The Dictionary of Wordplay [Paperback]

Dave Morice Morice (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0915924978 | ISBN-13: 978-0915924974 | Publication Date: January 1, 2001 | Edition: 1st

The Dictionary of Wordplay is the first dictionary of wordplay, ever. Poet and author Dave Morice, is uniquely qualified to show us the whole spectrum of the expansive field of wordplay. In its more than 1,234 entries, this book ranges from literary forms such as the acrostic and the Exquisite Corpse to well-known wordplay genres such as palindromes, spoonerisms, and anagrams to the numerical science of word squares and lettershifts. an invaluable reference for writers, teachers students, linguists and anyone who loves language, The Dictionary of Wordplay is also an endlessly enjoyable read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

How many different ways can you play with words? More than 1,200, according to Dave Morice (The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet) in what he claims is the first Dictionary of Wordplay. Everyone's heard of the rebus and the palindrome, but what about the megallege and the word worm? In an informative and frisky introduction, Morice describes the history of wordplay including the golden age, which started around 1960 and continues to this day and the many books dedicated to the subject over the years. Fans of Will Shortz's National Public Radio word games will love this quirky reference book.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Infomative and frisky...fans of word games will love this quirky reference book." -- Publishers Weekly, March 19, 2001

"The Dictionary of Wordplay is an act of naming the creatures in a beautiful universe."--Richard Lederer. -- Maine Sunday Telegram, April 8, 2001

"The most ingenious publication of the century so far." -- Times Literary Supplement, March 23, 2001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: Teachers & Writers Collaborative; 1st edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915924978
• ISBN-13: 978-0915924974
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #751,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dave Morice was born in St Louis and moved to Iowa City in 1969 to earn a degree in the University of Iowa's Writers Workshop. He has written thousands of poems, drawn thousands of cartoons, taught thousands of students, and raised one son, Danny, whom he considers the most enjoyable project of his life. In 1974, Dave painted colorful letters randomly on a white shirt, pants, shoes, cane, and tophat and turned into Dr. Alphabet, a man of letters. At the same time, he wrote concrete poems and edited Matchbook magazine under the name Joyce Holland as a literary hoax. He is currently a working staff member at Uptown Bill's Coffee House, and he is teaching at Kirkwood College. A prolific artist and writer, Dave continually seeks out new ways to create: "You can't step into the same stream of consciousness twice." He acts on his ideas for the sake of art to contribute to cultural education in the community and to express his irrepressible spirit. He has published 26 books as well as being the prime sponsor of dozens of poetry marathons, literary events, artistic happenings and Ripley's events. For more infor-mation, Google: Dr. Alphabet, Poetry Parade, Word Ways, and Kickshaws as well as Dave Morice on YouTube, Amazon and Bookfinder. Published works by Dave Morice are as follows:

- A Tourist's Guide to Computers, written & illus. by DM. Simon & Schuster
- Poetry Comics: A Cartooniverse of Poems, illus. by DM. Simon & Schuster
- More Poetry Comics: Abuse the Muse, illus. by DM. Chicago Review Press
- Poetry Comics: An Animated Anthology, illus. by DM. Teachers & Writers
- The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet: 104 Unusual Ways to Write Poetry in the
Classroom and the Community, written & illus. by DM. Teachers & Writers
- The Dictionary of Wordplay, written & illus. by DM. Teachers & Writers
- A Child's Garden of Grammar, by T. Disch, illus. by DM. U Press of New Eng.
- Poems 1971 (University of Iowa Workshop thesis), by DM. Al Buck Press
- Tilt (Poems), by DM. Toothpaste Press
- Catalog of the Wooden Nickel Art Project, ed by DM. Happy Press
- The Cutist Anthology, written & illus. by DM. Happy Press
- Crazy English, by Richard Lederer, illus. by DM, by Chicago Review Press
- Fractured English, by Richard Lederer, illus. by DM. Chicago Review Press
- Alphabet Avenue, written & illus. by DM. Chicago Review Press
- The Cunning Linguist, by Richard Lederer, illus. by DM. St Martin's Press
- The Word Circus, by Richard Lederer, illus. by DM. Merriam-Webster
- The 10th J, writen by DM, (under Joyce Holland). Toothpaste Press
- The Final E, written by DM (under Joyce Holland). X Press
- Alphabet Anthology, ed by DM (under Joyce Holland). X Press
- A Visit from St Alphabet, written & illus by DM, Coffee House Press
- Happy Birthday Handbook, written & illus, by DM, Toothpaste Press
- Dot Town, written & illus. by DM. Toothpaste Press
- Sacred Clowns Holy Fools (Poems by Steve Toth, Parodied by DM). Poetry Vortex Publishing
- The Great American Fortune Cookie Novel. written by DM and hundreds of co-authors, illustrated by Daniel J. Erusha. Sackter House Media
- Haloosa Nation. written by DM, illustrated by Danny Morice, Introduction by Joyce Holland. JoMo Publishing
- Backwords Planet (in press)
- Limerick Inferno (in press)
- The Idiot and The Oddity (in press)
- The Wooden Nickle Art Project (in press)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The 'Must-Have' Dictionary of Wordplay, July 30, 2001

By 

James Denigan (St. Louis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dictionary of Wordplay (Paperback)

Dave Morice's latest book, The Dictionary of Wordplay (Teachers & Writers), is his seventeenth published effort to paint the alphabetic rainbow of the amazing English language. Previous works include eleven volumes of poetry, four books on wordplay and writing, three on cartooning, and a book on computers.

Why a dictionary of wordplay?

"Wordplay is always just a word or two away from the words we speak, hear, read, and write," Morice writes in the introduction to his dictionary. "It is present in the home, the school, the office, the store, the streets. It's on television all the time, especially on ABC."

He got the idea for a wordplay dictionary while editing the "Kickshaws" column for Word Ways magazine. The more familiar Morice became with contemporary wordplay, the more it seemed inevitable that he should write a dictionary. Surprised none had been compiled, he morphed the appendix to his doctoral dissertation-"Wordplay in Children's Picture Books"-into an appendix of wordplay terms that eventually grew into a full-blown dictionary.

With the recent publication of The Dictionary of Wordplay, Morice has given life to an astounding work. Indeed, The Times Literary Supplement of London, in a rare burst of approval, calls it "The most ingenious publication of the century so far" (TLS, March 23, 2001).

The Dictionary of Wordplay is for all lovers of language. For die-hard crossword puzzle workers, jumble fanatics, or Scrabble players as well as writers, educators, and linguistics, it's a "must-have" for the home or office reference shelf. Here are some samples from the 1,234 entries:

· Charade: A set of words formed by re-spacing-but not rearranging-the letters of another word, phrase, or sentence:

BEDEVIL = BED + EVIL PLEASURE = PLEA + SURE CRUMBLED = CRUMB + LED CHICAGO = CHIC + AGO

·Exquisite Corpse: Three or four players write an article and an adjective on a sheet of paper and then fold the paper to cover the words. The players exchange papers, add a noun to the new paper, and fold the paper again. They repeat this procedure with a verb and then with another article and adjective, and they finish with another noun. The results are read aloud to general bafflement.

·Hidden Middle Name or Overlapping Word: Take a person's first and last name and see if the letters join in the middle to form another name or word: oMAR SHArif, daLE Evans, ezRA Pound, and hORATIO Nelson

·TWENTY NINE: Write out the number 29 in capital letters: TWENTY NINE. Then count the number of straight lines in the number's name. It's the only number that counts the straight lines in its name. There are 29!"

A native of St. Louis, Dave Morice lives in Iowa City, where he earned an M.F.A at the renowned Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. He is presently at work on the ever-expanding second edition to The Dictionary of Wordplay as well as The Dictionary of Incredible Words. His poems and cartoons have appeared in hundreds of magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, Word Ways, and The Actualist Anthology. Such disparate publications as the Village Voice and The Wall Street Journal have featured him and his work.

Lovers of word games and other forms of word and letter play should also check out Morice's Alphabet Avenue: Wordplay In The Fast Lane (Chicago Review Press)-353 pages of palindromes, word and letter puzzles, anagrams, panagrams, and puns-and The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet (Teachers & Writers), which presents 104 unusual ways to write poetry in the class and the community.

--James Denigan, freelance writer

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dictionary of Wordplay rates an A!, April 3, 2001

By 

faith w. eckler (Morristown, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dictionary of Wordplay (Paperback)

This is the world's first dictionary of wordplay terms. It covers everything from abbreviated rhyme to z times 43. Do you want to know what superultramegalosesquipedalia is? Look it up here. Hint: it's longer than you might think. Learn about the famous zzyxjoanw hoax. I highly recommend this book for anyone who treasures words and likes to play with them.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A smorgasbord of language, July 19, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Dictionary of Wordplay (Paperback)

The dictionary of wordplay is a totally different kind of dictionary. You can read it at any point and discover something you didn't know about language. It's more fun to jump around in it instead of gulping it down all of it at once. It is like a smorgasbord with many, many different types of food. You will get to sample such delicacies as bananagrams, flip-flop definitions, hyperhyphenation, Kangaroo words, no-word alphabets, Romantic numbers, sex change charades, stinky buzzwords, truthful numbers, and zazzification. I specially enjoyed searching for other kinds of palindromes ( my favorite since I first heard about them from a teacher in grade school), because they appear in different places as well as under a palindrome.