Language on Vacation: An Olio of Orthographical Oddities

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Language on Vacation: An Olio of Orthographical Oddities is a 1965 book written by Dmitri Borgmann. It is generally considered to be the first book solely devoted to logology that was more about supplying information than giving puzzles.

Logology is the study of words with an emphasis on letter patterns, often as part of recreational wordplay such as anagrams, palindromes and isograms, rather than on meaning. The word "logology" was popularized, by this book.[citation needed]

Borgmann cites three objectives he hoped his book would attain:

  • "[T]o elevate recreational linguistics to the same high level of esteem now enjoyed by recreational mathematics."
  • "[T]o create and to cultivate within you an awareness of, a responsiveness to, the innate beauty of words, and to show you how to look for that beauty as you encounter words."
  • "[T]o analyze the creative formative techniques of the logologist for you, to teach you how to produce words and word beauty yourself."

Chapters:

  • Chapter 1: Palindromes and Reversals
    • Section A: Word Palindromes
    • Section B: Word Reversals
    • Section C: Sentence Palindromes
    • Section D: Sentence Reversals
  • Chapter 2: Transpositions
  • Chapter 3: Anagrams and Antigrams
  • Chapter 4: Word Surgery
  • Chapter 5: Pangrammatics and Codes
  • Chapter 6: Letters and Letter Patterns
  • Chapter 7: Geometric Forms
  • Chapter 8: Numerical Logology
  • Chapter 9: The Presidency: A Study in Depth

[edit] Other Books by the same Author

  • Beyond Language (Adventures in Word and Thought) Copyright 1967. Published by Charles Scribner's Sons
  • Curious Crosswords (edited and annotated by Borgmann) Copyright 1970. Published by Charles Scribner's Sons
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