ZYZZYVA

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7419
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

ZYZZYVA

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:26 am

• zyzzava •

Pronunciation: zi-zê-vê • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: A genus of tropical South American weevils particularly fond of palm trees.

Notes: Who has the last word? The sole interest in this word is the fact that it is the last word in the American Heritage Collegiate dictionary. The last word in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged is a related word, zyzzogeton "a genus of large South American leafhoppers of the family Cicadellidae". The Oxford English Dictionary ends on a nonword, zyxt, a long-obsolete Kentish spelling of second person singular present tense of see! Clearly, American Heritage has a word more befitting last position in a dictionary than the competition.

In Play: The next time you see a raggedy palm tree, you may wish to speculate, "I wonder if that tree is under attack by zyzzyvas?" It will be worth it just to see the expressions on the faces of those with you. Let's say someone calls you an insignificant bug; you now have a retort that trumps their term hand over fist: "I consider that a compliment coming from a zyzzyva like you." When they look it up they will find that it is the least known bug on earth with a name at the bottom of the dictionary. Top that!

Word History: Less is known about the origin of this word than is known about the bug itself. It is common to say that it comes from New Latin Zyzzyva, genus name, probably from Zyzza, former genus of leafhoppers. The reason for the mystery of this word's origin is probably that it is an onomatopoetic word based on the sound bugs make, especially beetles, when they fly.
• The Good Dr. Goodword

bnjtokyo

Postby bnjtokyo » Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:58 pm

Dear Doctor,

You said "The sole interest in this word is the fact that it is the last word in the American Heritage Collegiate dictionary." But I think Scrabble players must find all those zzzs and the v interesting for all the points!

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8042
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Postby Slava » Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:43 pm

I'm told Scrabble has but one "Z." Is this true? If so, this wouldn't be a valid word, would it? Unless you've got wild blanks. I don't know the game well enough. Can anyone fill us, or me, in?
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

bnjtokyo

Postby bnjtokyo » Sun Jun 28, 2009 11:37 pm

It is true that regular Scrabble has only one z and two blanks. It also has two y's and two v's. So you are right, not so many points. However, Super Scrabble has two hundred letters and two z's.

taniyan
Junior Lexiterian
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:43 am

Postby taniyan » Sun Aug 23, 2009 6:13 am

Is there a Francophone version of Scrabble in CD ROM format available? French Scrabble uses different letter distributions. Some of the letter values vary from English formats. Where in the world can someone find a french Scrabble game for PCs?
_____________________
yahoo keyword tool ~ overture ~ traffic estimator ~ adwords traffic estimator


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 57 guests