Name Play

Authors

A. Ross Eckler

Abstract

At one time or another, everybody is asked to sign an autograph book, a school yearbook, a wedding book, or a retirement book with some conventional pearl of wisdom about the specific rite of passage. It is the purpose of this article to suggest that a logologist can can create a far more original message by exploiting the wordplay potential of the recipient's name. To illustrate, I draw from my own experience over the past twenty years. I hasten to add that the examples below were not thought up on the spur of the moment, but during odd moments over a period of several days. Obviously, anagramming has been my favorite technique, but I have used other methods - word squares, use of the letters in the name with unlimited repetition allowed, and the like - if anagramming proved infeasible.

Recommended Citation

Eckler, A. Ross (1985) "Name Play," Word Ways: Vol. 18 : Iss. 3 , Article 4.
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol18/iss3/4