Shiftgrams revisited.

Shiftgrams revisited. The concept of word-shifts was introduced in Dmitri Borgmann'sLanguage on Vacation (1965). Consider the word COLD for instance.Shifting each of the letters three spaces forward in the alphabet, COLDbecomes FROG; and shifting the letters of CHEER seven spaces forwardproduces JOLLY. Dmitri offered many other examples in his book. Dmitri revisited the subject in the February 1969 issue of WordWays, and extended the concept of word-shifts to shiftgrams. He wrote"If every shifts of a word is regarded as a possible scrambledword, the possibilities of generating words by shifting are considerablyaugmented ... an example will make this clear." He then gave theexample of the letters of MUSIC being shifted eight places forward inthe alphabet, creating the sequence UCAQK, and then rearranging this tomake the word QUACK QUACK. One, who, without sufficient knowledge, study or previous preparation, and without the diploma of some college or university, undertakes to practice medicine or surgery, under the pretence that he possesses secrets in those arts. 2. . The longest example Dmitri offered in his articlewas ANGELIC to PECKING. There the subject of shiftgrams remained until Tom Pulliam'sFebruary 1980 Word Ways article. Tom offered a plethora of eight- andnine-letter examples. I particularly liked WISHBONE wishbonesee furcula. to QUANTIZE To perform quantization. See quantization. andPLASTERED to SPAGHETTI (although the latter appeared in Tom'sarticle as DEPLASTER to SPAGHETTI). Dmitri offered a ten-letter shiftgram in Colloquy col��lo��quy?n. pl. col��lo��quies1. A conversation, especially a formal one.2. A written dialogue.[From Latin colloquium, conversation; see of the May 1980Word Ways: OVERLEANED to VIZIERSHIP Noun 1. viziership - the position of vizierberth, billet, post, situation, position, office, place, spot - a job in an organization; "he occupied a post in the treasury" . Editor Ross Eckler opined thattwelve-letter shiftsgrams existed, but no examples appear to have beenlocated. Rather than just attempting to add further shiftgrams to thosealready discovered, I wondered to what extent any logical group of wordscould be shiftgrammed. Seven lists follow: cardinal numbers the numbers one, two, three, etc., in distinction from first, second, third, etc., which are called ordinal numbers.See also: Cardinal , chemicalelements, colors, letters of the Greek alphabet Greek alphabetWriting system developed in Greece c. 1000 BC, the direct or indirect ancestor of all modern European alphabets. Derived from the North Semitic alphabet via that of the Phoenicians, it modified an all-consonant alphabet to represent vowels. , US statenames, days ofthe week, and planets of the solar system. Is there some way of predicting an approximate number of shiftgramsthat can be produced from a given set of words? The number of shiftgramsis probably a function of the number of words in the given set, or morelikely a function of the number of two-letter words in the set, a weakerfunction of the number of three-letter words, a still weaker function ofthe number of four-letter words, and so on. It's far more likelythat the set of two- and three-letter words allowed in Scrabble willproduce more shiftgrams than the set of fourteen- and fifteen-letterwords ending in NESS. The number of shiftgrams is probably also afunction of the size of the vocabulary from which shiftgrams arevalidated. Put simply, there are likely to be more shiftgrams foundusing Webster's Third than a pocket dictionary. Anyone care to puttogether a statistical formula predicting the probable number ofshiftgrams from a set of words with a given set of properties? In the following lists, asterisks have been used to indicateword-shifts, those special instances of shiftgrams requiting norearrangement of letters. The source for most shiftgram words in thefollowing lists is Official Scrabble Words International, with someadditional words (marked accordingly) from Webster's Second andWebster's Third Editions (W2, W3), the Oxford English Dictionary Oxford English Dictionary(OED) great multi-volume historical dictionary of English. [Br. Hist.: Caught in the Web of Words]See : Lexicography (OED OEDabbr.Oxford English DictionaryNoun 1. OED - an unabridged dictionary constructed on historical principlesO.E.D., Oxford English Dictionary ), the New Oxford Dictionary of English The Oxford Dictionary of English (formerly The New Oxford Dictionary of English, often abbreviated to NODE) is a single-volume English language dictionary first published in 1998 by the Oxford University Press. (NODE), and the Random HouseDictionary (RHD Noun 1. RHD - a paramilitary group of Protestants in Northern Ireland that tries to prevent any political settlement with the Irish Republic; attacks interests of Catholic civilians in Northern Ireland; responsible for arson and bombing and murder ). Cardinal Numbers The number ONE is the most fecund fe��cundadj.Capable of producing offspring; fertile. producer of shiftgrams, witheight different shift sizes. I am surprised that TEN wasn'tslightly more productive.ONE 1 fop, 4 sir, 7 luv, 10 oxy, 13 bar* bra, 16 due, 21 jiz*, 22 jakTWO 4 sax, 6 cuz, 8 web, 15 lid, 18 log*, 21 jor, 24 rum*THREE 7 alloy loyal, 10 boord brood, 13 regur urger, 22 pandaFOUR 12 grad dragFIVE 9 oner rone, 10 fops, 19 boxy, 22 bare bear brae, 25 huedSIX 3 lay, 6 yod, 11 dit tid, 12 jeu, 16 yin, 22 toeSEVEN 4 wizir (OED), 13 friarEIGHT 7 nopal, 11 perst perts prest strep, 22 caped pacedNINE 7 pulu, 11 typy, 13 vara, 18 waffTEN 1 fou ufo, 11 pye yep, 13 gar rag, 15 cit tic, 16 jud, 22 japTWELVE 22 A-sharp (W2) Sharpa (OED)THIRTY 11 ejects, 21 dotcom (The Dotcom Dictionary) tomcodFORTY 15 duingFIFTY 25 hexesSIXTY 6 dozey (OED), 21 stond Chemical Elements GOLD and XENON xenon(zē`nŏn)[Gr.,=strange], gaseous chemical element; symbol Xe; at. no. 54; at. wt. 131.29; m.p. −111.9°C;; b.p. −107.1°C;; density 5.86 grams per liter at STP; valence usually 0. produce shiftgrams for four different shift sizes.The longest shiftgrams, at seven letters, are generated by CAESIUM caesiumcesium. ,HAFNIUM hafnium(hăf`nēəm), metallic chemical element; symbol Hf; at. no. 72; at. wt. 178.49; m.p. about 2,227°C;; b.p. 4,602°C;; sp. gr. 13.31 at 20°C;; valence +4. , SULPHUR and TERBIUM terbium(tûr`bēəm)[from Ytterby, a village in Sweden], metallic chemical element; symbol Tb; at. no. 65; at. wt. 158.9254; m.p. 1,356°C;; b.p. 3,123°C;; sp. gr. about 8.25; valence +3 or +4. .ARGON 17 fixer refixBARIUM 18 jetsam matjesBORON 16 heder, 17 fifesCAESIUM 16 quicky's (OED, possessive form of quicky)CARBON 17 freits refits resift rifest sifter strifeCERIUM 10 embowsERBIUM 10 belows blowse bowels elbowsGOLD 1 hemp, 8 lowt, 20 faix, 23 dali dial laidHAFNIUM 6 alongstHELIUM 6 Akrons (places called Akron, RHD), 10 vowersIRON 23 folk*LEAD 8 milt, 11 plow, 15 apts past pats spat stap tapsNEON 13 arba* Arab (W3), 16 dude dued*OXYGEN 16 unowedRADON 5 swiftSILVER 9 unbare unbear urbane, 13 verifySODIUM 16 tickeySULPHUR 23 primero*TERBIUM 10 blowsedTIN 11 tye yet, 17 zekXENON 1 poofy, 4 birrs, 13 kabar, 16 nuded* (OED)ZINC 5 hens nesh, 13 vamp, 18 frau Colors Apart from the seven colors of the rainbow, a list of colors isslightly more flexible than a list of chemical elements or USstatenames. The following list starts with the colors of the rainbow inthe traditional ROYGBIV ROYGBIV Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet (order of colors of the rainbow)ROYGBIV Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain (mnemonic for colors of the rainbow)order. All seven colors are able to produceshiftgrams. Then follows a list of other colors, from AMBER to WHITE.There are many other more obscure color names that could be used toextend the list. The longest shiftgrams are the seven-letter CELADON celadonChinese, Korean, Siamese, and Japanese stoneware decorated with glazes the colour range of which includes greens of various shades, olive, blue, and gray. The colours are the result of a wash of slip (liquefied clay) containing a high proportion of iron that is and OPALINE o��pal?n.1. A mineral of hydrated silica.2. A gemstone made of this mineral, noted for its rich iridescence.[Middle English opalus, from Latin, alteration of Greek .DUN has nine different shifts, more than any other color. Note the colorpairs ANIL navy, ROAN roana coat color consisting of a relatively uniform mixture of white and colored hairs, giving a 'silvered' hue; self-describing colors are red-roan, blue-roan, chestnut roan. limy and OLIVE bluey Blue´ya. 1. Bluish.n. 1. A bushman's blanket; - named from its color.We had to wring our blueys.- Lawson.2. . GARNET has a thirteen shiftinto itself!RED 1 efs, 3 hug, 9 man mna nam, 10 bon* nob, 11 cop, 16 hut*, 23 abo boa oba*ORANGE 4 skiver, 13 banter barnet (NODE)YELLOW 14 taland (OED)GREEN 1 hoffs (OED, W2), 13 arret rater tarre terra*BLUE 6 hark, 7 libs, 9 dunk, 10 levo love vole, 14 zips, 16 burkINDIGO 22 phreakVIOLET 3 whorly (W3)AMBER 13 zonerANATTO 4 Xerxes (RHD)ANIL 4 perm, 6 grot trog, 7 hups* push, 13 navy, 18 fadsAPPLE 4 petit petti, 15 etapeAQUA 10 ekka, 18 miss simsAUBURN 17 rilles sillerAZURE 14 finos loins infosBICE 6 hoik* hoki, 10 mols olmsBLACK 18 ducts, 19 duvet, 24 jizya (W3)BROWN 17 fenis fines neifs niefs nifesBUTTER 10 boddle bolded (W3), 13 hoggerCANARY 2 accept, 13 pennalCELADON 4 griphes (OED, W2)CERISE 10 coombs combosCYAN 2 cape pace, 6 geit gite tige, 13 plan, 17 pert, 24 waly yawlDUN 1 voe, 4 rhy, 6 taj, 11 foy, 14 rib*, 17 leu ule*, 20 hox, 21 yip, 23 arkEBON 13 boar bora, 16 dure rude rued urde, 25 damn mandECRU 9 land, 16 husk sukh, 20 owly yowl, 24 caps* pacsFAWN 8 nevi vein vine, 17 wren, 21 riva vair, 24 dulyGARNET 13 garnetGRAPE 13 foudsGRAY 13 lent, 20 saulGREY 2 gait, 14 fums, 20 lays slayHENNA 13 ruana, 17 every veeryIVORY 3 burly, 13 blive, 16 holey hoyle, 20 clips, 22 unker (OED)JET 4 nix, 5 joy, 10 dot tod*, 22 fap*, 25 dis ids*KHAKI 10 kurusLAKE 8 mist smit, 16 quab (OED, W2)LEMON 6 turks, 16 cubedLILAC 3 flood, 18 dauds duadsLIME 2 gonk, 3 holp, 6 kors roks, 19 vows, 18 awed deaw wadeMAROON 17 differ riffedMAUVE 8 mucid, 14 jiaosNILE 4 prim, 6 tork* (OED), 7 plus puls, 13 varyOCHER 22 kandyOLIVE 16 bluey, 18 dwang, 22 haker (OED)OPALINE 4 imprest permitsORLEAN 4 vipers, 13 barney nearbyPEACH 4 gelit legit, 11 plans, 15 twerp, 24 fancyPEARL 7 hwyls, 15 Paget (OED,RHD), 23 imbox (OED, W2)PINK 4 mort, 5 puns spun, 16 fady, 24 lingPRIVET 9 carney, 22 planer replanPUCE 2 grew, 6 kiva, 10 moze, 24 cans scanROAN 1 bops, 4 revs vers, 13 bane bean nabe, 17 fier fire reif rife, 20 limy*ROSE 22 kaon koanROUGE 13 berth, 14 cuifs ficusRUBY 2 dawt wadt, 10 bile, 13 helo hole, 16 khor, 17 lips lisp slip, 19 knur*, 20 volsSABLE 3 hoved, 19 exuoltSAXE 10 hock, 14 logs slog, 16 quinSEPIA 14 gowds, 18 hawks, 22 aloweSILVER 9 unbare unbear urbane, 13 verifySLATE 8 ambitSTRAW 8 baize, 22 pownsTAN 4 rex, 11 Ely* (RHD) ley lye, 13 gan nag, 14 boh hob*, 15 pic, 17 erk, 20 hunTEAL 1 bumf, 3 dhow, 7 lahs lash, 11 plew, 14 zhos, 15 pita, 22 whapWHITE 4 limax, 7 podal, 22 sepad spade spaed Letters of the Greek Alphabet Eighteen of the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet are capable ofproducing shiftgrams, many of these being word-shifts. The number ofword-shifts isn't that surprising, given that the names of manyGreek letters Greek letters,n.pl symbols based on the Greek alphabet that are used to represent phenomena and objects in science. are only two or three letters long. The letter XI has the greatest number of different shift sizes,nine, while NU, PHI and PI all have eight. The longest shiftgram is theseven-letter UPSILON up��si��lonor yp��si��lonn. Symbol The 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. to AVOUTRY. Note that some of the shiftgrams aresimply the names of other letters in the Greek alphabet (NU to PI, PSIto RHO RhoThe rate at which the price of a derivative changes relative to a change in the risk-free rate of interest. Rho measures the sensitivity of an option or options portfolio to a change in interest rate. ).ALPHA 4 Pelet (W2), 11 walls, 13 cunny (OED, W2), 19 tatieBETA 7 hail hila, 13 rong, 14 hops phos posh shop sophDELTA 7 lakhs, 15 pitas spait stipa tapisETA 1 fab*, 7 lah*, 11 lep, 14 hos ohs soh, 15 tip* pit, 22 paw wap, 24 cry*GAMMA 18 sesey, yesesIOTA 14 chow, 18 gals lags slag, 20 unciKAPPA 11 laval (OED)MU 2 ow* wo, 6 as, 10 we*, 14 ai*, 18 em* me, 20 go*, 22 qiNU 6 at ta*, 10 ex, 11 fy, 13 ah* ha, 14 bi*, 17 el*, 20 ho* oh, 21 piPHI 5 mun, 7 pow wop*, 11 sat tas, 12 but tub, 15 wex, 22 del eld led, 23 emf fem, 25 hogPI 5 nu un*, 11 at* ta, 15 ex*, 16 fy, 18 ah ha*, 19 bi, 22 el, 25 ho oh*PSI 11 tad, 15 hex, 19 lib, 22 ole, 25 rhoRHO 1 sip* psi pis, 12 tad, 16 hex, 20 lib, 23 oleTAU 4 yex, 6 zag, 7 bah, 10 ked, 11 elf*, 14 hoiTHETA 7 aloha, 11 leeps peels peles sleep speel, 20 bunnyUPSILON 6 avoutryXI 3 al* la, 6 do* od, 7 pe, 10 sh, 11 it* ti, 16 ny*, 17 zo, 18 pa*, 22 et te*ZETA 11 kelp, 14 hons nosh, 15 topi, 20 tuny A number of other Greek letters, now discarded from the Greekalphabet, can also be added to the list, and are given below. SAN has asmany different shift sizes as has XI. Notice that one of the SANshiftgrams is FAN, differing only in its initial letter.KOPPA 4 totes, 14 coddy (OED, W2), 24 minnySAMPI 18 hakes, shakeSAN 1 bot, 2 cup, 4 rew, 8 via, 13 fan, 14 bog gob*, 20 hum, 21 via, 22 jow US Statenames Only nine states produce shiftgrams, none of them throwing up ashift-word. IOWA Iowa, state, United StatesIowa(ī`əwə), midwestern state in the N central United States. It is bounded by the Mississippi R. has the most shiftgrams, with eleven different wordsand five different shift sizes. MICHIGAN has the longest shiftgrams.IDAHO 4 helms, 17 furzyIOWA 4 maes mase mesa same seam, 12 Maui (RHD), 14 wock, 18 goas sago, 22 ewks skewMAINE 14 abows (OED, W2)MICHIGAN 6 mootings, smooting, stooming (OED)OHIO 23 fellOREGON 13 barbet rabbet tabber (W3)TEXAS 7 hazel, 11 lepid piled pliedUTAH 10 drek, 11 elfs self, 13 hung, 20 bounWYOMING 6 costume Days of the Week Just a few days of the week produce shiftgrams. I like theeight-letter example THURSDAY to BRICK-END, even though there is anintrusive hyphen hyphen:see punctuation. .MONDAY 5 drifts, 14 comarb cramboTUESDAY 14 simorgh (OED, W2)THURSDAY 10 brick-end (OED) Planets of the Solar System Not a lot of scope here--just three of the planets are able toproduce shiftgrams. Not surprisingly, the shortest name, MARS, has themost different shiftgrams and shift sizes.EARTH 4 vexilMARS 12 demy emyd, 14 goaf, 17 jird, 20 glum, 22 winoPLUTO 19 hemin, 25 knots stonk tonks Perhaps readers would like to see what their names yield whenshiftgrammed. DARRYL appears to be impossible to do much with, butFRANCIS goes to KETCHUP!DARRYL FRANCISSutton, Surrey, Englanddarrylfrancis@yahoo.co.uk