Fast

It occurred to me recently that the word "fast" can be a noun (e.g., breaking one's fast), a verb (to fast for three days), an adjective (a fast car) and an adverb (to drive fast). Granted, the noun/verb "fast" and the adjective/adverb "fast" are homonyms -- like "bear" (n.) and "bear" (v.), etc. -- rather than forms of the same word...but it's still pretty neat.

Full-Circle Words

ana, aria, arena, agenda, ammonia, anaconda

bib, bomb, blurb, benumb

c_c, chic, comic, critic, canopic, catholic, cathartic, c________c, cataclysmic

did, deed, dread, demand, diamond, dividend

eye, ease, erase, elapse, elevate, exercise, exonerate, exacerbate

f_f, fief, fluff

gag, gong, gulag, giving, getting, glutting, garotting, graduating, gravitating

huh, high, hutch, hearth, hashish, hiccough, hopscotch

i_i

j_j

k_k, kick, kayak, k____k, k_____k, kickback, k_______k, knickknack

l_l, loll, libel, lintel, literal, littoral, libidinal

mum, maim, modem, medium, modicum, m______m, mechanism

nun, noon, nylon, napkin, n_____n, notation, narration, navigation

oho, olio

pop, peep, polyp, pickup, parsnip, p______p, p_______p, penmanship, partnership

q_q

r_r, roar, radar, redder, ruddier, remember, reservoir

sis, sass, sinus, stylus, success, susurrus, sagacious, stupendous, s_________s, s__________s, serendipitous

tot, taut, tenet, threat, tempest, tenement, testament

u_u

v_v

wow, whew, widow, willow

x_x

yay, y__y, yummy, yearly, yellowy, y______y, yesterday, youthfully

z_z

Alliterative Literati

A is for (Sarah) Addison Allen*
B is for (Elizabeth) Barrett Browning, Bruno Bettelheim*, Beverly Butler*
C is for Caroline (B.) Cooney, Cassandra Clare*, Clare Clark*
D is for Diane Duane, Don DeLillo*
E is for
F is for Fannie Flagg
G is for Graham Greene, George Gordon (Lord Byron)*
H is for Herman Hesse, Heinrich Hoffmann*
I is for
J is for Jerome (K.) Jerome, Jane Jensen*
K is for Ken Kesey
L is for Lois Lowry, Lise Lunge-Larsen*
M is for Margaret Mitchell, Martin Monestier*
N is for
O is for
P is for Philip Pullman
Q is for
R is for Rainer (Maria) Rilke, Richard Russo*
S is for Shel Silverstein, Susan (Fromberg) Schaeffer*, Simon Singh*
T is for
U is for
V is for Vivian Vande Velde
W is for William Wordsworth, Walt Whitman*
X is for Xinran Xue*
Y is for
Z is for

* added on October 6th, 2010

States United

AK AL AR AZ CA CO CT DE FL GA

HI IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA MD

ME MI MN MO SM MT NC ND NE NH

NJ NM NV NY OH OK OR PA RI SC

SD TN TX UT VA VT WA WI WV WY

My latest wordplay self-challenge was to combine 3 or more state abbreviations to form words, such as:

AL AR MS ... AL MO ND ... AL PA CA ... CO ND OR

DE CA DE ... DE CO DE ... DE MA ND ... DE RI DE

FL OR AL ... IN LA ID ... IN LA ND ... IN VA DE

NE CT AR ... SC RI MS ... VA ND AL

and:

CA LA MA RI ... MA IN LA ND ... ME MO RI AL

Proper nouns include:

PA SC AL

and:

CO NC OR DE ... GA RA MO ND ... MA ND AR IN

Phictions

From "The Watchers of the Night" by James Thurber:

As for the lure of alliteration, from Piers Plowman through Pride and Prejudice and The Pit and the Pendulum to Peyton Place there are hundreds, if you want to lie there hunting titles.

Peter Pan
The Pickwick Papers
The Pied Piper
The Pilgrim's Progress
The Pirates of Penzance
The Prince and the Pauper
The Princess and the Pea
Rumpole and the Primrose Path

Hrm. I don't think I can list anymore without resorting to such lowbrow cheats as PMS Pinafore or The Possibility of Peeing.

The "Miracle" of James Thurber

From "The Porcupines in the Artichokes" by James Thurber:

I myself have found, or rather my wife has found, that you can sometimes keep writers from fighting by getting them into some kind of pencil-and-paper games. You could say, for example, "There are thirty-seven given names and nicknames, male and female, in the word 'miracle.' I want you all to see how many you can find." This almost always takes up a good hour, during which the writers are mercifully silent.

M I R A C L E

Ali Alice Ami/Amie Ari

Cal Cari Carl Carlie Carmel Celia

Clair/Claire/Clare Clem

Earl Elam Eli Elia Elric Emil Eric Erica

Ima Ira

Lacie Lea Lear/Lir Li Liam Lira

Mac Macie Mali Marc Marcel Marcie Marie

Mel Mia Mic Mica Mila Mira

Rae Ric

Elementary!

~~~~~~~~~

Ac... Ag... Al... Am... Ar... As... At... Au

B... Ba... Be... Bh... Bi... Bk... Br
C... Ca... Cd... Ce... Cf... Cl... Cm... Cr... Co... Cs... Cu
Db... Ds... Dy... Er... Es... Eu... F... Fe... Fm... Fr
Ga... Gd... Ge... H... He... Hf... Hg... Ho... Hs

I... In... Ir... K... Kr... La... Li... Lr... Lu

Md... Mg... Mn... Mo... Mt

N... Na... Nb... Nd... Ne... Ni... No... Np... O... Os
P... Pa... Pb... Pd... Pm... Po... Pr... Pt... Pu
Ra... Rb... Re... Rf... Rh... Rn... Ru

S... Sb... Sc... Se... Sg... Si... Sm... Sn... Sr
Ta... Tb... Tc... Te... Th... Ti... Tl... Tm
U... Uub... Uuh... Uuo... Uup... Uuq... Uus... Uut... Uuu
V... W... Xe... Y... Yb... Zn... Zr

~~~~~~~~~

names (or NAmEs) composed of atomic symbols:

AmY, BeRnICe, CaSeY, CInDy, ClArICe, ClArK, ErICa, EsThEr, FIONa, GeNa, HeRb, IReNe, KrISTeN, LaNa, LaURa, LaWReNCe, MoNa, NaNCY, NiNa, OSCAr, PaULa, PaULiNe, RaNDy, RuBY, SeReNa, TiMoThY, ULrICK, VErONiCa, WAlLaCe, XeNa, YVONNe

~~~~~~~~~

words (of 5 or more letters) composed of atomic symbols:

AcORn, BiONiC, CoLuMn, CuRbS, DyNaMo, EuGeNiCs, GaUGe, HYMnAl, MoNiKEr, NArCoTiCs, PaTcH, PrISm, RaBBI, RhUBaRb, SCaReDy-CAt, SCrAtCH or ScRaTcH, UNReAl, WAlRuS

~~~~~~~~~

words (of 6 or more letters) composed of the one-letter atomic symbols (B, C, F, H, I, K, N, O, P, S, U, V, W, and Y):

BIONIC, BONBON, CHOPPY, CHUBBY, CHUNKY, COFFIN, FOPPISH, HICCUP, INKFISH, KINSHIP, PUFFIN, SKUNKS, SNIPPY, SPOOKY, SPUNKY, SUNFISH, UNHOOK, WHOOSH