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?	The magic of words?

AWADmail Issue 1193

A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and Language

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From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject:

This week I wondered why the word vowel doesn’t include all the vowels. I asked our readers: How to include all the vowels in the word? Here’s a selection from the responses:

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From: Simon Sephton (simon sephton.co.za)
Subject: When a clown moves into a palace, he does not become a king. The palace becomes a circus.

I love your Thought of the day as much as I love your word of the day. As much for the sometimes sly political comment embedded in it as anything else. So we get to today’s aphorism, attributed as a Turkish Proverb. Here is a elucidating its origins, and it makes for great reading.

Simon Sephton, Cape Town, South Africa

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From: Hanna Tiechl (hanna.tiechl aon.at)
Subject: All vowels in a word

A motto by the Habsburgs. Does that count?

Many visitors to Vienna, Austria, from all over the world, have come across this “word”. It is a beautiful city and worth visiting nevertheless.

Hanna Tiechl, Vienna, Austria

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From: Anna Maria Stefani (xanmarix gmail.com)
Subject: Vowels

In Italian, I know a word that contains all the vowels: aiuole. It means flowerbeds, plural of aiuloa. My English isn’t good. Native language Italian, living all my life in Belgium, so Dutch is my other “first” language. Sometimes I wonder which is my nationality.

Anna Maria Stefani, Belgium

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From: Brenda J. Gannam (gannamconsulting earthlink.net)
Subject:

Her torso is now cylindraceous, although in her youth it used to be hourglassaceous.

Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York

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From: Jon von Gunten (jon globescope.us)
Subject:

Autocephality: UNlike the situation the Roman Catholic Church got itself into in China, where the Communist Party now “recommends” which bishops may be elevated to cardinal. I guess that’s better than being squished.

Jon von Gunten, Los Angeles, California

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From: Dan Joseph (djoseph akingump.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--

Somewhat obscure, but the final variation of Bach’s masterpiece The Goldberg Variations is labeled Quodlibet, with I think the implication that he wrote something that just pleased him. It is widely believed that these variations are within the top two or three such works ever composed, so the term Quodlibet is pretty well known among lovers of Bach’s music.

Dan Joseph, Bethesda, Maryland

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From: Henry M. Willis (hmw ssdslaw.com)
Subject: Quodlibetary

I heard this story 50 years ago or so from a college roommate who was attending Columbia Law School. One of his classmates made it a practice, whenever a professor ended class by asking students whether they had any questions, of raising his hand and asking “Why is Jerry Lewis so popular in France?”

There is, of course, no answer to that question. I know because I have from time to time submitted it to co-workers speaking at symposia but have never received a response.

Henry Willis, Los Angeles, California

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From: Alex McCrae (ajmccrae277 gmail.com)
Subject: autocephality and the letter y

The past 100+ days of Trump’s presidency has seen a fast-and-furious whirlwind of executive order signings, 180-and-counting at last tally, destroying everything that is good about America. Trump, as promised, is fulfilling his much-touted revenge-and-retribution agenda. In unabashedly flouting the Constitution, he’s well on course to declaring himself king, in modern parlance, a bona fide autocrat. Very scary stuff.


The letter y sometimes works as a vowel, often with an e sound, as in the words honey, alimony, harmony, hegemony... you get my drift? So here, I’ve set up a contentious scenario where the vowels tout their primacy, while the letter y makes the case for its own lexicographic relevance. Welsh linguists, with their consonant-heavy/vowel-light lexicon, are thankful that the letter y so often comes to the rescue, as does the letter w.

Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California

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From: Sophie Brudenell-Bruce (sophibruce aol.com)
Subject: questionary and cylindraceous

, London, UK

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Anagrams

	This week’s theme: Words with all the vowels Elucidatory Questionary Cylindraceous Autocephality Quodlibetary	=	Held clarity Inquisitory; detective asks “why” Hollow tube Autonomy Hypothetical quarrel, as we use delicate words
			-Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2 gmail.com)
=	Decipher Collate data by query (usual) i.e. cylindrical, ovoid Helm own show Wise talk, way-out quest re: this test theory	=	Discursive, how we see who/what is real - QED Quest, study Like a cylinder, tube, or a roll Autonomy Tacitly hypothetical
	-Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com)		-Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz)

Make your own and .

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Limericks

elucidatory

If you’re trying to tell the whole story,
Use words called elucidatory.
Don’t bury the lede.
Advice you must heed,
And you’ll get the acclaim, and the glory.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“I hope I’m elucidatory
About memory issues,” said .
“In this film, though it’s droll,
Education’s the goal;
Finding Nemo’s just part of the story.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

questionary

I’m always prepared for a chat,
And I’m question’ry. That’s where I’m at.
But now I’m alarmed
That one day I’ll be harmed.
Curiosity can kill the cat.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

Little children are all questionary
And their answerers need to be wary
‘Cause at three or at four
They don’t need to know more
Of the real world which is pretty scary!
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

As I came to the stream’s estuary,
My attitude turned questionary.
How do riverbeds form?
Are they changed by a storm?
When I swim, why’s a suit necessary?
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

cylindraceous

On our hike I exclaimed, “Oh, good gracious!
Take a look at that plant cylindraceous!”
“Don’t touch it,” said Dad,
“For you’ll get hurt bad --
It has spines that can be most vexatious.”
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

I’ve no waist at all. It’s vexatious.
My body type’s no way curvaceous.
In reflection I see,
It does dawn upon me,
A shape that is just cylindraceous.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“The Earth isn’t flat, that’s fallacious;
It’s round, or perhaps cylindraceous,”
Said Columbus. “I’ll nail
Down the proof when I sail;
Here’s the budget.” “That much, Chris? Good gracious!”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

autocephality

There’s something that I learned in school,
That autocephality’s cool.
If your teacher says: “No!”,
Tell him where he can go.
It’s we students who now get to rule.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

When the schism became a finality,
Then the church enjoyed autocephality.
Folks felt they’d been freed,
Were happy indeed --
Independence was grand, in reality!
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

“Your Canadian autocephality,”
Said Donald, “will end due to gravity.
In your hearts you must know
That the pull from below
Will make 51 states a reality.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

quodlibetary

Metaphysical queries he’d pose
So quodlibet’ry discourse arose.
How much did I hate
Such subtle debate
About matters that God only knows.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

“Just listen, and hear what I say.
It’s not for discussion, okay?”
She said, “You can’t be
A quodlibetary.
Now take out the garbage, today!”
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“Zere ees tumult zees days een Paris;
Zey don’t like a quodlibetary.
As our reign’s heading south
Weeth what comes from your mouth,”
Said King Louis, “Please zip it, Marie.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

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Puns

“While a liberal’s mind is p-elucidatory’s is clouded with outdated old ideas!” shouted the Labour Party candidate.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“I don’t questionary. E’s me best mate.” Exclaimed the cockney chimney sweep.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“Do you have a questionary-stotle?” asked Plato, seeing the confused look on his student’s face.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“Bacterial infection? Our moldy bread is peni-cylindraceous!” said the ad.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“Doc, I have a recurring dream that my head turns into a car.”
“Ah! Zees ees classic case of autocephality.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“Down with Bernie, AOC, and the S-quodlibetary-nism is the way!” shouted .
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Mrs. Peters wanted no more children after her quadruplets were born. “I’m now a quodlibetary-an.” She exclaimed.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

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There is only one difference between a madman and me. The madman thinks he is sane. I know I am mad. -Salvador Dali, painter (11 May 1904-1989)