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May 11, 2025
This week’s themeWords with all the vowels This week’s words elucidatory questionary cylindraceous autocephality quodlibetary How popular are they? Relative usage over time AWADmail archives Index Next week’s theme Interesting usage examples 
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AWADmail Issue 1193A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and LanguageSponsor’s Message: “Way better than Wordle.” One Up! is the wickedest word game in the (real) world. “Brilliant. Again, brilliant!” A fabulous anytime gift. Shop now. From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) Subject: Vowels This week I wondered why the word vowel doesn’t include all the vowels. I asked our readers: How to include all the vowels in the word? Here’s a selection from the responses:
Perhaps there was a miscommunication when “vowel” was spelled aloud. It was
intended to be double-u, not w. “Vouuelization” has all the vouuels,
and a few to spare!
-Tristan Reid, Santa Monica, California (tristanreid yahoo.com) How about voieula...(the old English word from which vowel was derived) + a. -Ivy Kaminsky, Houston, Texas (ivykaminsky yahoo.com) Re-spell, like English “colour”. Vouwelization. -James Chavez, Eugene, Oregon (jamesrchavez gmail.com) You could go old-style and add that missing u after the o to give vouwelisation. Maybe then miss out the w for vouelisation? That might be a step too far. -Denise Thorn, Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland (denisethorn gmail.com) With the still-missing ‘u’ in your introductory comments, you’re clearly concerned about undervowelization. -Marc Slingerland, Lethbridge, Canada (marc.slingerland gmail.com) -Gregory K Sherrill, Rockville, Maryland (gregory.k.sherrill verizon.com) Vowelizatious. -Raymond Muzaaya, Kampala, Uganda (muzaaya gmail.com) Voweluation: Determining the worth (vowelue) of one’s rack of Scrabble tablets according to how the available vowels, either on the rack or on the board, will help one achieve a high point score. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Also mentioned by Gary Rogowski, Lyle, Washington (studio northwestwoodworking.com) Vowelacious! -Jenni Elion, Raleigh, North Carolina (jenni.elion gmail.com) -Heather Sudbury, London, UK (redcoyo yahoo.com) -J Russell Hoverman, Austin, Texas (jrhdal yahoo.com) Vowelatious. -Leigh Beekman, Redwood City, California (leighbdc aol.com) Ur-vowelization? -Mike Robinson, Nottingham, UK (mikerobinson666 hotmail.co.uk) Ubervowelization. -Rachel Cohen (rachelvalcohen gmail.com) -Debra Zei, Houghton, Michigan (debra.zei gmail.com) -Karen M. Batdorf, Minneapolis, Minnesota (K9BATDORF stthomas.edu) -Keith Wollenberg, Atherton, California (keithwollenberg gmail.com) Vowelizashun. -Jeanie Lerner, Orinda, California (wordwizard sbcglobal.net) How about vowelulation: exaggerating the enunciation of vowels when pronouncing a word. -F.J. Bergmann, Madison, Wisconsin (demiurge fibitz.com) How about undervowelization? -Brian Willson, Salt Lake City, Utah (willson 3ip.com) Vowels that are not just written, but spoken and heard: vowelauditory. -Tom Vandel, Portland, Oregon (tom lesoverhead.com) Why not just spell it voueail? -John Carver, Duncan, Canada (john.carver obloketure.ca) Unvowelization uses all the vowels. It means unvocalization. But that goes without saying. -Paul Wiese, La Crosse, Wisconsin (pgw1015 gmail.com) Unvowelization is defined as the process of removing vowels from a word. In computer programming one must name variables that are used in the program. Using ordinary words is descriptive but sometimes there are limits to the length of a variable name, or you just get tired of typing. Many words are still recognizable if some or all vowels are missing. Thus Time_before_the_first_Probing_Event could become TmBfrFrstPrbngEvnt. When phytophagous Hemiptera probe a plant they insert their mouthparts into the plant in search of phloem or xylem. -Timothy Aaron Ebert, Auburndale, Florida (tebert ufl.edu) Also mentioned by Lanny Kaufer, Ojai, California (lannykaufer gmail.com) Superultravowelization uses all five vowels twice. -Elwin N McKellar, Laurium, Michigan (mick mmnetwork.info) My last name illustrates that both W and Y can be vowels. -Tom Hawley, Lansing, Michigan (t.hawley comcast.net) Your theme of words containing vowels made me think of a delightful cartoon by Mark Parisi, creator of the panel Off the Mark. -Kenneth Kirste, Sunnyvale, California (kkkirste sbcglobal.net) From: Simon Sephton (simon sephton.co.za) Subject: When a clown moves into a palace, he does not become a king. The palace becomes a circus. I love your Thought of the day as much as I love your word of the day. As much for the sometimes sly political comment embedded in it as anything else. So we get to today’s aphorism, attributed as a Turkish Proverb. Here is a blog post elucidating its origins, and it makes for great reading. Simon Sephton, Cape Town, South Africa
Thanks for taking the time to alert us about this. We got in touch with
Elizabeth and now have updated the attribution.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
-Anu Garg
When a clown moves into a palace, he does not become a king. The palace becomes a circus. -Elizabeth Bangs, writer (b. 30 Oct 1956) From: Hanna Tiechl (hanna.tiechl aon.at) Subject: All vowels in a word A.E.I.O.U. A motto by the Habsburgs. Does that count? Many visitors to Vienna, Austria, from all over the world, have come across this “word”. It is a beautiful city and worth visiting nevertheless. Hanna Tiechl, Vienna, Austria From: Anna Maria Stefani (xanmarix gmail.com) Subject: Vowels In Italian, I know a word that contains all the vowels: aiuole. It means flowerbeds, plural of aiuloa. My English isn’t good. Native language Italian, living all my life in Belgium, so Dutch is my other “first” language. Sometimes I wonder which is my nationality. Anna Maria Stefani, Belgium From: Brenda J. Gannam (gannamconsulting earthlink.net) Subject: cylindraceous Her torso is now cylindraceous, although in her youth it used to be hourglassaceous. Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York From: Jon von Gunten (jon globescope.us) Subject: Autocephality Autocephality: UNlike the situation the Roman Catholic Church got itself into in China, where the Communist Party now “recommends” which bishops may be elevated to cardinal. I guess that’s better than being squished. Jon von Gunten, Los Angeles, California
Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy One Up! -- Take no prisoners.
From: Dan Joseph (djoseph akingump.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--quodlibetary Somewhat obscure, but the final variation of Bach’s masterpiece The Goldberg Variations is labeled Quodlibet, with I think the implication that he wrote something that just pleased him. It is widely believed that these variations are within the top two or three such works ever composed, so the term Quodlibet is pretty well known among lovers of Bach’s music. Dan Joseph, Bethesda, Maryland From: Henry M. Willis (hmw ssdslaw.com) Subject: Quodlibetary I heard this story 50 years ago or so from a college roommate who was attending Columbia Law School. One of his classmates made it a practice, whenever a professor ended class by asking students whether they had any questions, of raising his hand and asking “Why is Jerry Lewis so popular in France?” There is, of course, no answer to that question. I know because I have from time to time submitted it to co-workers speaking at symposia but have never received a response. Henry Willis, Los Angeles, California  
Subject: autocephality and the letter y The past 100+ days of Trump’s presidency has seen a fast-and-furious whirlwind of executive order signings, 180-and-counting at last tally, destroying everything that is good about America. Trump, as promised, is fulfilling his much-touted revenge-and-retribution agenda. In unabashedly flouting the Constitution, he’s well on course to declaring himself king, in modern parlance, a bona fide autocrat. Very scary stuff. 
The letter y sometimes works as a vowel, often with an e sound, as in the words honey, alimony, harmony, hegemony... you get my drift? So here, I’ve set up a contentious scenario where the vowels tout their primacy, while the letter y makes the case for its own lexicographic relevance. Welsh linguists, with their consonant-heavy/vowel-light lexicon, are thankful that the letter y so often comes to the rescue, as does the letter w. Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California From: Sophie Brudenell-Bruce (sophibruce aol.com) Subject: questionary and cylindraceous
Anagrams
Make your own anagrams and animations. Limericks elucidatory If you’re trying to tell the whole story, Use words called elucidatory. Don’t bury the lede. Advice you must heed, And you’ll get the acclaim, and the glory. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “I hope I’m elucidatory About memory issues,” said Dory. “In this film, though it’s droll, Education’s the goal; Finding Nemo’s just part of the story.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) questionary I’m always prepared for a chat, And I’m question’ry. That’s where I’m at. But now I’m alarmed That one day I’ll be harmed. Curiosity can kill the cat. -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) Little children are all questionary And their answerers need to be wary ‘Cause at three or at four They don’t need to know more Of the real world which is pretty scary! -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) As I came to the stream’s estuary, My attitude turned questionary. How do riverbeds form? Are they changed by a storm? When I swim, why’s a suit necessary? -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) cylindraceous On our hike I exclaimed, “Oh, good gracious! Take a look at that plant cylindraceous!” “Don’t touch it,” said Dad, “For you’ll get hurt bad -- It has spines that can be most vexatious.” -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) I’ve no waist at all. It’s vexatious. My body type’s no way curvaceous. In reflection I see, It does dawn upon me, A shape that is just cylindraceous. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “The Earth isn’t flat, that’s fallacious; It’s round, or perhaps cylindraceous,” Said Columbus. “I’ll nail Down the proof when I sail; Here’s the budget.” “That much, Chris? Good gracious!” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) autocephality There’s something that I learned in school, That autocephality’s cool. If your teacher says: “No!”, Tell him where he can go. It’s we students who now get to rule. -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) When the schism became a finality, Then the church enjoyed autocephality. Folks felt they’d been freed, Were happy indeed -- Independence was grand, in reality! -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “Your Canadian autocephality,” Said Donald, “will end due to gravity. In your hearts you must know That the pull from below Will make 51 states a reality.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) quodlibetary Metaphysical queries he’d pose So quodlibet’ry discourse arose. How much did I hate Such subtle debate About matters that God only knows. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “Just listen, and hear what I say. It’s not for discussion, okay?” She said, “You can’t be A quodlibetary. Now take out the garbage, today!” -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “Zere ees tumult zees days een Paris; Zey don’t like a quodlibetary. As our reign’s heading south Weeth what comes from your mouth,” Said King Louis, “Please zip it, Marie.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Puns “While a liberal’s mind is p-elucidatory’s is clouded with outdated old ideas!” shouted the Labour Party candidate. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “I don’t questionary. E’s me best mate.” Exclaimed the cockney chimney sweep. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “Do you have a questionary-stotle?” asked Plato, seeing the confused look on his student’s face. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “Bacterial infection? Our moldy bread is peni-cylindraceous!” said the ad. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “Doc, I have a recurring dream that my head turns into a car.” “Ah! Zees ees classic case of autocephality.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “Down with Bernie, AOC, and the S-quodlibetary-nism is the way!” shouted Rand Paul. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Mrs. Peters wanted no more children after her quadruplets were born. “I’m now a quodlibetary-an.” She exclaimed. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
There is only one difference between a madman and me. The madman thinks
he is sane. I know I am mad. -Salvador Dali, painter (11 May 1904-1989)
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