In a quest to find the greatest number of words contained within any given word, Lacey Echols put our
dictionary of one-letter words to the test. How did we measure up?
Even though I have a fairly large vocabulary, I do not know many words which are one-letter words. Ask me to identify three- and four-letter words, and I am at ease. One letter? The only common single letter words are "a" and "I"! However, I was fortunate to hear about a book which could be my saving grace,
One Letter Words--A Dictionary, by Craig Conley. I felt my confidence begin to soar because with the help of this dictionary I should easily be able to count all one-letter words in any given word, or could I? Being a bit of a skeptic, I tested my skill with the word "ait". "I" and "a" are legitimate, but what about "t"? Sure enough, Mr. Conley provides 58 instances in which "t" is used as a word. As an example, "it suits you to a T" uses "t" as a word. Hallelujah! But "ait" is a fairly simple word. What about "Mozambique"? I feel a time-consuming project ahead. Actually, the dictionary is foolproof. There are thirty-five examples using the word "z" and even twenty-seven examples of the word "q".
Read the full article: "My Visit to Grant's Tome,"
Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics,
Aug. 2007.