Re: BrainBashers: June 2007 Common Answers

Mark Brader wrote:
> Topi Linkala:
>>> Once more: the question is:
>>> 9. Name either ENCYCLOPEDIA or BOOK.
> 
> Peter Schepers:
>> I trust, Topi, that you've now had a small lesson [in] English. Whether
for 
>> right or wrong, the question wasn't asking for the name of "a" book,
but a 
>> selection of the two presented offerings. ...
> 
> There's another point of English usage here.  If the question had been
> written as
> 
>    9. Name either "encyclopedia" or "book".
> 
> then I don't think Topi would have misunderstood it.  The quotation
marks
> indicate that the two words are being mentioned, not used.  Another way
> to indicate the same thing would be by writing the words in italics,
> but this has the disadvantage that it may be mistaken for emphasis. 
Here
> block capitals were used the same way, which is a less common variation.
> I don't know how Finnish indicates that words are being mentioned, but
> Topi may have missed the significance of the block capitals.
> 
> ObPuzzle (sort of): construct an interesting anagram of ENCYCLOPEDIA,
> ENCYCLOPAEDIA, or for extra credit, ENCYCLOPÆDIA with a ligature.


El Cid: coy pæan