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Yet Another Word List [YAWL]

                                    i
                                 The List

Why indeed is there even a need for Yet Another Word List? The notorious "linux.words" list, the public domain "Websters 2", the ispell and cracklib dictionaries, not to mention various and sundry purported Scrabble lists are already available in electronic form. None of these, though, are optimized for word game use and as comprehensive as the YAWL. At 264,061 words, this list supersedes the SOWPODS list beloved of international Scrabble players. There is no arbitrary word length cutoff, and even words longer than 20 letters find a place in the list.

Care has been taken to ensure that the YAWL word list (word.list) will for all time remain copyright free. It is based on the updated Public Domain ENABLE (Enhanced North American Benchmark Lexicon), researched and compiled by the author and his colleague, Alan Beale. The ENABLE list has become a sort of de facto on-line standard for word gaming, having been adopted by Scrabble servers and used as the basis for at least one commercial word game. Additional content in the list came from Alan Beale's painstakingly researched "2DICTS," "12DICTS," "OSPDADD" lists, an "OSW" clone list generously contributed by the amateur lexicographer, C.M.L. Wristlock, David Duffy's list of Australian bird names, and a short list of computer and other jargon-oriented "signature words" added by the author of this package. While there might be suspicions of arbitrariness in the choice of words these signature words, they add a pungent, slightly smoky idiosyncratic flavor to the brew.

Those who, in spite of themselves, develop an asthetic appreciation of the YAWL package are urged to download the lists it is based on, in the ENABLE2K and SUPP2K archives, from
http://personal.riverusers.com/~thegrendel/software.html. These archives contain Alan Beale's erudite, but eminently readable research notes, a treat for the amateur lexicographer.

The YAWL word list itself (word.list) is, of course, in standard UNIX ASCII format, one word per line, terminated by an LF. Those unfortunate Windows persons desiring a DOS ASCII word file, lines terminated by an LF-CR, can download the "tofrodos" package from http://chrisheng.hypermart.net/ or http://thor.prohosting.com/~cslheng/, which contains both 16 and 32-bit Windows executables for converting text files from UNIX to DOS format.

The "md5sum" of the word list file, word.list, is:

feb98edad84cb8c979486c4d8907d679 You can check its integrity by running 'md5sum' on it, to ensure that it hasn't been altered.

The YAWL list, word.list, is herewith and forever placed in the Public Domain, which means there are no restrictions on its use and redistribution for "lawful" purposes. This means you may not use the list to rob banks or swindle investors, but short of that, pretty much anything goes. If you decide to incorporate the list into a game, application, or product, the author requests, as a courtesy, notification of same, so that he can gain a moment's satisfaction in return for all the effort he has put into this project.

                                       ii
                           The "Signature" Word List

The 218 entries in the signature word list are not commonly accepted words. They come from various expert and insider jargons, as well as from recent usage.

Certain of these words, such as "soulmate," will sooner or later make it into the mainstream language. Others, such as "bogomip," probably will not. A very few have been specially created by the author of this list. Let us examine one of these entries.

darl [v.t.]

     [Short "a" -- pronounced as in "derelict."]
     To steal or expropriate community property for one's personal use.

     As an example of property that has been "darled," consider New York
     City's experience with the metal mesh waste cans that were placed on
     street corners some years back. Many of these cans ended up in suburban
     backyards, serving as barbecue pits and receptacles to burn leaves in.
     Quite a few commuters into the city apparently darled these cans.

     Jack had a nice wrough iron and wood bench on his porch. When he
     had a few beers in him, he might confess that he had darled it from
     the nearby city park. He might further admit that darling was not
     an ethical activity, but hey, he needed a place to sit down while
     drinking his beer.

                                      iii
                             The Utilities

This version of the YAWL package includes two simple anagramming utilities. They are interesting and useful in their own right, but their true purpose is to inspire all the Linux word gamers and coders out there to invent and create... word games, using the YAWL list, of course. It would truly be nice to see a successor to Scrabble - a new generation word game with strategic depth, a word game with some of the sheer crystalline beauty of chess and the sheer profundity of Go, a word game rewarding artistic play rather than dry list memorization, a word game for those who truly love the richness of the English language and revel in its peculiar permutations, a word game that will take the gaming community by storm, a word game that will invade living rooms all across the civilized world, in short, a word game fated to run on millions of Linux machines.

Using 'anagram' involves nothing more than typing, from the command line (console or xterm), 'anagram letter-set [dictionary]'. Omitting the [dictionary] defaults to the YAWL list, installed by this package as "word.list" in /usr/dict. Omitting the letter set causes the program to prompt the user for input. The letter set may include "wild cards" (blank tiles), which are represented as underscores (_). The output goes to stdout, and may, of course be redirected to a file.

Examples: anagram lkwa

al aw awl ka la law walk

anagram whea_l

     aa
     aah
     aal
     ab
     able
     ace
     ache
     ... and 459 other words.

linux.words

anagrams the letterset "abcd" using /usr/dict/linux.words.

The multiple word anagram utility, "multi" works similarly. The syntax, from the command line, is:

multi [letter set] [number of words] [word file]

Example: multi abcdefghij 3
bach fed jig bach jig fed bad chef jig ... bid chef jag ... jab chef dig ...and 49 other combinations.

Using "multi" can provide some cheap thrills when a party gets dull.

Both "anagram" and "multi" have their own man pages, installed by a "make install".

It would take only a few small tweaks to transform the anagram code into an unscramble tool for "scramblegrams" or even a "find the missing letters" utility for crossword puzzle fans. This is left as an "exercise for the reader".

                                       iv
                            The "wstrings.sh" Script

This shell script is an enhanced version of the built-in "strings" command. It filters the output of "strings" to show only "legal" words.

If you don't know what this is all about, try 'man strings' to find out.

Note: The author of this software will provide no support for Unixware (c) or

any other SCO products. Likewise MS Windows. Don't even ask.

Mendel Cooper
thegrendel@theriver.com

--
Scrabble is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.

Unixware is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

ENABLE, YAWL, and 2DICTS are not trademarks.