Almanac of Words at Play

by Willard R. Espy

Collected and original acronyms, epigrams, graffiti, limericks, palindromes, riddles, puns, univocalics, and other word games and plays, in verse and prose, provide a month-by-month, day-by-day playground of linguistic swings and seesaws

Genres: Words, Nonfiction, Humor, Reference, Poetry

382 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 1975

About the author

Willard Richardson Espy was a U.S. editor, philologist, writer, and poet.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would EATEN THIS BOOK UP as a kid! Exactly the kind of thing I used to read almost exclusively. Such a fun love letter to words and word play! Will definitely be coming back to this!

[flannery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Born old? Try this! If you like "Wordy Gurdy" you'll love "Words at Play"!

[Cheryl]

Some delightful bits, but very few by Espy were worth reading, as he's sexist, vulgar, and just not funny. So after a few weeks I skipped his, and most of the longest/ densest 'funny verses' by others.

I do like that there's an index of rhetorical devices... providing for one an excuse to keep a copy of the book with the desk reference collection. (But do you even know what a desk reference collection is, anymore, since y'all can Google for anything on your phone anytime, anywhere?)

I will play Word Belt from August, and Games for Insomniacs from December.

Carefully skimmed August 2021.

[Priscilla King · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title says it all. Here's a blog-length (or, more properly, column-length) discussion of rhymes, jokes, puns, or some other form of wordplay for every day in the year. If you enjoy wordplay you'll laugh. It may be hard to stretch out reading this book (even reading it aloud to others) over a year!

[Lori Alden Holuta · Rating 5 out of 5]

While preparing a salon talk about whimsical poetry, I remembered I had this book on my reference shelf. I bought it in the mid 1980's, and as I recall, my first read-through was a delight. 30+ years later, some of the humor feels stale, but certainly not all of it. It's been worth knocking the dust off of the old classic.

[Bill Wylson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most entertaining word books I have ever read!

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Total chaos; I loved it at age 13.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I first read this decades ago (published in 1975, I believe,) remember thinking even then how dated it is. Worse now - especially his own contributions.

[Mleescott1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don't need gyms or elaborate exercises to exercise those abs into a perfect six-pack. Read the one on Goldilochese and de Tre Berese. You'll laugh that belly right into shape! A true word-nerd book, I didn't find every day's chapter as delightful; however, the few gems within the entire year's collection are well worth the purchase. And I mean you'll want to own it, to have on-hand for those very gems, to pull out just when you most need a laugh. (And then there's the day's entry that looks poetically upon amorous praying mantids....)

[JD Waggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually, 3 1/2 stars, but who's counting?

This is truly an almanac, with a word puzzle or rhyme or observation for each day of the year. Espy is totally old school, using an incredible breadth of word-schemery to write a good portion of the book himself. The rest are fun collections of wit and wordplay, although some of them were dated enough that I didn't really get the joke. I have several tabbed to share with friends; a good chuckle for the days in a year, though not something I'm going to keep on hand forever.

[Jan Ackerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book when I was in college, at a little used bookstore in downtown Kalamazoo. It's wonderful--an entry for every day of the year, ecah with a different little poem or funny little bit of word play. An absolute delight.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inherited this gem from my husband's grandpa who loved light verse and puns. Espy is the greatest and was one of my childhood heroes. I guess I married into the correct family.

[Frank R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was unable to complete this, as my library's copy was in bad shape and I feared to do more damage to it. But I managed to read about 2/3. Very fun, though somewhat dated.

[Jay Gabler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Espy is an amiable companion, though some of his attitudes are dated.