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Book Review Briefs: The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman

"The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman" by Meg Wolitzer

ʌ ʌ (2 carets up)

What a wonderful book for young readers. Whether interested in language or not, this is an enjoyable book and I'll bet anyone who reads it will discover a new found enthusiasm for vocabulary, parts of speech, and morphology.

If the cover image didn't give it away, the book is about the game of Scrabble, more specifically, a Youth Scrabble Tournament and what brings three preteens from different states to the tournament.

Here is a summary from Penguin.com:

At first glance, Duncan Dorfman, April Blunt, and Nate Saviano don't seem to have much in common. Duncan is trying to look after his single mom and adjust to life in a new town while managing his newfound Scrabble superpower—he can feel words and pictures beneath his fingers and tell what they are without looking. April is pining for a mystery boy she met years ago and striving to be seen as more than a nerd in her family of jocks. And homeschooled Nate is struggling to meet his father's high expectations for success.

When these three unique kids are brought together at the national Youth Scrabble Tournament, each with a very different drive to win, their paths cross and stories intertwine . . . and the journey is made extraordinary with a perfect touch of magic. Readers will fly through the pages, anxious to discover who will take home the grand prize, but there's much more at stake than winning and losing.

Anagrams are a frequent topic in the book, as evidenced by these excerpts:

"Words are like clay, Dorfman," he went on. "They can be shaped and messed with not only by your hands, but also by your head."

"PROSE is an anagram of ROPES. Oh, and SPORE is too. And POSER."

Here is an excerpt that includes the topics of vocabulary, parts of speech and morphology:

Duncan thought about the word AA, for instance, which he had looked up in the Scrabble dictionary and found out that it meant "rough, cindery lava." If he hadn't known it was a noun, he might have tried to add ING onto the end of it, thinking it was a verb.

Makes me wish I was a kid again so I could read books and play Scrabble all day long.

Google Plays with Words

One of twelve unexpectedly funny Google results from oddee.com -

Which reminds me...

I definitely see the resemblance between this logo and Google's. Check out the recent post over at Fritinancy about the atrocious name and logo for this legal-services business.

More Celebrity Anagrams

Celebrity anagrams can be even more entertaining than the actual celebrities are. Here are some good ones from an e-mail I received recently.


John Mayer - Enjoy Harm
Sandra Bullock - Skull and Cobra
Arnold Schwarzenegger - He's Grown Large 'n' Crazed
Beyonce Knowles - Woken Obscenely
Justin Timberlake - I'm a Jerk, But Listen
James Cameron - Major Menaces
Robin Williams - I Warm Billions
Mel Gibson - Big Melons
Clint Eastwood - Old West Action
Jerry Seinfeld - Friendly Jeers
Conan O'Brien - Inane Bronco
Howard Stern - Wonder Trash
Woody Allen - A Lewd Loony
Jennifer Aniston - Fine in Torn Jeans
Sylvester Stallone - Slovenly Steel Star
George Clooney - Cool Energy, Ego
David Letterman - Nerd Amid Late TV
Leonard Nimoy - I'm Only a Drone

Tiger Woods Anagrams

"Tiger Woods"...his name seems to be unavoidable of late.

For the fun of it, I decided to pay a visit to Anagram Genius for a fresh take on his name. Here is what I found:

Word: it's ego! (by Mick Tully using Anagram Genius) (2001)
I grew to sod. (by Bob Hanford) (2005)
O! Direst wog. (by anon using Anagram Genius) (2005)
i.e. worst dog. (by Rajkishore using Anagram Genius) (2005)
Writes good. (by Rajkishore using Anagram Genius) (2005)
Got weirdos. (by victoria willis using Anagram Genius) (2003)
Got so weird (by Randy Cox using Anagram Genius) (2001)
Worst ego, id (by Jeff Kastner by hand) (2001)
Do worse, git! (by Adrian Hickford using Anagram Genius) (2001)
Wires to God (by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons by hand) (2000)
Twig's rodeo. (by Aronas Pinchas) (2009) (pending approval)
Word 'EGOIST' (by Aronas Pinchas) (2009) (pending approval)
Go-wide sort? (by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons by hand) (2006) (pending approval)
Wire to gods. (by adam kops by hand) (2006) (pending approval)

and don't forget Eldrick...

"Eldrick "Tiger" Woods"

Stick wielder, or God? (by Don Rogers) (2005)
Editors rig wedlock. (by Rajesh Vijayaraghavan) (2009) (pending approval)
Wooed, Tricked Girls. (by Rajesh Vijayaraghavan) (2009) (pending approval)
Dick; wet girls rodeo. (by Aronas Pinchas) (2009) (pending approval)
Weer dick to do girls. (by Aronas Pinchas) (2009) (pending approval)
O, dick - wet girls doer! (by Aronas Pinchas) (2009) (pending approval)

"Got weirdos" tops my list.

Britney Spears Anagrams

It seems fitting to post about Britney Spears today because Yahoo.com just announced that she was the number one most searched-for person in 2008.

A fellow linguist and blogger, The Virtual Linguist, recently emailed me a link to a BBC television program about solving cryptic crosswords. Unfortunately, I was not able to view the program here in the U.S. Thankfully though, my new email pal sent me a comment on the show from one of the program contributors and I am still laughing.

"Presbyterians is an anagram of Britney Spears: now that is cause for rejoicing."

This anagram is credited to Ron Young on the Anagram Genius website.

Apparently many people actually waste their time thinking of anagrams for Britney Spears because the website also includes the following anagrams:

Best PR in years (by Ron Young by hand) (1999)
Yens, strip bare. (by Stanley Accrington by hand) (2006)
Rips teeny bras. (by nosson by hand) (2005)
Bra type? Sirens. (by Rick Rothstein using Anagram Genius) (2004)
Pert? Yes. Brains? ... (by Paul Pridmore using Anagram Genius) (2004)
Teensy bra rips. (by Glenn Bristol by hand) (2002)
Err, spiny beast (by Jason Ehrhart by hand) (2001)
Beers, party, sin. (by unknown using Anagram Genius) (2001)
Arrest by penis. (by Andy Worth using Anagram Genius) (2000)
Presbyterians (by Ron Young by hand) (1999)
Nip yer breasts. (by Jenna Morris by hand) (1999)
Nearby priests (by Melissa C. using Anagram Genius) (1999)
Siren best pray. (by Ron Young by hand) (1999)
Best in prayers. (by unknown using Anagram Genius) (1998)
Panties bys err. (by Jeff Flores by hand) (2007) (pending approval)
Berries Panty's. (by Jeff Flores by hand) (2007) (pending approval)
Tripy bareness. (by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons by hand) (2007) (pending approval)
Errs by panties. (by Mick Tully using Anagram Genius) (2007) (pending approval)
Seen a rip, try BS. (by anon using Anagram Genius) (2007) (pending approval)
Binary pesters. (by Stefan T. Lund using Anagram Genius) (2007) (pending approval)
Spray beer tins. (by Peter Laurence Hall using Anagram Genius) (2006) (pending approval)
Pesters Brainy. (by Carynne No.) (2006) (pending approval)
Bra Inserts? Yep! (by perplex city) (2006) (pending approval)

All I can say is..."SAD."