ArcaMax

What do these oddball sentences have in common? "Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz"; "The five boxing wizards jump quickly."

As you probably guessed, each of these sentences includes every letter of the alphabet (in just 31 letters). Such sentences are called "pangrams," literally, "all letters." (Just for fun, I've sprinkled some pangrams in descending number of letters throughout this column.)

Devising pangrams is a pleasant pastime, but these all-inclusive concoctions have a practical use as well. The most famous pangram of all is the 33-letter classic used by typists to practice the keystroke for every letter: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

How quickly daft jumping zebras vex! (30 letters)

In 2001, Mark Dunn wrote a delightful novel based on the "quick brown fox" pangram. Titled "Ella Minnow Pea" (after the alphabet's "LMNOP" sequence), it is set on Nollop, a politically and culturally autonomous island 21 miles southeast of Charleston, S.C.

Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow. (29 letters)

Eschewing telephones, TVs and computers, the scholarly Nolloptonians communicate through handwritten letters and devote themselves to the study of literature and language. The name of their island honors native son Nevin Nollop, author of the "quick brown fox" pangram, which is written on tiles beneath his statue at the center of the island.

Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud. (28 letters)

The islanders worship Nollop. So when letter tiles start dropping off from beneath his statue one by one -- first "z," then "q" -- the island's tyrannical High Council decrees that these letters may no longer be used in either writing or speech. Residents who repeatedly violate this prohibition are banished from the island.

Bawds jog, flick quartz, vex nymph. (29 letters)

When a letter drops from beneath the statue, the novel stops using that letter too, thus becoming a "lipogram," a literary work that avoids one or more letters of the alphabet. Eventually, only "LMNOP" are left, reducing the novel to sentences such as "No mo Nollop pomp!"

So does the Nollop pomp indeed cease? I won't give away the novel's ending, except to say that it involves pangrams.

26 letters: Mr. Jock, TV quiz Ph.D., bags few lynx.

If you can devise another 26-letter pangram that makes sense, please send it to me, and I'll shout, "Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs" (32 letters) and head to your house to celebrate!

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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Copyright 2025 Creators Syndicate Inc.