Source: Unknown
Close your eyes for a minute and think about your favourite thing in the world. Done? Now write a 100 word paragraph telling us about it. Seems simple, right? But how about writing your paragraph without using the letter ‘e’? Give it a shot. You’ve been durst (past tense of ‘dare’, just FYI).
That, right there, is what we call a lipogram. And no, it has nothing to do with body fat. A lipogram is a type of constrained writing, or a word game, which challenges you to write, leaving out a particular letter or group of letters. And we assure you, it’s not easy. Well, unless of course you’re Ernest Vincent Wright. He’s the author of Gadsby, a 50,000+ word novel without the letter ‘e’! Yes, ‘e’, as in the most used letter in the English language.
We have to say, Ernest, that is remarkable! Or rather…Author of Gadsby, that is outstanding! Okay, so we’re not as good with lipograms as we’d like to be. But hey, that’s not our job. Our job is to tell you about them, which we’ve just done, so good show! Now, we nap.