''Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics'' is a quarterly
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
on
recreational linguistics,
logology and
word play
Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, ph ...
. It was established by
Dmitri Borgmann in 1968 at the behest of
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing magic, scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writin ...
.
took over as
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
for 1969, but stepped down when
Greenwood Periodicals dropped the publication.
, a statistician at
Bell Labs
Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...
, became editor until 2006,
when he was succeeded by
Jeremiah Farrell (
Butler University
Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...
).
''Word Ways'' was the first periodical devoted exclusively to word play, and has become the foremost publication in that field.
Lying "on the midpoint of a spectrum from popular magazine to scholarly journal",
it publishes articles on various linguistic oddities and creative use of language. This includes research into and demonstrations of
anagram
An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...
s,
pangram
A pangram or holoalphabetic sentence is a sentence using every letter of a given alphabet at least once. Pangrams have been used to display typefaces, test equipment, and develop skills in handwriting, calligraphy, and typing.
Origins
The best-k ...
s,
lipogram
A lipogram (from , ''leipográmmatos'', "leaving out a letter" is a kind of constrained writing or word game consisting of writing paragraphs or longer works in which a particular letter or group of letters is avoided.McArthur, Tom (1992). ''The ...
s,
tautonym
A tautonym is a scientific name of a species in which both parts of the name have the same spelling, such as '' Rattus rattus''. The first part of the name is the name of the genus and the second part is referred to as the ''specific epithet'' i ...
s,
univocalic
A univocalic is a type of antilipogrammatic constrained writing that uses only consonants and a single vowel, in English "A", "E", "I", "O", or "U", and no others.
Examples
*One of the best-known univocalic poems was written by C.C. Bombaugh in ...
s,
word ladders,
palindrome
A palindrome (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpæl.ɪn.droʊm/) is a word, palindromic number, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date "Twosday, 02/02/2020" and th ...
s
and unusually
long words,
as well as book reviews, literature surveys, investigations into questionable logological claims, puzzles and quizzes,
mnemonics
A mnemonic device ( ), memory trick or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember.
It makes use of e ...
and a small measure of linguistically oriented fiction.
discovered ''Word Ways'' in 1972, and eventually used material from several dozen articles in his ''Almanac of Words at Play''
anthologies.
The first of these included complete subscription details for ''Word Ways'', which generated so many inquiries that for decades the publishers were reluctant to change their address.
In the November 2020 issue, editor Jeremiah Farrell announced that the publication of ''Word Ways'' would be suspended, but will hopefully resume in the future.
Current editorial board
* Editor: Jeremiah Farrell, Butler University
* Lacey Echols, Butler University
* Kirstin L. Ellsworth, South Pasadena, California
* Barbara Howes, Butler University
* Katie Mohr, Wiley Publishing Company
* David D. Wright, Hangzhou, China
* Electronic Journal Publishing Assistant: Laina Ridenour, Butler University
See also
*
Dave Morice, former editor
References
{{Reflist, colwidth=30em, refs=
[{{cite journal, last1=Winkel , first1=Brian J. , year=1977 , title=Word Ways, a journal worth going your way , journal=]Cryptologia
''Cryptologia'' is a journal in cryptography published six times per year since January 1977. Its remit is all aspects of cryptography, with a special emphasis on historical aspects of the subject. The founding editors were Brian J. Winkel, Davi ...
, volume=1 , issue=3 , pages=232–234 , doi=10.1080/0161-117791832968
[{{cite journal , last1=Zuckermann , author-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann , first1=Ghil'ad , year=1998 , title=Lear's In Israel?, journal=Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics , volume=31 , issue=2 , pages=154–155 , url=https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol31/iss2/18/]
[{{cite journal , last1=Eckler , first1=A. Ross , year=1999 , title=Willard R. Espy, 1910–1999 , journal=Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics , volume=32 , issue=2 , pages=83–84 , url=http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol32/iss2/2/]
[{{cite journal , last1=Zuckermann , author-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann , first1=Ghil'ad , year=2011 , title=Mnemonics in Second Language Acquisition , journal=Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics , volume=44 , issue=4 , pages=302–309 , url=https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol44/iss4/21]
[{{cite journal , last1=Eckler , first1=A. Ross , year=2010 , title=Look back! , journal=Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics , volume=43 , issue=3 , pages=167–168 , url=http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol43/iss3/6/]
[{{cite journal , last1=Eckler , first1=A. Ross , year=2010 , title=Word Ways: Making the alphabet dance (part one) , journal=Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics , volume=46 , issue=3 , pages=219–240 , url=http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol46/iss3/20]
[{{cite book , last=Evans , first=Rod L. , date=2012 , title=Tyrannosaurus Lex: The Marvelous Book of Palindromes, Anagrams, and Other Delightful and Outrageous Wordplay , location=London , publisher=Penguin Books , isbn=978-1-101-58863-5 ]
[{{cite book , last=Gardner , first=Martin , date=1995 , title=New Mathematical Diversions , url=https://archive.org/details/newmathematicald0000gard, url-access=registration , publisher=Mathematical Association of America , pag]
248
[{{cite book , last1=Gardner , first1=Martin , last2=Jennings , first2=Ken , author2-link=Ken Jennings , date=2010 , title=Colossal Book of Wordplay , publisher=Puzzlewright , isbn=978-1402765032 ]
[{{cite book , last=Campbell , first=T. , date=2013 , title=On Crosswords: Thoughts, Studies, Facts and Snark About a 100-Year-Old Pastime , publisher=Koehler Books , page=117 , isbn=978-1938467462 ]
[{{cite book , last=Lederer , first=Richard , date=1998 , title=The Word Circus , url=https://archive.org/details/wordcircusletter00lede , publisher=Merriam-Webster , isbn=978-0877793540 ]
[{{cite book , last=Espy , first=Willard R. , date=1975 , title=An Almanac of Words at Play , url=https://archive.org/details/almanachofwordsa0000unse , publisher=Clarkson Potter , isbn=978-0-517-52463-3 , url-access=registration ]
[{{cite book , last=Espy , first=Willard R. , date=1981 , title=Another Almanac of Words at Play , publisher=Clarkson Potter , isbn=978-0-233-97288-6 ]
[{{cite book , last=Espy , first=Willard R. , date=1982 , title=A Children's Almanac of Words at Play , publisher=Clarkson Potter , isbn=978-0-340-34852-9]
[{{cite book , last=Espy , first=Willard R. , date=1999 , title=The Best of an Almanac of Words at Play , url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877791454 , publisher=Merriam-Webster , isbn=978-0-87779-145-4 ]
[{{cite news , author-link=Marc Abrahams , author=Marc Abrahams , title=Wordplay proves a fruitful area for research , url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/dec/17/higher-education-research-wordplay , newspaper=]The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
, date=December 17, 2012 , access-date=October 22, 2014
[{{cite encyclopedia
, last1=Johnson
, first1=Dale D.
, last2=von Hoff Johnson
, first2=Bonnie
, last3=Schlichting
, first3=Kathleen
, editor1-last=Baumann
, editor1-first=James F.
, editor2-last=Kame'enui
, editor2-first=Edward J.
, encyclopedia=Vocabulary Instruction: Research to Practice
, title=Logology: Word and language play
, year=2004
, publisher=Guildford Press
, isbn=978-1-57230-933-3
, pages=180
]
External links
Official website, including free online back issues and abstracts of recent issues
Butler University
Literary magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1968
Magazines published in Indianapolis
Quarterly magazines published in the United States
Word games