Volume 13
A Fun Site created by
Professor William Hillman culled from a daily motivational series
compiled for his BU Education Classes 2000-2009
The daily tech news items have been omitted since many of the stories are now "old news."
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The Latest Victim of the eColi Spinach Disaster
You knew it would happen eventually ....
WEB TREK
For
Musicians: Fender® at Winter NAMM 2007: Demo of the VG Strat® on
YouTube
LONGEST WORDSReference Site: Jeff Miller's Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia
SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS (34 letters) from the movie Mary Poppins is not the longest word in English, although many people believe it is.
PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS (45 letters; a lung disease caused by breathing in certain particles) is the longest word in any English-language dictionary. (It is also spelled -koniosis.)
SMILES is supposed to be the longest word in the dictionary because "there's a mile between the two S's."
According to Red Skelton, the longest word is the word that follows the announcement, "And now a word from our sponsor"!
LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH is according to one source the longest placename in the world, with 58 letters. It is a town in North Wales meaning "St. Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool of Llantysilio of the red cave" or "St. Mary's (Church) by the white aspen over the whirlpool, and St. Tysilio's (Church) by the red cave" in Welsh.
A website at http://llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.co.uk/ has more information and claims the village is the longest name in Britain and that this address is the longest URL on the web.
HONORIFICABILITUDINITATIBUS is the longest word consisting entirely of alternating vowels and consonants.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES is the longest name of a country consisting of alternating vowels and consonants.
DUMBBELL, OCCURRENCE, MEMENTO, FRUSTUM, COLLECTIBLE, AMATEUR, DAIQUIRI, PASTIME, ACCIDENTALLY, PLAYWRIGHT, EMBARRASS, ACQUIT, HARASS, PRONUNCIATION, RECEIVE, A LOT, AMATEUR, SEPARATE, REALIZE, THEIR, DEFINITE, INDEPENDENT, WEIRD, EMBARRASS, ARGUMENT, NO ONE, ACQUIRE, ACCIDENTALLY, OCCURRENCE, COLLECTIBLE, RIDICULOUS, MANEUVER, LIAISON, GAUGE, ATHEIST, GRAMMAR, SUPERSEDE, KERNEL, CONSENSUS, IT'S/ITS, YOUR/YOU'RE, MINUSCULE, MILLENNIUM, EMBARRASSMENT, OCCURRENCE, ACCOMMODATE, PERSEVERANCE, SUPERSEDE, NOTICEABLE, HARASS, INOCULATE, OCCURRED, SEPARATE, EMBARRASS, PRECEDING, INDISPENSABLE, DEFINITELY, PRIVILEGE, GAUGE, QUESTIONNAIRE, EXISTENCE, MINIATURE, PRECEDE, WEIRD, RHYTHM, SEPARATELY, CONSCIENTIOUS, MISSPELL, HIERARCHY, GRAMMAR, CALENDAR, WITHHOLD, BARBECUE, UKULELE, and BICEPS
MOST MISSPELLED WORDS
MISSPELLED QUERIES IN GOOGLE SEARCH
The Internet search engine Google revealed that in May 2001 its top five misspelled queries were amtrack, volkswagon, jenifer lopez, william sonoma, shakespear. In June 2001 its top five misspelled queries were ticket master, wimbeldon, morpheous, victoria secret, anna kornikova. In July 2001 its top five misspelled queries were audio galaxy, bigbrother, recipies, mcdonalds, bluebook. In August 2001 its top five misspelled queries were rotatorcuff, southpark, niagra falls, destinys child, sailormoon.
MOST BEAUTIFUL WORDS
ASPHODEL, FAWN, DAWN, CHALICE, ANEMONE, TRANQUIL, HUSH, GOLDEN, HALCYON, CAMELLIA, BOBOLINK, THRUSH, CHIMES, MURMURING, LULLABY, LUMINOUS, DAMASK, CERULEAN, MELODY, MARIGOLD, JONQUIL, ORIOLE, TENDRIL, MYRRH, MIGNONETTE, GOSSAMER, ALYSSEUM, MIST, OLEANDER, AMARYLLIS, ROSEMARY, CUSPIDOR, SYCAMORE
WORST-SOUNDING WORDS
Some of the worst-sounding words in English, according to a poll by the National Association of Teachers of Speech in August, 1946: CACOPHONY, CRUNCH, FLATULENT, GRIPE, JAZZ, PHLEGMATIC, PLUMP, PLUTOCRAT, SAP, TREACHERY, FRUCTIFY, KUMQUAT, QUAHOG, CREPUSCULAR, KAKKAK, GARGOYLE, CACOPHONOUS, AASVOGEL, BROBDINGNAGIAN, JUKEBOX, VICTUALS (pronounced "vittles")
WORDS WITH ABC
DABCHICK (a small bird) is among the very few words that contain ABC. Some others: ABCOULOMB, ABCHALAZAL, ABCAREE, CRABCAKE, DRABCLOTH, and ABCIXIMAB (a human-murine monoclonal antibody fragment that inhibits the aggregation of platelets) [Philip C. Bennett]. Allowing intervening punctuation, there is SAB-CAT (a saboteur) in W2 and W3 [Susan Thorpe in WordsWorth]. Proper nouns include BABCOCK, ABCOUDE (city in the Netherlands), and ZABCIKVILLE (city in Texas). There are also ABCHASICA, ABCHASICUM, and ABCHASICUS, all three of which are botanical names for Paeonia Plants found in the Caucasus
TRADEMARKS THAT HAVE BECOME DICTIONARY WORDS
ESCALATOR is one of many words that were originally trademarks but have become ordinary words found in dictionaries. Some other words which were originally trademarks (or still are) are AQUA-LUNG, ASPIRIN, AUTOHARP, BAKELITE, BAND-AID, BREATHALYZER, CELLOPHANE, CORNFLAKES, CUBE STEAK, DACRON, DEEPFREEZE, DICTAPHONE, DITTO, DRY ICE, DUMPSTER, FORMICA, FRISBEE, GRANOLA, GUNK, HEROIN, JEEP, JELL-O, KEROSENE, KLEENEX, LANOLIN, MACE, MIMEOGRAPH, MOXIE, NOVOCAIN, NYLON, PABLUM, PHILLIPS SCREW, PING-PONG, POPSICLE, Q-TIP, ROLLERBLADE, SCOTCH TAPE, SHEETROCK, STETSON HAT, STYROFOAM, TABLOID, TARMAC, TARZAN, THERMOS, TRAMPOLINE, VASELINE, VELCRO, WINDBREAKER, YO-YO, ZIPPER.
MOST COMMON WORDS
The most commonly used words in spoken English are I, YOU, THE, and A.
The most commonly used words in written English, according to the 1971 American Heritage Word Frequency Book are: the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, it, he, for, was, on, are, as, with, his, they at, be, this, from, I, have, or, by, one, had, not, but, what, all, were, when, we there, can, an, your, which, their, said, if, do.
REFLECTIVE WORDS
Some words with horizontal symmetry (they reflect themselves across a horizontal line) are: BEDECKED, CHECKBOOK, CHOICE, CODEBOOK, COOKBOOK, DECIDED, DIOXIDE, EXCEEDED, HIDE, ICEBOX, OBOE.
Upper case BID is horizontally reflective while lower case bid is vertically reflective
SWIMS has 180-degree rotational symmetry.
REPETITIONS AND ODDITIES
INTESTINES has each of its letters occurring twice. Some other such words: ANTIPERSPIRANTES, APPEASES, ARRAIGNING, BERIBERI, CHOWCHOW, GENSENGS, HAPPENCHANCE, HORSESHOER, HOTSHOTS, REAPPEAR, SCINTILLESCENT, SIGNINGS, TEAMMATE
RESIGN has opposite meanings but is pronounced differently in each case ("to quit" and "to sign again").
TAXI is spelled the same way in nine languages: English, French, German, Swedish, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Czech, Slovak, Portuguese, Hungarian, Romanian.
THEREIN is a seven-letter word that contains thirteen words spelled with consecutive letters: the, he, her, er, here, I, there, ere, rein, re, in, therein, and herein.
THITHERWARDS contains 23: thitherward, thither, hi, hit, hithe, hither, hitherward, hitherwards, I, it, ither, the, he, her, er, wa, war, ward, wards, a, ar, ard and ards.
SHADES contains hades, shade; ades, hade, shad; des, ade, had, sha; es, de, ad, ha, and sh.
The word GOD appears exactly 4444 times in the King James version of the Bible.
The most commonly occurring name in the Bible is DAVID, which occurs 1,085 times.
The second most commonly occurring name is JESUS, which occurs 973 times.
The third most commonly occurring name is MOSES, which occurs 829 times.
HOMOPHONES
RAISE/RAZE are homophones with approximately opposite meanings. Others are ECKLESS/WRECKLESS,
AURAL/ORAL, PETALLESS/PETALOUS.
REDUPLICATIONS
Achey Breakey, airy-fairy, angles 'n dangles (submarine maneuvers), antsy-pantsy, argy-bargy, artsy-fartsy, backpack, bedspread, bedstead, blackjack, blue flu, boogie-woogie, brain drain, chill pill, Chilly Willie (the cartoon penguin), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (movie title), chrome dome, chug-a-lug, city kitty (CB jargon), county Mountie (CB jargon), Cox and Box (an operetta by Sir Arthur Sullivan), creepie-peepie (hand-held TV camera), Dennis the Menace, dilly-dally, Ditch Witch, double trouble, downtown, dream team, Euler's spoilers (the mathematicians who disproved Euler's conjecture about order 10 Latin squares), fancy-schmancy, fat cat, fender-bender, fine line, flower power, Flub-a-dub, frat rat, freight rate, Frito Bandito, fuddy-duddy, funny money, gaggin' wagon, gator freighter, gritz blitz, ground round, hanky-panky, harum-scarum, head shed (an army headquarters), heebie-jeebie(s), helter-skelter, hemidemisemiquaver, herky-jerky, hexaflexagon, higgledy piggledy, hipper-dipper (a baseball pitch), hobnob, hobson-jobson, hocus-pocus, hoity-toity, hokey-cokey, hokey-pokey, holy moly, honey-bunny, hootchie-kootchie, hotch-potch, hot shot, Hubble-bubble, hugger-mugger, Humpty Dumpty, hurdy-gurdy, hurly-burly, hurry-scurry, ill will, itsy-bitsy, jet set, legal beagle, legal eagle, local yokel, lovey-dovey, lunch bunch, mean machine, mellow yellow, middle fiddle, motor voter, Mr. Green Jeans, mud-blood, mumbo-jumbo, namby-pamby, near beer, night flight, night fright, night light, nitty-gritty, okey-dokey, Ollie's Trollies (restaurant chain), Pall Mall, pell-mell, phony baloney, Pick-Quick, picnic, piggly-wiggly, pooper-scooper, pop top, powwow, quick trick, ragin' Cajun, razzle-dazzle, red lead, repple-depple, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Rin-Tin-Tin, roach coach, rock 'em sock 'em, rock jock, roly-poly, roope-a-dope, rough tough cream puff, rub-a-dub, schlock rock, slick chick, slim Jim, snail mail, soap-on-a-rope, Spruce Goose, Steady Eddie (sung by Annette Funicello), Stormin' Norman, stun gun, sump pump, super-duper, sweetmeat, teeny-weeny, Tex-Mex, tie-dye, tooti-fruiti, town clown (CB jargon), Transistor Sister (sung by Neil Sedaka), virgin sturgeon, walkie-talkie, Watusi Luci (LBJ's daughter), white flight, white knight, willy-nilly, wingding.
In 1934 Variety printed perhaps its most famous headline of all time, STIX NIX HICK PIX, meaning "rural communities reject movies about rural personae." On May 31, 2000, the New York Daily News wrote on page 1 HICKS NIX KNICKS TIX with the sub-headline "Pacers freeze New York fans out of courtside seats at Indy." The headline on page 5 read HICKS' KNICKS TIX TRICK.
French for walkie-talkie is talkie-walkie.
PALINDROMES AND REVERSIBLES
SOS by ABBA was a hit recording with a palindromic title and artist. Palindromic album titles include Ole ELO by the Electric Light Orchestra, LIVE EVIL by Black Sabbath and by Miles Davis, EVIL LIVE by The Misfits, UFO TOFU by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, AJA by Steely Dan, and AOXOMOXOA by the Grateful Dead. AHA is a Norwegian pop group.
REVERSIBLE WORDS: When spelled backwards, they form other words are:
AMAROID/DIORAMA, ANIMAL/LAMINA, DEIFIER/REIFIED, DELIVER/REVILED, DENIER/REINED, DENIES/SEINED, DENNIS/SINNED, DESSERT/TRESSED, DESSERTS/STRESSED, DIAPER/REPAID, DRAWER/REWARD, ECITON/NOTICE, ELIDES/SEDILE, ENAMOR/ROMANE, GATEMAN/NAMETAG, LEPER/REPEL, LIVED/DEVIL, LOOTER/RETOOL, MULLAHS/SHALLUM, PACER/RECAP, PARTS/STRAP, PILFER/REFLIP, PUPILS/SLIPUP, REDIPS/SPIDER, REDRAW/WARDER, REFLOW/WOLFER, REKNIT/TINKER, REKNITS/STINKER, RECAPS/SPACER,
REVOTES/SETOVER, SATRAPS/SPARTAS, SKUA/AUKS, SLEETS/STEELS, SLOOPS/SPOOLS, SNOOPS/SPOONS, SPORTS/STROPS, STRAW/WARTS
TYPEWRITER WORDS: longest words which can be typed using only the fingers of the left hand.
AFTERCATARACTS (plural for a condition that sometimes follows cataract surgery), TESSERADECADES and TETRASTEARATES ~ ABSTRACTERS, ABSTRACTEST, AFTEREFFECT, AFTEREFFECTS, AFTERTASTES, AFTERWARDS, ASSEVERATED, ASSEVERATES, BEGGARWEEDS, CASEBEARERS, CRABGRASSES, DATABASES, DECEREBRATE, DECEREBRATED, DECEREBRATES, DESECRATERS, DESEGREGATE, DESEGREGATED, DESEGREGATES, DEVERTEBRATED, EFFERVESCED, EFFERVESCES, EXTRAVASATES, GAZETTEER, READDRESSED, READDRESSES, REAGGRAVATES, REASSEVERATE, RESEGREGATE, RESEGREGATED, RESEGREGATES, REVEGETATED, REVEGETATES, REVERBERATE, REVERBERATED, REVERBERATES, SASSAFRASES, STAGECRAFTS, STATECRAFTS, STAVESACRES, STEWARDESSES, SWEATERDRESSES, SWEETBREADS, TERRACEWARDS, TRADECRAFTS, VERTEBRATES, WASTEWATERS, WATERCRAFTS, WATERCRESSES.
TYPEWRITER WORDS: longest words typing with the right hand
JOHNNY-JUMP-UP (a fast-growing flower or a brand name for a type of toy) HOKYPOKY, HOMONYMY, HOMOPHONY, HOMOPHYLY, HYPOLIMNION, HYPOPHYLL, HYPOPHYLLIUM, HYPOPHYLLUM, HYPOPYON, ILLINIUM, ILLUMINOPOLY, KINNIKINNIK, LOLLIPOP, LUPULINUM, MILLIMHO, MILLIOHM, MIMINYPIMINY, MINIKINLY, MINIMILL, MONOHULL, MONOPHONY, MONOPOLY, NIPPONIUM, NONILLION, PHYLLOPHYLLIN, POLLINIUM, POLONIUM, POLYONOMY, POLYPHONIUM, POLYPHONY, UNHOLILY.
A sentenced typed using only the right hand: In July, oh my kill-joy Molly, I’ll look in upon my jumpy polo pony up in hilly Honolulu.
SOME NAMES THAT BECAME WORDS
BLOOMER: Amanda Bloomer or Amelia Jenkins Bloomer (1818-1894), American feminist
BOBBY: Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), founder of London police force
BOWIE KNIFE James Bowie (1796-1836), American pioneer
BOYCOTT: Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897), English land agent
BOYSENBERRY: Rudolph Boysen, American botanist
BUNSEN BURNER: Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (1811-99), German chemist
CAESAREAN SECTION: Gaius Julius Caesar, who according to legend was born in this manner
CARDIGAN: James Thomas Brudnell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868), British cavalry officer
CASANOVA: Giovanni Jacopo Casanova de Seingalt (1725-98), Italian adventurer
CRAPPER: widely believed to have come from the name of a Thomas Crapper.
However, the word apparently derives from the word crap, which is found in middle English.
DECIBEL: Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)
DERBY: Edward Stanley, 12th earl of Derby, founded the race, 1870
DIESEL: Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913), German automotive designer
FERRIS WHEEL: George Washington Gale Ferris (1859-96), American engineer
FRISBEE: William Russell Frisbie, pie shop owner in Bridgeport CT
GATLING GUN: Richard J. Gatling (1818-1903), American inventor
GROG: Old Grog, nickname of Sir Edward Vernon (1684-1757), British admiral
GUPPY: Robert J. L. Guppy (1836-1916), British scientist from Trinidad
KNICKERBOCKERS: Dietrich Knickerbocker, pseudonym of Washington Irving (1783-1859)
LEOTARD: Jules Léotard (1839-70), French acrobat
LEVIS: Levi Strauss (1830-1902), Bavarian immigrant to the USA and clothing merchant
LUDDITE: Ned Ludd, 18th cent. Leicestershire workman who destroyed machinery
LYNCH: Capt. William Lynch (1742-1820), plantation owner in Virginia
MAVERICK: Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803-1870), Texas cattle owner
MORSE CODE: Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), American artist and inventor
NAMBY-PAMBY: Nickname of Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), English poet
NICOTINE: Jean Nicot (c. 1530 - 1600), French ambassador to Portugal
OSCAR: Oscar Pierce, American wheat and fruit grower and uncle of an Academy executive director
PASTEURIZE: Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French chemist
RITZY: César Ritz (1850-1918), Swiss hotelier
SADISM: Count Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (1740-1814), French soldier and novelist
SALISBURY STEAK: James J. Salisbury, 19th century English physician
SALMONELLA: Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850-1914), American veterinarian
SANDWICH: John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-92), English diplomat
SANFORIZED: Sandford Lockwood Cluett (b. 1840), American inventor
SAXOPHONE: Antoine-Joseph Sax, also known as Adolphe Sax (1814-1894), Belgian inventor
SEQUOIA: Sequoya (c. 1770-1843), Cherokee Indian who invented the Cherokee syllabary
SHRAPNEL: Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842), British army officer
SIDEBURNS: Gen. Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-1881), Union soldier
SILHOUETTE: Etienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), French minister of finance in 1759
SPOONERISM: Rev. William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), of New College, Oxford
SOUSAPHONE: John Phillip Sousa (1854-1932), American composer and bandleader
STETSON: John Bauerson Stetson (1830-1906), American hat-maker
TARMAC: John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), Scottish engineer (the word is short for "tarmacadam")
TEDDY BEAR: Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), U. S. president
THESPIAN: Thespis, 6th century B. C. Greek poet
TOMMY GUN: Gen. John Taliaferro Thompson (1860-1940), U. S. soldier
ZEPPELIN: Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917), German general and aeronautical pioneer
Some words named for legendary figures and characters in literature are: ammonia, Atlas, Bacchanalia, blimp, braggadocio, cereal, chauvinism, diddle, fauna, flora, Friday, gamp, gargantuan, golliwog, hector, hermaphrodite, hermetic, hyacinth, iris, January, juggernaut, June, March, May, mentor, morphone, narcissism, nemesis, palladium, panic, pants, Saturday, stentorian, tantalize, Thursday, Tuesday, volcano, vulcanize, Wednesday, Wendy house.
INTERJECTIONS
adios, ah, aha, ahem, ahoy, alack, alas, all hail, alleluia, aloha, amen, attaboy, auf wiedersehen, aw, ay, bah, begorra, bejesus also bejeezus, bingo, bleep, boo, by or bye, bye-bye or by-by, cheerio, cheers, ciao, crikey or crickey, cripes, dear, egad or egads, eh, eureka, faugh, fie, fore, gad, gadzooks, gar, gardyloo, gee, gee whiz, gesundheit, glory or glory be, golly, gosh, gramercy, ha, ha-ha, hail, hallelujah, haw, heads up, heigh-ho, hem, hep, hey, hey presto, heyday, hi, hip, hist, ho, ho hum, hollo also holloa or holla, hoot or hoots, hosanna also hosannah, hot dog, howdy, hoy, huh, humph, hup, hurrah also hurray, hut, jeepers also jeepers creepers, jeez, jingo, la, lackaday, lo, lo and behold, lordy, marry, my word, od or odd, oh, ooh, oops, ouch, ow, pardie or pardi or pardy, phew, phooey, pip-pip, pish, poof, pooh, prithee, prosit or prost, pshaw, quotha, rah, rats, righto, roger, selah, sh, shalom, shalom aleichem, shoo, shoot, so long, touche, tush, tut, tut-tut, ugh, uh-huh, uh-oh, uh-uh, view halloo, viva, voila, waesucks, wahoo, welcome, well, wellaway, whee, whoopee, why, wilco, wirra, wisha, woe, wow, yech or yecch, yikes, yippee, yo, yoicks, yoo-hoo, yuck also yuk, yum-yum, zap, zooks, zounds, zowie.More words that are often used interjectionally: adieu, au revoir ball, bam, bang, bon voyage, bosh, bother, botheration, boy, brava, bravo, come on, f***, fudge, go to, good-by, goodness, hard cheese, hard lines, hello, here, huzza, indeed, Jove, know, like, man, mean, my, nerts, no sweat, peace, period, rather, right on, rot, shuck, silence, skoal, so, son of a b****, son of a gun, there, timber, truly, whatever, whew, whisht, whist, whoop, whoosh.
ODDITIES
It is claimed that -OUGH can be pronounced 9 different ways in the following sentence:
A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.
The only countries in the world with one syllable in their names are CHAD, FRANCE, GREECE, LAOS (one pronunciation), and SPAIN
DREAMT is the only common word in English ending in -MT.
EARTHLING is first found in print in 1593.
SPACESHIP is another surprisingly old word (1894).
MS. (used instead of Miss or Mrs.) has been found in 1949.
EIGHT is the first number, if all numbers are arranged in alphabetical order; ZERO would be the last number
EWE and YOU are pronounced exactly the same, yet share no letters in common. Another example: EYE/I, OH/EAU (de cologne), A/EH,
FORTY is the only number which has its letters in alphabetical order. FIRST shares this property [Stuart Kidd].
According to Stuart Kidd, ONE is the only number with its letters in reverse alphabetical order.
The three-syllable word HIDEOUS, with the change of a single consonant, becomes a two-syllable word with no vowel sounds in common: HIDEOUT
IO (one of the moons of Jupiter), AI (the three-toed sloth), EO, OK, and AA (rough volcanic rock) seem to be the shortest two-syllable words.
MONDAY is the only day of the week that has an anagram, DYNAMO. The only months that have anagrams are MARCH, APRIL, and MAY. The anagrams are CHARM, RIPAL, and YAM.
OF is apparently the only commonly used word in which F is pronounced like a V. The only other words with this property are HEREOF, THEREOF and WHEREOF
President Woodrow Wilson used the spelling OKEH rather than OK. He preferred this spelling, believing (incorrectly) that the origin of the word is a Choctaw word meaning "it is so."
It is said that no word rhymes with ORANGE. However, BLORENGE is a 1,833 ft. hill near Abergavenny, Wales. Some other words difficult to rhyme are MONTH, SILVER, WASP, and PURPLE.
PIERRE, the capital of South Dakota, is pronounced PEER and is the only state capital name that shares no letters with the name of its state
PIKES PEAK is spelled without an apostrophe by law.
POLISH is pronounced two ways, depending on whether or not the first letter is capitalized. Some other such words: AUGUST, BEGIN, JOB, LIMA, RAINIER, NICE, SAID.
Q is the only letter that does not occur in the names of the states of the U. S.
WACO and WARE are the only U. S. radio station call letters that exactly spelled the cities in which they were located (Waco, Texas, and Ware, Massachusetts).
ALMS is a word with no singular form. Other such words are: AGENDA, IDES, BRACES, CATTLE, CLOTHES, EAVES, MARGINALIA, PANTS, PLIERS, SCISSORS, SHORTS, and TROUSERS (although there is "trouser leg") [Stuart Kidd]. Strictly speaking, Ides is not plural, although it is singular or plural in construction, according to MWCD10. Agenda is not plural although its origin is the plural of the Latin agendum.
PANGRAMS are sentences containing all the letters of the alphabet.
- "Quit beer," vows dizzy, puking, Michael J. Fox (by Idris Mercer)
- A large fawn jumped quickly over white zinc boxes.
- A mad boxer shot a quick, gloved jab to the jaw of his dizzy opponent.
- A popular belief is that fornication would be a quick fix for some overzealously judicious governments.
- A quart jar of oil mixed with zinc oxide makes a very bright paint.
- A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
- A quick movement of the enemy will jeopardize six gunboats.
- A very bad quack might jinx zippy fowls. 32
- About sixty codfish eggs will make a quarter pound of very fizzy jelly.
- Alfredo just must bring very exciting news to the plaza quickly.
- All questions asked by five watch experts amazed the judge.
- Amazingly few discotheques provide jukeboxes (40)
- An inspired calligrapher can create pages of beauty using stick ink, quill, brush, pick-axe, buzz saw, or even strawberry jam.
- Anxious Paul waved back his pa from the zinc quarry just sighted.
- As we explored the gulf of Zanzibar, we quickly moved closer to the jutting rocks.
- Astronaut Quincy B. Zack defies gravity with six jet fuel pumps.
- Back in June we delivered oxygen equipment of the same size.
- Back in my quaint garden, jaunty zinnias vie with flaunting phlox.
- Ban foul, toxic smogs which quickly jeopardize lives.
- Barkeep! A flaming tequila swizzle and a vodka and Ajax, hold the cherry.
- Baroque? Hell, just mix a dozen wacky pi fonts & you've got it.
- Bawds jog, flick quartz, vex nymph. 27 (by Sir Jeremy Morse)
- Big July earthquakes confound zany experimental vow.
- Blowzy frights vex, and jump quick. (28)
- Blowzy night-frumps vex'd Jack Q. 26
- Blowzy red vixens fight for a quick jump.
- Brawny gods just flocked up to quiz and vex him.
- Breezily jingling $3,416,857,209, wise advertiser ambles to the bank, his exchequer amplified.
- Brick quiz whangs jumpy veldt fox.
- By Jove, my quick study of lexicography won a prize.
- Cozy lummox gives smart squid who asks for job pen. 41
- Cozy sphinx waves quart jug of bad milk. (32)
- Crazy Fredericka bought many very exquisite opal jewels. 48
- Cwm kvutza qoph jynx fled brigs. (by Greg and Peter Maggs)
- Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz 26 (by Dmitri Borgmann)
- Dangerously frozen, he quickly judged his extremities to be waterproof.
- Doxy with charming buzz quaffs vodka julep.
- Dr. Jekyll vows to finish zapping quixotic bum (by Idris Mercer)
- Dub waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex. 28
- Dumpy kibitzer jingles as exchequer overflows.
- Ebenezer unexpectedly bagged two tranquil aardvarks with his jiffy vacuum cleaner.
- Emily Q. Jung-Schwartzkopf XV, B.D. (26)
- Exquisite farm wench gives body jolt to prize stinker.
- Exquisite wizard flock behaving jumpy (by Idris Mercer)
- Fabled reader with jaded, roving eye seized by quickened impulse to expand budget.
- Few quips galvanized the mock jury box. (32)
- Five big quacking zephyrs jolt my wax bed.
- Five jumbo oxen graze quietly with packs of dogs.
- Five or six big jet planes zoomed quickly by the tower.
- Five wine experts jokingly quizzed chablis sample.
- Fjord-buck zags whelm qvint pyx. (26)
- For only $49, jolly housewives made "inexpensive" meals using quick-frozen vegetables.
- Forsaking monastic tradition, twelve jovial friars gave up their vocation for a questionable existence on the flying trapeze.
- Foxy Gen. Schwarzkopf jumbled Iraqi TV. 32 (by Daniel A. Martinez)
- Foxy nymphs grab quick-lived waltz. (29)
- Fred specialized in the job of making very quaint wax toys.
- Freight to me sixty dozen quart jars and twelve black pans
- Frowzy things plumb vex'd Jack Q. (26)
- Frozen buyer just quickly keyed shocking weaver's $34,825,679 complexion.
- Frumpy veld wags quiz jack-in-the-box. 30 (by Idris Mercer)
- Glum Q. Schwarzkopf jinxed by TV. 26 (by Idris Mercer)
- Grumpy wizards make toxic brew for the evil queen and jack.
- Guzzling of jaunty exile wrecks havoc at damp banquet.
- Gyps balk nth fjord cwm quiz, vex. (see note)
- G. W. Bush quickly fixed prize jam on TV. 30 (by Gordon Gerwig)
- Hark! Toxic jungle water vipers quietly drop on zebras for meals!
- How jolly vexing a fumble to drop zucchini in the quicksand!
- How quickly daft jumping zebras vex. 30
- How razorback jumping frogs can level six piqued gymnasts. 49
- How razorback jumping frogs level six piqued gymnasts! 46
- How razorback-jumping frogs can level six piqued gymnasts!
- How vexing a fumble to drop a jolly zucchini in the quicksand. (50)
- I have quickly spotted the four women dozing in the jury box.
- I was temporarily forced to zig-zag and quiver furiously around big junky xylophones. (Chris, age 13)
- If Jack quiz bald nymphs grow vext. (28)
- In Boston: Jazzy (but malicious) squeak toy explodes, ending the lives of two children.
- J Q Schwartz flung D V Pike my box
- J. Q. Vandz struck my big fox whelp. (26) (by Mark Dunn, in his novel Ella Minnow Pea)
- J. Hoefler cabled: "puzzling over waxy kumquats."
- Jack amazed a few girls by dropping the antique onyx vase!
- Jack believed we quiz sphinx from Egypt (by Idris Mercer)
- Jack Farmer realized that the big yellow quilts were expensive.
- Jack-in-the-box quiz fed grumpy wolves. 31 (by Idris Mercer)
- Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz. 31 (by Marvin Moore)
- Jaded zombies acted quaintly but kept driving their oxen forward.
- Jail zesty vixen who grabbed pay from quack.
- Jay visited back home and gazed upon a brown fox and quail.
- Jeb quickly drove a few extra miles on the glazed pavement.
- Jelly-like above the high wire, six quaking pachyderms kept the climax of the extravaganza in a dazzling state of flux.
- Jim just quit and packed extra heavy bags for Liz Owen.
- Jimmy and Zack, the police explained, were last seen diving into a field of buttered quahogs.
- Jink cwm, zag veldt, fob qursh pyx. (by Stephen Wagner, Minneapolis, 1998)
- Jolly few pangrams vanquished by exotic kudzu.
- Jolly housewives made inexpensive meals using quick-frozen vegetables.
- Judge Powell quickly gave six embezzlers stiff sentences.
- Judges vomit; few quiz pharynx block. (31)
- Jumbling vext frowzy hacks PDQ. 26 (by Chris Cole)
- Jump by vow of quick, lazy strength in Oxford. 36
- Jumpy wizard quit having black foxes. 31 (by Idris Mercer)
- Jumpy zebra vows to quit thinking coldly of sex
- Junky qoph-flags vext crwd zimb. (26)
- Just be very quick when fixing zip code mail. (by Ross Eckler)
- Just keep examining every low bid quoted for zinc etchings.
- Just work for improved basic techniques to maximize your typing skills.
- King Alexander was just partly overcome after quizzing Diogenes in his tub.
- Lazy jackal from raiding xebec prowls the quiet cove.
- Lazy movers quit hard packing of jewelry boxes.
- Many big jackdaws quickly zipped over the fox pen.
- Many-wived Jack laughs at probes of sex quiz.
- Martin J. Hixeypovzer quickly began his first word.
- May Jo equal the fine record by solving six puzzles a week?
- Meg Schwarzkopf quit Jynx Blvd. 26 (by Ted Clarke)
- Meghan deftly picks valuable jewels: onyx, quartz.
- Milk-vat fez bugs qoph-crwd jynx. (26)
- Mix Zapf with Veljovic and get quirky beziers.
- Monique, the buxom coed, likes to fight for Pez with the junior varsity team.
- Mr. Jock, TV quiz Ph.D., bags few lynx. (by Clement Wood)
- Murky haze enveloped a city as jarring quakes broke forty-six windows.
- My grandfather picks up quartz and valuable onyx jewels.
- My help squeezed back in again after six and joined the weavers.
- Nancy Bizal exchanged vows with Robert J. Kumpf at Quincy Temple.
- New job: fix Mr. Gluck's hazy TV, PDQ!
- No kidding, Lorenzo called off his trip to visit Mexico City just because they told him the conquistadores were extinct.
- Now is the time for all quick brown dogs to jump over the lazy lynx.
- Nth balks gyp, vex cwm fjord quiz. (26)
- Nth black fjords vex Qum gyp wiz
- Nth quark biz gyps cwm fjeld vox. (26)
- Nth zigs block Qum dwarf jive pyx. (27)
- Oh, wet Alex, a jar, a fag! Up, disk, curve by! Man Oz, Iraq, Arizona, my Bev? Ruck's id-pug, a far Ajax, elate?
- Who? [palindromic]
- On the boardwalk grave playful lizards quickly jump and exercise. (found by Jeff Glenn, 1978)
- Oozy quivering jellyfish expectorated by mad hawk.
- Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs. 32
- Pangrams have subjects like "dewy fox quiz." 35 (by Idris Mercer)
- Perhaps President Clinton's amazing sax skills will be judged quite favorably.
- Phlegms fyrd wuz qvint jackbox. (by Dmitri Borgmann)
- Picking just six quinces, new farm hand proves strong but lazy.
- Pickled, Gorbachev jumps tawny fax quiz.
- Pink foxglove bouquet charms dizzy Jew (by Idris Mercer)
- Playing jazz vibe chords quickly excites my wife.
- Prized waxy jonquils choke big farm vats. 34
- Prodigal lesbians from Venezuela know just exactly how to eat quiche.
- Puzzled women bequeath jerks very exotic gifts.
- Pyx crwth fjeld, quok, vang, zimbs. (by Rev. S. Ream)
- Pyx vang quiz: komb crwth fjelds. (by Robert N. Test)
- Qu'est-ce c'est chez le vieux forgeron du coin J'ai pu boire le meilleur whisky?
- Quartz glyph job vex'd cwm finks
- Questions of a zealous nature have become by degrees petty waxen jokes.
- Quick fawns jumped over a lazy dog. 32 (by Kenneth Daugherty)
- Quick jigs for waltz vex bad nymph. (28)
- Quick wafting zephyrs vex bold Jim.
- Quick waxy bugs jump the frozen veldt (31)
- Quick zephyrs blow, vexing daft Jim. 29
- Quixotic knights' wives are found on jumpy old zebras.
- Quixotic Republicans vet first key zero-growth jeremiad.
- Quiz explained for TV show by Mick Jagger (by Idris Mercer)
- Qursh gowf veldt jynx zimb pack. (by Michael Jones, Chicago, 1984; see note)
- Raving zibet chewed calyx of pipsqueak major.
- Sex prof gives back no quiz with mild joy. 33
- Six big devils from Japan quickly forgot how to waltz.
- Six big juicy steaks sizzled in a pan as five workmen left the quarry.
- Six boys guzzled cheap raw plum vodka quite joyfully.
- Six crazy kings vowed to abolish my quite pitiful jousts.
- Six javelins thrown by the quick savages whizzed forty paces beyond the mark.
- Six of the women quietly gave back prizes to the judge.
- Six plump boys guzzled cheap raw vodka quite joyfully.
- Sixty zippers were quickly picked from the woven jute bag. 48
- Sixty-five wildly panting fruitflies gazed hungrily at the juicy bouncing kumquats.
- Sphinx of black quartz: judge my vow. 29
- Squdgy fez, blank jimp crwth vox. (by Claude Shannon)
- Suez sailor vomits jauntily abaft while waxing parquet decks.
- Sympathizing would fix Quaker objectives. 36
- The exodus of jazzy pigeons is craved by squeamish walkers.
- The explorer was frozen in his big kayak just after making queer discoveries.
- The five boxing wizards jump quickly. 31
- The job of waxing linoleum frequently peeves chintzy kids.
- The job requires extra pluck and zeal from every young wage earner.
- The jukebox music puzzled a gentle visitor from a quaint valley town.
- The July sun caused a fragment of black pine wax to ooze on the velvet quilt.
- The public was amazed to view the quickness and dexterity of the juggler. (60)
- The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog. 33
- The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. 35
- The risque gown marked a very brazen exposure of juicy flesh.
- The sex life of the woodchuck is a provocative question for most vertebrate zoology majors.
- The vixen jumped quickly on her foes barking with zeal.
- Their kind aunt was subject to frequent dizzy spells, thus causing much anxiety and worry.
- Thumb frowzly, vexing jacks, PDQ. (by Eric Chaikin, New York, 1998)
- Travelling beneath the azure sky in our jolly ox-cart, we often hit bumps quite hard.
- Turgid saxophones blew over Mick's jazzy quiff.
- Two hardy boxing kangaroos jet from Sydney to Zanzibar on quicksilver pinions.
- Uphill jogging will tax pounding heart muscle very quickly; better to be lazy!
- Veldt jynx grimps waqf zho buck. 26 (by Michael Jones, Chicago, 1984; see note)
- Verbatim reports were quickly given by Jim Fox to his amazed audience.
- Verily the dark ex-Jew quit Zionism, preferring the cabala.
- Vexed funky camp juggler quit show biz. 32 (by Idris Mercer)
- Vext cwm fly zing jabs Kurd qoph.
- Victors flank gyp who mixed job quiz. (30)
- Victors flank gypsy who mixed up on job quiz.
- Viewing quizzical abstracts mixed up hefty jocks.
- Waltz, dumb nymph, for quick jigs vex. 29
- Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex bud. 28
- Waqf vozhd trecks, jumbling pyx.
- Was there a quorum of able whizzkids gravely exciting the jaded fish at ATypI?
- Watch all five questions asked by experts amaze the judge.
- Wavy Jake's fat zebra had Mexican pig liquor.
- We could jeopardize six of the gunboats by two quick moves.
- We crazed folk quit having sex, be jumpy. 32 (by Idris Mercer)
- We dislike to exchange job lots of sizes varying from a quarter up.
- We have just quoted on nine dozen boxes of gray lamp wicks.
- We promptly judged antique ivory buckles for the next prize. 50
- We quickly seized the black axle and just saved it from going past him.
- West quickly gave Bert handsome prizes for six juicy plums.
- Wham! Volcano erupts fiery liquid death onto ex-jazzbo Kenny G.
- When waxing parquet decks, Suez sailors vomit jauntily abaft.
- When we go back to Juarez, Mexico, do we fly over picturesque Arizona?
- Whenever the black fox jumped the squirrel gazed suspiciously.
- While making deep excavations we found some quaint bronze jewelry.
- Why jab, vex quartz-damping flocks? (28)
- Will Major Douglas be expected to take this true-false quiz very soon?
- William Jex quickly caught five dozen Republicans.
- William said that everything about his jacket was in quite good condition except for the zipper.
- Wolves exit quickly as fanged zoo chimp jabbers.
- Worn DJ: vex Gk HQ, clamp fubsy zit.
- Would you please examine both sizes of jade figures very quickly.
- Woven silk pyjamas exchanged for blue quartz.
- XV quick nymphs beg fjord-waltz.
- Xylophone wizard begets quick jive form.
- You go tell that vapid existentialist quack Freddy Nietzsche that he can just bite me, twice.
- You will quite often be amazed by Jock's very weighty, size six sporran!
- Zany Jacques French's pub mixed watery vodka gimlets.
- Zelda quickly wove eight nubby flax jumpers. (by Ross Eckler)
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