# Most variations of four letters?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-variations-of-four-letters/59998
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 29, 2001, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-variations-of-four-letters/59998 "2001-03-29T17:19:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@davejg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davejg)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2001, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-variations-of-four-letters/59998/1 "2001-03-29T17:19:47Z")
This is filed under “Not necessarily ‘Straight Dope’ material, but where else would one post it?”
For quite a while I’ve wondered what four letters can produce the most words when rearranged. I vote for: O P S T
Stop
Opts
Pots
Tops
Spot
Post
Not really that many when you consider there’s 24 different arrangements.
Anyone have the “correct” answer?
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### Author:  [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2001, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-variations-of-four-letters/59998/2 "2001-03-29T23:26:42Z")
dave, when you consider that three of those are plurals . . . 🙂
part
tarp
prat
art
tar
rat
pat
tap
apt
par
rap
at
You never said we had to stick to four-letter words:)
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2001, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-variations-of-four-letters/59998/3 "2001-03-30T00:14:53Z")
According to [Anagrams of four letter words](http://wordgames.orcon.net.nz/four.html), the best answer so far is
EAST
EATS
ETAS (more than one eta, which is a Greek letter)
SATE
SEAT
SETA (a bristle)
TAES (not in my dictionaries)
TEAS
If you have an interest in wordplay, you may like [A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia](http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words.html)