# Logological discovery **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 8, 2021, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421 "2021-03-08T03:59:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/21 "2021-03-08T23:11:54Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > My word list does have a lot of obscure and archaic words, but the six you call out are all in the OED. What, you want me to walk all the way into the next room to check the OED? I use the internet, baby. I checked my list of books on language and saw that I have Borgmann’s _Language on Vacation,_ a terrifically fun book highly recommended for all word nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/22 "2021-03-08T23:12:39Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So is there a formal term for this sort of wordplay? Lessee, phrases or text that use only one vowel are called “univocalic”, while phrases or words that contain all five vowels are called “panvocalic”. I propose that this particular criterion of a set of five (or six) words differing only in a single vowel be called quisquevocalic, “having each vowel”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/23 "2021-03-08T23:13:34Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > So is there a formal term for this sort of wordplay? > > “Logology” was coined by [Dmitri A. Borgmann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Borgmann) to represent the study of recreational linguistics. He founded _Word Ways_ , a magazine devoted to this pursuit, along with writing a couple of books on the subject. I was thinking of a term for the set of five words, each with a different vowel. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/24 "2021-03-08T23:13:37Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > _Word Ways_ is still being produced quarterly by Butler University No it isn’t, sadly. Last year the editor, Jeremiah Farrell, rather abruptly announced the end of (or at least an indefinite hiatus for) the journal. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/25 "2021-03-08T23:20:48Z")
Well, pfui! ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/26 "2021-03-09T01:09:39Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > What, you want me to walk all the way into the next room to check the OED? I use the internet, baby. So do I. A couple of months ago I got a subscription to the online OED for $90 for one year. That reduced price is still being offered through the end of March 2021. I have a hardcopy set but I’m really enjoying the online edition. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/27 "2021-03-09T02:42:48Z")
I have subscriptions to so many bunches of things that they probably would startle me by how much I’m paying, but the OED… Nah, just wouldn’t get enough use. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/28 "2021-03-09T12:30:38Z")
defleppardism? ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/29 "2021-03-09T13:10:39Z")
My initials are HM- I have no middle name. It’s already a word and I could add a middle name beginning with an AEIO\*U or M and still have my initials make a word. \* Hom, homa or haoma- a sacred plant of the Parsees and ancient Persians, supposedly. Not in all dictionaries. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/30 "2021-03-09T14:33:04Z")
Let me toss one of my own hobby horses into the mix - interchangeable consonants in word groups. For example - B and V. Thus: A goVernor is elected in a guBernatorial election. If you can moVe, then you are moBile. G and W are another pair, but examples seem less common. The person who Guards the premises is the Warden. j ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/31 "2021-03-09T14:53:48Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I was thinking of a term for the set of five words, each with a different vowel. I went through Borgmann’s books, but he doesn’t have that category. Transmutable-vowel words, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/32 "2021-03-11T03:13:03Z")
Nobody likes “quisquevocalic” from post #8? 😢 ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/33 "2021-03-11T13:08:00Z")
It was post #21, and I like it fine. I’ll log it in my list next to “quinquireme”. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/34 "2021-03-12T20:54:54Z")
Why not call them “abstemious sets” suggested Peter facetiously. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/35 "2021-03-15T06:50:31Z")
I access the online OED via the Chicago Public Library for no extra charge. Compared to that, my compact OED seemed positively medieval. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/36 "2021-03-15T10:08:20Z")
A garden was originally an enclosed space, much like a yard, but in any case something that was warded off from others. Wily people are full of Guile; a mortGage is in some sense a Wager (and people who are enGaged have staked something on the future, you might say). I’m now wondering if there’s a reason that looking through Gauze makes things appear Hazy. And in the spirit of the OP and with the reassurance that the “e” variant means to meddle: Mall, Mell, Mill, Moll, Mull. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/37 "2021-03-15T15:33:09Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > Wily people are full of Guile; That’s a beaut! And of course the French _Gager_ = to bet/wager. Interestingly, it also means to pledge. j ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/38 "2021-03-15T17:30:26Z")
“Garden” (enclosed space) is also etymologically compatible with “warren” (enclosed space for rabbits). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/39 "2021-03-17T17:56:08Z")
Today’s (March 17, 2021) Pearls Before Swine strip is relevant. > **[Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for March 17, 2021 | GoComics.com](https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2021/03/17)** > > March 17, 2021 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421/40 "2021-03-18T04:40:20Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Today’s (March 17, 2021) Pearls Before Swine strip is relevant. Shades of [“Betty Botter’s butter” from 1899!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Botter) 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logological-discovery/937421.md?page=3)