Post by t-bob on Jan 25, 2019 10:07:30 GMT -5
LIPOGRAM
noun
1. a written work composed of words chosen so as to avoid the use of one or more specific alphabetic characters.
Quotes
He was translating into English the brilliant novel by Georges Perec, “La Disparition” – a lipogram written entirely without the letter “e.” -- Andy Martin, "The Treachery of Translators," New York Times, January 28, 2013 We received some short autobiographies and there was an oddly large number of lipograms about pirates. -- "Contestant Lipograms: the Best of the Best," NPR, June 29, 2012
Origin
Lipogram looks as if it means “weighing or measuring of fat in grams or kilograms,” i.e., a medical procedure performed after a liposuction. Wrong, wrong wrong! The lipo- in liposuction comes from the Greek noun lípos “(animal) fat, lard,” from the Proto-Indo-European root leip-, lip- “fat; to stick,” from which English derives liver (the organ). A lipogram really is a kind of literary composition (usually a poem) in which the author deliberately avoids using a sound, a letter, or a digraph, e.g., s, r, or th. Lipogram comes from the Greek adjective lipográmmatos “missing a letter,” from the Greek root leip-, loip-, lip- “to leave, leave behind.” Greek leip-, loip-, lip- is the regular development of the Proto-Indo-European root leikw-, loikw-, likw-, which appears with a nasal infix (-n-) in Latin linquere, relinquere “to leave, quit, depart.” The combining form -grámmatos is a derivative of gráphein “to write” from the Proto-Indo-European root gerbh- “to scratch,” the source of English carve. Lipogram entered English in the 18th century.
noun
1. a written work composed of words chosen so as to avoid the use of one or more specific alphabetic characters.
Quotes
He was translating into English the brilliant novel by Georges Perec, “La Disparition” – a lipogram written entirely without the letter “e.” -- Andy Martin, "The Treachery of Translators," New York Times, January 28, 2013 We received some short autobiographies and there was an oddly large number of lipograms about pirates. -- "Contestant Lipograms: the Best of the Best," NPR, June 29, 2012
Origin
Lipogram looks as if it means “weighing or measuring of fat in grams or kilograms,” i.e., a medical procedure performed after a liposuction. Wrong, wrong wrong! The lipo- in liposuction comes from the Greek noun lípos “(animal) fat, lard,” from the Proto-Indo-European root leip-, lip- “fat; to stick,” from which English derives liver (the organ). A lipogram really is a kind of literary composition (usually a poem) in which the author deliberately avoids using a sound, a letter, or a digraph, e.g., s, r, or th. Lipogram comes from the Greek adjective lipográmmatos “missing a letter,” from the Greek root leip-, loip-, lip- “to leave, leave behind.” Greek leip-, loip-, lip- is the regular development of the Proto-Indo-European root leikw-, loikw-, likw-, which appears with a nasal infix (-n-) in Latin linquere, relinquere “to leave, quit, depart.” The combining form -grámmatos is a derivative of gráphein “to write” from the Proto-Indo-European root gerbh- “to scratch,” the source of English carve. Lipogram entered English in the 18th century.
