a poem, in which the first letter of each line spells out a hidden word or message. [From Latin acrostichis, from Greek akrostikhis, from akron (head) + stikhos (line).] An acrostic is not an angry insect ("a cross tick"), any more than an oxymoron is a big dumb cow. Rather, an acrostic is a poem, in which the first letter of each line spells out a word. Thus, acrostics are the most complete type of deletion as nothing remains but a single letter per line. The most widely read acrostics occur in literature. Should you have any doubt that Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland specifically for Alice Pleasance Liddell, take a closer look at the acrostic poem that concludes Through the Looking Glass: A boat, beneath a sunny sky, Lingering onward dreamily, In an evening of July -- Children three that nestle near, Eager eye and willing ear, Pleased a simple tale to hear -- Long has paled that sunny sky: Echoes fade and memories die: Autumn frosts have slain July. Still she haunts me, phantomwise, Alice moving under skies, Never seen by waking eyes. Children yet, the tale to hear, Eager eye and willing ear, Lovingly still nestle near. It's a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die: Ever drifting down the stream -- Lingering in the golden gleam -- Life, what is it but a dream? In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the following passage, spoken by Titania, spells out her own name with the initial letters of each line: Thou shalt remain here, whether thou wilt or no, I am a spirit of no common rate, The summer till doth tend upon my state; ANd I do love thee. Therefore go with me. I'll give thee fairies to attend on thee; And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep . . . . Such acrostics are truly A + B the C of D -- "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty". This week's theme: words about wordplay by guest wordsmith Richard Lederer. -------- Date: Wed Sep 25 00:01:06 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anagram X-Bonus: You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of discussion. -Plato, philosopher (427-347 BCE) anagram (AN-a-gram) noun A rearrangement of letters in a word, phrase, or name to form another word, phrase, or name. verb tr. To rearrange the letters of a term to form another. [From Middle French anagramme, from New Latin anagramma, from ana- (back, up) + -gram (something written).] Can you create one word out of the letters in new door? The answer is (ha ha) "one word". The letters in new door are the same as those in one word, except in a different order. When is enough not enough? When you rearrange the letters in enough, you get one hug. Everybody knows that one hug is never enough! Aptagrams are words or statements that uncannily anagram into their own synonyms or into uncannily related ideas: aboard/abroad abode/adobe note/tone Next up in this phase of anagramazing program are words and phrases that we can shape into heaps of other meaningful phrases: dormitory DIRTY ROOM Statue of Liberty BUILT TO STAY FREE television set SEE? IT'S VIOLENT! No wonder that an acronym of anagram is A New, Appropriate, Grandly Rearranged, Alphabetic Message. No wonder that those who believe in the magical potency of words have hailed the anagram as AH, AN ART GEM! and anagrams as ARS MAGNA, "the great art". Make your own anagrams at the Internet Anagram Server: https://wordsmith.org/anagram This week's theme: words about wordplay by guest wordsmith Richard Lederer. -------- Date: Thu Sep 26 00:01:06 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--palindrome X-Bonus: Reading is seeing by proxy. -Herbert Spencer, philosopher (1820-1903) palindrome (PAL-in-droam) noun A word (such as "level"), a compound (such as "race car"), a sentence (see below), or a longer statement that communicates the same message when the letters of which it is composed are read in reverse order. [From Greek palindromos (running again, recurring), from palin (again) + dromos (running)] Palindromes make you exult Ah ha! Oh, ho! Hey, yeh!, Yo boy!, Yay!, Wow!, Tut-Tut!, Har-har!Rah-rah!, Heh-heh!, and Hoorah! Har! Ooh! and Ahem! It's time. Ha! The most famous palindrome is MADAM, IM ADAM (Adam's introduction of himself, in English, of course how convenient to Eve, the mother of all palindromes), but my personal favorite is the wiggy, loopy, lunatic GO HANG A SALAMI. IM A LASAGNA HOG. And let's tip our collective hat to the astonishingly long yet coherent DOC, NOTE, I DISSENT. A FAST NEVER PREVENTS A FATNESS. I DIET ON COD. I hope you're enjoying this palindromic -- or shall we say, calendromic -- year, the last one you'll ever see! You remember 1991, and MIM and MM -- possible Roman numeral representations of 1999 and 2000 and the last time that Arabic or Roman palindromic years will ever again occur consecutively. Don't hold your breath until the next calendrome. 2112 won't be here for another hundred and ten years. Close kin to the palindrome is the semordnilap, which is a reverse spelling of palindromes. While a palindromic word (such as civic) conveys the same message left to right and right to left, a semordnilap becomes a new word when spelled in reverse. Examples include decaf/faced, deliver/reviled. In a semordnilap may repose a hidden message: * War is raw. * Boss is spelled b-o-s-s because your boss is a backward double s.o.b. * When you are stressed, you may reach for desserts. This week's theme: words about wordplay by guest wordsmith Richard Lederer (richard.ledererATpobox.com). -------- Date: Fri Sep 27 00:01:07 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pangram X-Bonus: Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child's loss of a doll and a king's loss of a crown are events of the same size. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910) pangram (PAN-gram, -gruhm, PANG-) noun A sentence that makes use of all the letters of the alphabet. [From Greek pan- (all) + -gram (something written).] Many typists know "The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog" as a thirty-three-letter sentence that employs every letter in the alphabet at least once. Now fix your eyes on a sampling of the best pangrams of even fewer letters. What you are about to see are meaningful sentences that avoid obscure words yet contain every letter of the alphabet: Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs. (thirty-two letters) Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz. (thirty-one) How quickly daft jumping zebras vex. (thirty) Quick wafting zephyrs vex bold Jim. (twenty-nine) Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud. (twenty-eight) Bawds jog, flick quartz, vex nymph. (twenty-seven) And now, wordaholics, logolepts, lexicomanes, and verbivores -- the Peter Pangram of all pangrams -- Mr. Jock, TV quiz Ph.D., bags few lynx. (twenty-six!) If you can come up with a twenty-six letter pangram that makes easy sense and does not resort to names, initials, or mutant words, please rush it to me at richard.ledererATpobox.com. This week's theme: words about wordplay by guest wordsmith Richard Lederer. -------- Date: Mon Sep 30 02:36:04 EDT 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Bobbsey twins X-Bonus: The truth is rarely pure, and never simple. -Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900) bobbsey twins (BOB-zee twins) Two people who appear, think, or do alike. [From the characters in a children's book series created in 1904 and published under the pen name of Laura Lee Hope. Here's an excellent website about the Bobbsey twins: http://pw1.netcom.com/~drmike99/aboutbobbsey.html ] "Jarrin' John and Battlin' Bill were the Bobbsey Twins of campaign reform, one from the left, one from the right, joined in symbolic handshake at Claremont, N.H., pledging their troth to smite the evil of soft money in political campaigns." David Nyhan, What Happened to Bradley?, The Boston Globe, Mar 3, 2000. Eponyms -- AWAD's perennial favorites -- make their appearance once again. There is a reason for their popularity: where else can you a find a whole story in just one word? This week's selection features words derived from people famous and infamous, real and fictional, well-known and obscure. -Anu