Basics
Lexigrams & Anagrams
What is the difference between an Anagram and a Lexigram? Both forms of wordplay follow similar rules but differ in how letters may be repeated as a new phrase is constructed.
All Anagrams are Lexigrams, but not all Lexigrams are Anagrams.
What is an Anagram?
The broadest definition of an Anagram is “a word or phrase created by re-arranging the letters of another word or phrase, in which every letter in the original is used in the creation of the new phrase.”
This gives us three criteria, or rules, that must be met in order to classify something as an Anagram:
1. The letters of a word or phrase must be re-arranged
2. A new expression must be created.
3. Every letter of the original must be used in the new expression.
Each letter can only be used as many times as it appears in the original (If there are 2 B’s in the original, then the new expression must have the same number of B’s.
What is a Lexigram?
Look again at the last rule for an Anagram – “every letter must be used.”
For example, if there are two instances of the letter-B in the original word or phrase, then the new expression must have the same quantity of B’s.
A Lexigram can have many more words than the original name or source phrase. There is no length limit. However, no word in the new phrase make contain more instances of a letter than occur in the original phrase.than the same quantity of letters.
TIP: In these forms of wordplay, a common convention is to CAPITALIZE both the original word/phrase as well as the resulting anagram or lexigram. This helps make it easier to compare the two without being confused by any intervening text.
Anagram of MEATBALLS is A SMALL BET. The anagram phrase has the same number of letters as the word; it has the same frequency (instances) of each letter as is found in the original, and each letter of the original is used to make a new expression. All nine letters are used in the proper ratio; no letters are left over.
Lexigram of MEATBALLS could be A TEAM EATS ALL MEAT. Each word in the lexigram is made from letters in the source word, but no individual word contains more instances of a letter than is found in the original. Hundreds of words can be made from the letter pattern of MEATBALLS. Any of them may be strung together to create a valid lexigram phrase, as long as none of those words contains more copies of a letter than was found in the word MEATBALLS.
Think of it as using Scrabble tiles to represent each letter. MEATBALLS has one tile for letter-M, two for letter-A, one tile for the letter-B, etc. In this case, there are two tiles for the letter-L – this means no individual candidate word we make may use more than those tiles.
- For an Anagram, the pile of letter tiles is reshuffled after the result phrase is constructed.
- For a Lexigram, the “pile of letter tiles” from the original word/phrase is reshuffled after each word in the result is found.
In both forms of word play there are three types of transpositions (letter re-arrangements) that can be created:
1. Random – Making an English Word from a Nonsense Word.
2. Simple – Making an English Word from another Word.
3. Perfect – Making a meaningful English Word from another Word.
Non-Word – to – English (Random Anagram)
English – to – English (Simple Anagram)
Meaning – to – Meaning (Perfect Anagram)The broadest definition of an Anagram is “a word or phrase created by re-arranging the letters of another word or phrase, in which every letter in the original is used in the creation of the new phrase.”
This gives us three criteria, or rules, that must be met in order to classify something as an Anagram:
- The letters of a word or phrase must be re-arranged.
- A new expression must be created.
- Every letter of the original must be used in the new expression. Each letter can only be used as many times as it appears in the original (If there are 2 B’s in the original, then the new expression must have the same number of B’s.
using all the original letters exactly once
Note: The letter transpositions used in Anagrams and Lexigrams are NOT exclusive to the English language. Words or phrases in ANY language in the Latin family can use this concept. Pictographic languages, such as Oriental languages, cannot be anagrammed directly because each single character is a word unto-itself, not an actual letter. Names and phrases in these languages must be transliterated into Latin letters before being anagrammed.
How Are Anagrams They Made?
Anagrams are constructed by re-arranging (transposing) letters in a word or phrase. Once an individual letter from the original word is used, it cannot be used again.
For example, consider the word WEST.
The letters can be re-arranged to make the word STEW. Notice that each letter is used only once. STEW is both an anagram and a lexigram of WEST.
The word WEST cannot be turned into SWEET, because there is only one E available in the original word, and it can only be used once in any word of the result.
There are three types of anagrams: Random, Simple, and Perfect. Here are some examples of each type.
Random Anagrams & Lexigrams. The most familiar type of random transposition is the Unscramble Game, in which words are found within seemingly random letters. This often involves the letters of an English word being scrambled into a random pattern and the players must re-assemble the original word. This type of Anagram typically does not use personal names. This arrangement shows a Nonsense – to – Sense relationship
| Example of a Random Arrangements Anagram: ETLAMLABS to MEATBALLS. Lexigram: ETLAMLABS to METAL SLAM LAMBS MEATBALLS can become the Anagram A SMALL BET < the final phrase uses all the letter. … the source has two A’s and two L’s, so the final phrase must have two A’s and two L’s as MEATBALLS can also become Lexigram phrase BLAST A LAST MEAL < the final words use letters from the source. |
Simple. A Simple transposition involves the shifting of letters in a word or short phrase, to create another. In this case, the new word does not reflect the meaning of the original. Simple arrangements are most often used with single words. Notice that this form can also change a phrase into a word (or vice versa). This transposition has a Sense – to – Sense relationship between phrases but not a descriptive relationship.
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Example of a Simple Transposition Lexigrams like SATIN to TINA’S TIN or A SMALL BET to BEAT BASE BALL TEAM |
Perfect. The most complex form of word transposition is the Perfect Anagram. This is where all of the letters are used and the meaning of both expressions is the same or similar. This logical relationship between the original word and the constructed result is what elevates this form of wordplay above the rest. This is easily seen in anagrams as well as in lexigrams.
| Examples of Perfect Transpositions Anagrams like ALIEN FORMS to LIFE ON MARS. TOM CRUISE to SO I’M CUTER. CLINT EASTWOOD to OLD WEST ACTION. DIPLOMACY to MAD POLICY. |
A classic example of a Perfect Anagrams comes to us from medieval days. Study of the religious icons and terms was considered a form of devotional contemplation, and monks and scholars would anagram Latin phrases that glorified religious figures.
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Example of a Long Perfect Anagram can be anagrammed to become VIRGO SERENA, PIA, MUNDA ET IMMACULATA |
Notice that the Ave Maria Anagram is perfect in Latin only. When translated into the English, we can see the meanings are similar but there is no longer letter-by-letter relationship as in the anagram.