Zzxjoanw

Zzxjoanw is a famous fictitious entry which fooled logologists for many years. In 1903, author Rupert Hughes published "The Musical Guide", including a section containing a "pronouncing and defining dictionary of terms, instruments, etc". The "dictionary" occupied 252 pages, explaining the meanings and pronunciations of the German, Italian and other non-English words found in the terminology of classical music. As the very end of the dictionary, immediately after an entry for "zymbel" (German for cymbal), Hughes added the following definition: [Hughes (1903), p. 307. "(shaw)" is the suggested pronunciation.] cquote|zzxjoanw (shaw). "Maori". 1. Drum. 2. Fife. 3. Conclusion.

The entry was retained when the book was republished under different titles in 1912 and 1939. [Hughes (1912), p. 307] [Hughes (1939)]

According to Dmitri Borgmann's 1965 book "", printed before it was revealed as a hoax::"The "Music Lovers' Encyclopedia", compiled by Rupert Hughes, revised by Deems Taylor and Russell Kerr, and published in 1954, presents us with one of the most unbelievable, one of the most intriguing letter combinations ever to claim recognition as a word: ZZXJOANW. This spectacular word is so versatile that it possesses not merely one, but three different, meanings: (a) drum; (b) fife; (c) conclusion. The term is of Maori origin" [cite book
title=Language on Vacation: An Olio of Orthographical Oddities
first= Dmitri A
last=Borgmann
location=New York
publisher=Scribner
oclc= 8478220
pages=p. 143]

In 1974 "Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words", while accepting the word's meaning as a "Maori drum", rejected Hughes' pronunciation of "shaw", proposing a somewhat different realization: "ziks-jo'an". [cite book
title=Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words
first=Josefa
last=Heifetz
publisher=University Books
location=Secaucus, NJ
isbn=0821602039
year=1974
pages=p. 237]

Ross Eckler describes the hoax in his 1996 book "Making the Alphabet Dance"::"The two-Z barrier was breached many years ago in a specialized dictionary, Rupert Hughes's "The Musical Guide" (later, "Music-Lovers Encyclopedia"), published in various editions between 1905 and 1956. Its final entry, ZZXJOANW (shaw) Maori 1.Drum 2.Fife 3.Conclusion, remained unchallenged for more than seventy years until Philip Cohen pointed out various oddities: the strange pronunciation, the odd diversity of meanings (including "conclusion") and the non-Maori appearance of the word. (Maori uses the fourteen letters AEGHIKMNOPRTUW, and all words end in a vowel). A hoax clearly entered somewhere; no doubt Hughes expected it to be obvious, but he did not take into account the credulity of logologists, sensitized by dictionary-sanctioned outlandish words such as mlechchha and qaraqalpaq." [cite book
title=Making the Alphabet Dance: Recreational Wordplay
first=Ross
last=Eckler
location=New York
publisher=St. Martin's Press
isbn=0312140320]

The book "You Say Tomato: An Amusing and Irreverent Guide to the Most Often Mispronounced Words in the English Language", published in 2005, appears to take the word seriously. Citing "eminent alternative lexicographer Mr. Peter Bowler" it gives the meaning as a Maori drum; however it declines to offer a pronunciation, saying that "We'll leave the pronunciation to the Maoris, although Welshmen and Poles are said to be able to do wonders with it". [cite book
title=You Say Tomato
first=R.W.
last=Jackson
publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press
location=New York
date=2005
isbn=1560257628
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PSIAQqq86roC
pages=p. 247]

References

Bibliography

* cite book
first=Rupert
last= Hughes
title=The Musical Guide
location=New York
publisher=McClure, Phillips & Co
year=1903
oclc=861137
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=g9JHAAAAMAAJ
* cite book
first=Rupert
last=Hughes
title=Music Lovers' Cyclopedia
location=Garden City, NY
oclc=1315690
publisher=Doubleday, Doran & Co
year=1912
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3fA5AAAAIAAJ
* cite book
first=Rupert
last=Hughes
coauthors=Deems Taylor, Russell Kerr
title=Music Lovers' Encyclopedia
publisher=Garden City Publishing Co
location=Garden City, NY
year=1939
oclc=163469059
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3fA5AAAAIAAJ

External links

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=g9JHAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA307&vq=zzxjoanw&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1_1 The original 1903 entry, from Google Books]