An update on an article from May 1999 with examples for each alphabetic set

Grant, Jeff

English

Digital Commons @ Butler University

ALPHABETIC TRIGRAMS AND TETRAGRAMS UPDATE  JEFF GRANT Hastings, New Zealand  Many words contain a trigram comprising three consecutive letters of the alphabet, the most common being DEF (defeat, defrost, indefinite, etc.) and STU (stubby, astute, gesture, etc.). Alphabetic tetragrams are much rarer. Perhaps the most well-known are the RSTU examples understudy and overstuffed.  In ‘Alphabetic Trigrams and Tetragrams’ (Word Ways, May 1999) we gave examples for 21 of the 24 trigram combinations and 11 of the 23 tetragrams.  As in the original article, this update gives a single example for each alphabetic set. Proper nouns are acceptable, but not initialisms, purely foreign words or two-word terms like star-studded or film noir.  We have provided examples for every combination this time, but some of the personal names are to say the least ‘dubious’! If you can improve on anything, please let us know.  Trigrams  ABC Arabcentric focused on Arab culture and history. [Arab + -centric] (Net)     ‘… the Arabcentric view of medieval Islamic civilization.’ (Journal of     South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Vol 24, 2000, p316) BCD abcdarian early variant of ‘abecedarian’, one engaged in teaching the alphabet.     (OED, 1691 quotation) CDE ecdemomania an insane desire to wander away from home. (DMD) DEF spadefish a deep-bodied Atlantic food fish found from Cape Cod to Cuba. (Web2) EFG trefgordd in old Cymric law, a single community constituting a taxable unit,     typically nine houses, one plough, one oven, one churn, one cat, one cock     and one herdsman. (Web2) FGH afghanite a hydrous hexagonal feldspathoid mineral of the cancrinite group. (Wikt) GHI tanghin a Madagascan poison, once used to test the guilt of someone suspected of     a crime. (ChD) HIJ hijabista a muslim woman or girl who dresses stylishly while conforming to the     Islamic modesty code. (Wikt) IJK rijksdaalder a former cupronickel or silver Dutch coin equal to 2.5 guilders. (RHD) JKL Kojklumpen a mountain in Jamtland county, central Sweden. (Geo) KLM Zinklmiltach town in Upper Bavaria, Germany. (Geo) LMN elmness the essence or quality of being an elm tree. (Wikt)  ‘They were spectral,     with all vestige of elmness leached back to the soil by the winter rains.’     (Fat Man on a Roman Road, T Vernon, 1983, p129) MNO hymnody the collective hymns of a specific religion, place or period. (RHD) NOP oenophily love of and knowledge of wines. (ChD) OPQ popquiz a quiz given without prior announcement or opportunity to prepare.     (Web3) PQR Pqrmar dubious surname recorded 11 times. (Names) QRS Qrshat  settlement in the Zufar region, south Oman. (Geo) RST herstory history regarded from a feminist point of view. (ChD) STU xystus  in ancient Greece, a covered portico used by athletes for their exercises.     (ChD) TUV Catuvellauni a Celtic tribe of southeast Britain before the Roman conquest. (Oxford     Dictionary of British History, J Cannon, 2009) UVW Ebruvwa village in Delta state, south Nigeria. (Geo) VWX Vwxyz  dubious first name recorded 3 times (Facebk) WXY fawxy  sweet, sexy and dangerous, based on a slightly sarcastic pronunciation of     ‘foxy’.  ‘Wow damn, who said you could be so fawxy.’ (UD) XYZ nidroxyzone an anti-infective agent. (Concise Dictionary of Biomedicine and      Molecular Biology, P-S Juo, 2001)  Tetragrams  ABCD abcdarian see BCD BCDE Bcdef  dubious surname listed 25+ times. (Names) CDEF secdef  US government and military slang for ’secretary of defense’, the civilian     head of the US Department of Defense. (UD/Wikt) DEFG Defgnee a surname recorded 170 times in Belgium.      [lastnames.myheritage.com (Net)] Boucherie Defgnee is a butcher shop in    Nandrin, Belgium, owned by Raphael Defgnee. (Net) EFGH Refgha female given name of 7 people on Facebk, including Refgha Ezaldeen of     Khartoum, Sudan. (Net) FGHI Toufghine small town in the Beni Meal-Khenifra region, central Morocco. (Geo) GHIJ Singhijuba village in Odisha state, east India. (Geo) HIJK Sahijki area in Sindh province, southeast Pakistan. (Geo) IJKL Nijkleaster small settlement in Friesland province, northwest Netherlands. (Geo) JKLM Hijklmn dubious surname recorded 30+ times. (Names) KLMN Hijklmn see JKLM LMNO Kolmnock mountain in Karnten state, south Austria. (Geo) MNOP gymnophobia morbid aversion to seeing a naked body. (DMD) NOPQ Nopqorn Nopqorn Pinsiri is a male resident of Bangkok, Thailand. (Facebk) OPQR Opqrst dubious surname recorded 13 times. (Names) PQRS Opqrst  see OPQR QRST Opqrst  see OPQR RSTU cyberstudent a student taught via the Internet rather than by face-to-face tuition. (Wikt) STUV hostuviroid a genus of viroids that infects many plants, including the common hop     plant. [Wikipedia (Net)] TUVW Tuvwere Nigerian given name and surname recorded several times on Facebk. UVWX Uvwxy dubious first name recorded 7 times. (Facebk) VWXY Uvwxy see UVWX WXYZ Vwxyz dubious first name recorded 3 times. (Facebk)  References ChD  Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition, 2014 DMD  Dorland’s Medical Dictionary, 23rd edition, 1957 Facebk  Facebook, online social networking site (Net) Geo  National Imagery and Mapping Agency placename database      [geonames.usgs.gov (Net)] Names  Names Directory [namesdir.net (Net)] Net  Internet, using Google search program (2018) OED  Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1989 RHD  Random House Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1987 UD  Urban Dictionary (Net) Web2  Webster’s New International Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1961 Web3  Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 1976 Wikt  Wiktionary, online dictionary (Net)     

Alphabetic Trigrams and Tetragrams Update

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5762&amp;context=wordways

Alphabetic Trigrams and Tetragrams Update

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