mav,
you got a lot of protests on this one but I for one thank you for bringing it up. It's making me think in a way I've never thought before [watch out, world ] I'll come back with my list after a weekend of reflection. I *do know, from the way you stated your canonical question, that Lewis Carroll would have to be among the top ten - he showed me how to play with language, and that it was OK to do so, once you got the rules down.