1 Yet Another Word List [YAWL]
6 Why indeed is there even a need for Yet Another Word List? The notorious
7 "linux.words" list, the public domain "Websters 2", the ispell and
8 cracklib dictionaries, not to mention various and sundry purported
9 Scrabble lists are already available in electronic form. None of these,
10 though, are optimized for word game use and as comprehensive as the
11 YAWL. At 263,533 words, this list subsumes the SOWPODS list beloved of
12 international Scrabble players. There is no arbitrary word length cutoff,
13 and even words longer than 20 letters find a place in the list.
15 Care has been taken to ensure that the YAWL word list (word.list) will
16 for all time remain copyright free. It is based on the updated Public
17 Domain ENABLE (Enhanced North American Benchmark Lexicon), researched
18 and compiled by the author and his colleague, Alan Beale. The ENABLE
19 list has become a sort of de facto on-line standard for word gaming,
20 having been adopted by Scrabble servers and used as the basis for at
21 least one commercial word game. Additional content in the list came from
22 Alan Beale's painstakingly researched "2DICTS" and "OSPDADD" lists, an
23 "OSW" clone list generously contributed by the amateur lexicographer,
24 C.M.L. Wristlock, David Duffy's list of Australian bird names, and a short
25 list of computer jargon oriented "signature words" added by the author
26 of this package. While there might be suspicions of arbitrariness in
27 the choice of words these signature words, they add a pungent, slightly
28 smoky idiosyncratic flavor to the brew.
30 Those who, in spite of themselves, develop an asthetic
31 appreciation of the YAWL package are urged to download the
32 lists it is based on, in the ENABLE2K and SUPP2K archives, from
33 http://personal.riverusers.com/~thegrendel/software.html. These archives
34 contain Alan Beale's erudite, but eminently readable research notes,
35 a treat for the amateur lexicographer.
37 The YAWL word list itself (word.list) is, of course, in standard
38 UNIX ASCII format, one word per line, terminated by an LF. Those
39 unfortunate Windows persons desiring a DOS ASCII word file, lines
40 terminated by an LF-CR, can download the "tofrodos" package from
41 http://chrisheng.hypermart.net/ or http://thor.prohosting.com/~cslheng/,
42 which contains both 16 and 32-bit Windows executables for converting
43 text files from UNIX to DOS format.
45 The YAWL list, word.list, is herewith and forever placed in the
46 Public Domain, which means there are no restrictions on its use and
47 redistribution for "lawful" purposes. This means you may not use the list
48 to rob banks or swindle investors, but short of that, pretty much anything
49 goes. If you decide to incorporate the list into a game, application,
50 or product, the author requests, as a courtesy, notification of same,
51 so that he can gain a moment's satisfaction in return for all the effort
52 he has put into this project.
59 This new version of the YAWL package now includes two simple anagramming
60 utilities. They are interesting and useful in their own right, but
61 their true purpose is to inspire all the Linux word gamers and coders
62 out there to invent and create... word games, using the YAWL list,
63 of course. It would truly be nice to see a successor to Scrabble -
64 a new generation word game with strategic depth, a word game with some
65 of the sheer crystalline beauty of chess and the sheer profundity of Go,
66 a word game rewarding artistic play rather than dry list memorization,
67 a word game for those who truly love the richness of the English language
68 and revel in its peculiar permutations, a word game that will take the
69 gaming community by storm, a word game that will invade living rooms
70 all across the civilized world, in short, a word game fated to run on
71 millions of Linux machines.
74 Using 'anagram' involves nothing more than typing, from the command line
75 (console or xterm), 'anagram letter-set [dictionary]'. Omitting the
76 [dictionary] defaults to the YAWL list, installed by this package as
77 "word.list" in /usr/dict. Omitting the letter set causes the program
78 to prompt the user for input. The letter set may include "wild cards"
79 (blank tiles), which are represented as underscores (_). The output goes
80 to stdout, and may, of course be redirected to a file.
102 ... and 459 other words.
104 anagram abcd /usr/dict/linux.words
105 ----------------------------------
106 anagrams the letterset "abcd" using /usr/dict/linux.words.
110 The multiple word anagram utility, "multi" works similarly. The syntax, from
111 the command line, is:
112 multi [letter set] [number of words] [word file]
124 ...and 49 other combinations.
126 Using "multi" can provide some cheap thrills when a party gets dull.
128 Both "anagram" and "multi" have their own man pages, installed by a
131 It would take only a few small tweaks to transform the anagram code into an
132 unscramble tool for "scramblegrams" or even a "find the missing letters"
133 utility for crossword puzzle fans. This is left as an "exercise for the
137 thegrendel@theriver.com
140 Scrabble is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley, a subsidiary of Hasbro,
143 ENABLE, YAWL, and 2DICTS are not trademarks.