Colloquy.

Colloquy. Anil writes "The Norton [article on Word Groups] I mustconfess eluded me entirely. In all Word Ways I've never encounteredsuch an obscure piece. I think it was poorly written, or aimed at mathPhDs only, but I didn't grasp enough of it even to say that withconfidence. He didn't define his terms or his goal clearly nor didhe ever help the reader long with examples ..." A sentence shouldhave been added at the end of the first paragraph, inviting thenon-mathematical reader to skip to the top of the next page for ademonstration of his procedure. In the May 2004 article, Austin showed how one can create (almost)any word by the addition and subtraction subtraction,fundamental operation of arithmetic; the inverse of addition. If a and b are real numbers (see number), then the number a−b is that number (called the difference) which when added to b (the subtractor) equals of number-names with letterrearrangement allowed (SEXTET = SIXTEEN + TEN--NINE). This can besystematically accomplished by generating individual letters bysubtraction only, and then using these letters to form words.Norton's article shows how to start with 25 different number-namesand generate 24 different letters, without rearrangement? As the secondpage of his article shows, taking EIGHT from EIGHTY generates Y; takingSIX and Y from SIXTY generates T; taking T from TEN generates EN; takingSIX, T and EN from SIXTEEN generates E; taking E from EN generates N ...As Norton demonstrates by starting with chemical elements, one can startwith any set of words, not just number-names. Further, one can look for"elegant" solutions that use the same number of words in theinitial set as letters. One of the objectives of Word Ways is to show how logology relatesto other intellectual endeavors--in particular, to mathematics (anobjective Dmitri Borgmann strongly deplored). Norton shows how thegeneration of new letter-groups or individual letters from an initialset of words can be formulated in terms of algebraic group In algebraic geometry, an algebraic group (or group variety) is a group that is an algebraic variety, such that the multiplication and inverse are given by regular functions on the variety. theory, anextremely fecund fe��cundadj.Capable of producing offspring; fertile. branch of modern mathematics. A reader writes "The Word Ways lexicon has been growingexponentially in recent issues, mostly due to the increased use of theInternet. The Nov 2004 issue included QIQ QIQ Quick Investigation of Quality , the Klingon word for'mutiny'. To me, it seems absurd to allow this, since this isan English-language journal , and even using words from foreignlanguages that actually exist is crossing the line. Susan Thorpe added acaveat to 'My New Pals' in the May 2003 Word Ways:'beware of the minefield of spelling mistakes on the web!' butwent on to list CUBUC, defining it as 'Cubuc Zirconia is a jewelrystone'. This is obviously a misprint mis��print?tr.v. mis��print��ed, mis��print��ing, mis��printsTo print incorrectly.n.An error in printing. for cubic zirconia cubic zirconian.A synthetic gemstone, ZrO2, used in jewelry as an artificial diamond. . Of themany 5-pals she gives, I would accept only a few as real English words(including names of languages and ethnic groups); these are DICID,DIOID, NYRYN, QOZOQ and WAXAW. I also accept place names and place namepartials: AIEIA, AOBOA, AUNUA, BIZDIB, BOROB, DASAD, FAFAF FAFAF Friendly Advice from A FriendFAFAF Free Advice From A Friend , FENEF,HIJIH, KUQUK, LANAL, MAVAM, ONUNO, QEZEQ, RUCUR, RUPUR, TEUET, UALAU,UPOPU, WUYUW, YUCUY, ZYXYZ. I have not confirmed these place names, butsome of them are doubtful. AUNUA may be Aunu'u Island in Samoa, andAIEIA Heights may be Aiea Heights. In conclusion, I would allow thefollowing: * English dictionary words, including "OED OEDabbr.Oxford English DictionaryNoun 1. OED - an unabridged dictionary constructed on historical principlesO.E.D., Oxford English Dictionary variant forms butnot names, polyhyphenated strung-together compounds, or mystery words inquotations (like PROVIT) * First name from baby name books, but not first or last names fromcensuses, phone books, etc. * Place names and place name partials--populated places and naturalfeatures, as opposed to buildings, roads, etc. (I will allow canals,manmade lakes such as Lake Mead, etc.) * Phrases, including non-dictionary ones if they are common (e.g.CLASS REUNION). * Taxonomical classifications (kingdom, phylum phylum,in taxonomy: see classification. , subphylum subphylum/sub��phy��lum/ (sub��fi-lum) pl. subphy��la ? a taxonomic category between a phylum and a class. sub��phy��lumn. pl. , class,subclass In programming, to add custom processing to an existing function or subroutine by hooking into the routine at a predefined point and adding additional lines of code. subclass - derived class , order ...) * Scientific terms formed according to the rules ofnomenclature" Rex Gooch fills in the Campbell-Bannerman hole in Puder's"The Prime Ministers, More or Less" in the Feb 2005 Word Ways.Sixteen letters can be added to produce KEMENDORE MALACCA RUBBERPLANTATIONS in Malaysia, and five letters can be subtracted to obtainBALANCE PLANE in Web 2, LACMANNBREEN in Svalbard, or NALEMBALEMBA orNAMBALEMBALE in Fiji. Anil writes "Glad to see two readers suggesting additionalcoincidental self-synonyms in the Nov 2004 Colloquy col��lo��quy?n. pl. col��lo��quies1. A conversation, especially a formal one.2. A written dialogue.[From Latin colloquium, conversation; see . Unfortunately Ifear two if not all three of the examples may fail on closer inspection.Will Nediger's gusla and gusli, according to Webster's Third,are related etymologically as well as being quite different stringedinstruments, one bowed, one with keyboard. And Eric Albert'sforlorn (and forlorn hope, from Dutch verloren hoop, lost band of men)may be merely doublets--same root, different route into English.Chambers Dictionary of Etymology etymology(ĕtĭmŏl`əjē), branch of linguistics that investigates the history, development, and origin of words. It was this study that chiefly revealed the regular relations of sounds in the Indo-European languages (as described (1988) under forlorn says the MiddleEnglish forlesen is related to the Dutch verloren. Hope, on the otherhand, may be a coincidental self-synonym, but I lack the resources toverify it Chambers seems to deny it; it says hope is cognate cognatedescribes two biomolecules that normally interact such as an enzyme and its normal substrate or a receptor and its normal ligand.cognate cooperation with modernDutch hopen, yet adds that it is also 'cognate with ... MiddleDutch hope (modern Dutch hoop)'. The editor reports thatCassell's Dutch Dictionary defines hoop as (1) heap, pile ofthings, (2) heap, crowd, multitude of people". Jeff Grant notes that the long Maori place-name with letter-sums of891 and 980 in "Super Heavyweights (Part 2)" is spelledincorrectly in both versions. The start of the word should readTaumatawhakatangihangakoauauao ... It should be classified 913 85. Rex Gooch comments on Eric Iverson's article in the Feb 2005Word Ways "Probing the limits of heterogrammatic nonvicinals (Z andA being consider vicinal vic��i��nal?adj.1. Of, belonging to, or restricted to a limited area or neighborhood; local.2. Relating to or being a local road.3. ), I found 53 examples including EricIverson's three. Here I exclude place names and genus/speciesnames, so all are to be found in Webster 2 and the OED except forlacqueying, in the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary or OSPD is a dictionary developed for use in the game Scrabble, by speakers of United States English. HistoryCreationThe Official Scrabble Players Dictionary was first published in 1987 . The wordwateringly is found in an 1828 quote under OED spade. agrypnetic germ-cavity parceyuing prevayling vncraftily winterplay anti-clergy kerygmatic pecuniarly taperingly wateringly caperingly lacqueying pernackity trivalency waueringly clearing up lapwynches phlyctenar upcrawling wet packing coxalgique livery-coat practively violet-gray winglebury escapingly panegyrick preuayling vlcerating wing player I found just one example of 11 letters: parcel-tying in Web2." It should be noted that Susan Thorpe previously discoveredparcel-tying and noted eight of the ten-letter examples in the Feb 1999Colloquy. Anil writes "Good on Will Nediger for finding another anagram anagram[Gr.,=something read backward], rearrangement of the letters of a word or words to make another word or other words. A famous Latin anagram was an answer made out of a question asked by Pilate. imbedded in a dictionary definition of a word, even if only as anexample (talent: latent). However, we obviously don't consult thesame dictionaries when it comes to impregnate im��preg��natev.1. To make pregnant; to cause to conceive; inseminate.2. To fertilize an ovum.3. To fill throughout; saturate. containing the word'permeating' in its definition (see Aug 2004 Kickshaws Kick´shaws`n. 1. Something fantastical; any trifling, trumpery thing; a toy.Art thou good at these kickshawses!- Shak.2. A fancy dish; a tidbit; a delicacy.Some pigeons, . . . and Feb2005 Colloquy) He may not be 'awl wrong', of course, as exceptfor American Heritage he didn't name his sources (nor did I), butthe spelling 'permeating' appears in all three of my regulardictionaries--Macquarie Australian 3rd (definition 3), Webster's3rd 1987 (def. 2b(2)), and Random House Unabridged 1966 (def. 3)." Arthur Goulet noted an unusual feature of the wordZzyzx--pronounced "Zey-zix", it is a two-syllable word withonly one vowel. He asks if there are any other such words. Indeed thereare: dirndl dirn��dl?n.1. A full-skirted dress with a tight bodice and low neck, that is either sleeveless or has short full sleeves.2. A full skirt with a gathered waistband. , prism, chasm, ism, etc. Anil writes "I did enjoy yours and Dave's follow-up onthe question of interestingness. I agree with Dave's ruminationsbut I'm afraid I strongly disagree with your approach. Interestingdoesn't necessarily mean extreme or vice versa VICE VERSA. On the contrary; on opposite sides. . Having anaffinitive or definitive anagram (DA) makes a word far more interestingto me than being first, last, largest or smallest (etc) in someparticular property or narrow list. If extreme merely means one of akind, second and third etc are also unique (unless in a tie with otherwords). Palindromes and charadable words are also very interesting, yetlike DAs there are thousands of such. Ditto isograms, tautonyms The following is a list of tautonyms: taxonomic names in which the genus and species names are the same. These are allowed in zoology, but not in botany, where the genus and species names must differ (though differences as small as one letter are permitted, as in the Jujube ,charitable and hospitable words, etc etc. Did the great American dogmathat 'winning is everything' influence your approach? Dolphinsare as interesting to me as whales, aardvarks as elephants, gilamonsters as crocodiles. "I just thought of an alternative quantitative approach. Notthat I subscribe to it, nor I think would Dave (or you), but it'san interesting(?) way of broadening the discussion. It involves defininginteresting by how much interest a word arouses; in other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"put differently anaverage or 'democratic' definition, whereby subjectiveopinions are subsumed under a quantitative and measurable yardstick. Allit takes is to poll every reader on each word after explaining itsputatively interesting properties. By this definition, historically, themost interesting word would probably be the longest word, harping backto 'antidisestablishmentarianism' which we all gleefully glee��ful?adj.Full of jubilant delight; joyful.gleeful��ly adv.glee learned as kids. But you'd really need to poll the wholeEnglish-speaking public (half the world?) to define interestingabsolutely. In that case the most interesting word would more likely bethe dirtiest word! "I'm surely being the Devil's advocate by suggestingthis since it's exactly the same horror aslowest-common-denominator and market-driven 'truth'. If theadvertisers and the media and thence thence?adv.1. From that place; from there: flew to Helsinki and thence to Moscow.2. From that circumstance or source; therefrom.3. Archaic From that time; thenceforth. the majority say 2+2 = 5, it istrue. But I should also state the other side, supporting this approach.(1) The alternative is elitist--which is taboo, or else individuallysubjective--which is the original problem. (2) Or, to turn it aroundcompletely, if only the elite (eg, our readership) matter then pollingthem is a valid approach to defining interest among those who care. Thissomewhat resembles the approach of traditional academia, with pollingreplaced by peer review. (3) It will prevent any bias that the editormight introduce into the apparent (ie, published) level of interest invarious words or their properties or interrelationships." Anil introduced sentential word ladders in "Meaningful WordLadders" in Aug 2002. Here's another he found: Sow (How hogbog big Pig!) [How he bogs her down! Ooeee!]. A hog can be any swine butis often used to mean a male. I can think of no other animal whosefeminine, masculine and neutral forms have the same number of letters,much less crashing spellings (common letters in correspondingpositions). Ox-cow-bull, ass-jack-jenny, hen-cock-chick andmale-human-female make nice partially-crashing pyramids.